One of my best friends, John, changed my life forever. He introduced me to Ignacio on January 10, 2009. Ignacio is the most romantic man I have ever met. I love Ignacio! I had watched Nacho Libre a few years prior. The first time I saw the movie I was 8 weeks pregnant with Elijanah . I feel asleep 5 minutes into the movie. It was not a bad movie. I just could not stay awake past 8:00 in the evening no matter how hard I tried. I did not realize what I had missed. I am saddened when I think of the years needlessly spent without Ignacio.
John and his two girls, my kids and I enjoyed Nacho Libre together on our first combined family movie night. It has now become a bi-weekly tradition. We’ve watched countless movies together, but Nacho Libre will forever be my favorite. I am certain, my friendship with John has been so incredibly easy simply because of our common love for Nacho Libre.
Though Roger Ebert disagrees with me, I am convinced this is one of the greatest movies of all time. I will never understand the mixed reviews. How could such a brilliant movie receive such terrible reviews? I was curious, and looked up the movie’s rating online at Rotten Tomatoes. They gave it a rating of “Rotten”. Only 57% of the audience polled on their website liked it. I was completely astonished. Of the individuals I know who have seen the movie, there is no indifference. They are either hot, or cold. There is no lukewarm love for Ignacio. They either love Nacho Libre or they hate it. They either understand the offbeat humor, unique pacing, and underlying themes, or they miss it altogether.
Regardless of the reviews, I and all of my close friends believe Nacho Libre is brilliant entertainment. The casting was phenomenal. I would love to see the casting call. Just look at the faces of the native Mexicans. There is an authentic feel to each individual character. The script is well written and hilarious. The music for all sakes and purposes is Beck! What more could one listener ask for? I own the soundtrack! It’s that good. The sets were extremely colorful with small details scattered throughout each scene. Not many movies hold my attention, to include most movies which receive two thumbs up and fantastic reviews. Nacho Libre held my attention from start to finish. For me, my favorite element of the movie is Ignacio. Jack Black is okay. Ignacio is the man of my dreams.
The character, Ignacio, a Mexican Catholic Priest by day, and a masked luchador by night named Nacho Libre wrestled my heart to the ground and captured it simply with his nucleus, his core . It was not his fancy expensive clothes, nor his white leather boots. It was not his stretchy pants, but the essence of Ignacio that won my heart. I had to find out more about this man, Ignacio. I discovered on Wikipedia, the place everyone goes to get the facts, that his character is based upon a real man, Reverend Sergio Gutierrez Benitez. Sergio had a secret. He was Frey Tormenta! Like Nacho, he competed for the orphans, his orphans.
Ignacio’s mother was a Lutheran Missionary from Scandinavia. His father was a deacon from Mexico. They tried to convert the other, but instead got married. He came to the monastery as a young orphan after they died. Ignacio remained at the monastery as the cook. Throughout the movie he is seen as the picture of a servant, truly shepherding and caring for these orphans. In contrast, the stanch religious priests mistreat him and seem to care very little for the orphans. Ignacio serves the typical daily slop to one of the children. The child asks, “Can’t we ever have like a salad or something?” Ignacio, knowing there is no money for anything more than what he has prepared, replies, “Be grateful, Juan Pablo. Today is especially delicious.” One day as he is leaving the market with a bag of chips for the orphans he is mugged. The chips are stolen by a man who claims to hate all the orphans in the world, Esqueleto. Ignacio's love for the orphans, desire to care for them, and hope to give them a better life provokes Ignacio to become Nacho Libre by night. He finds the chip thief, Esqueleto and asks if he would train him to be a luchador. Wrestling is forbidden by the monastery. In Ignacio’s mind this is the only way to provide the orphans with better nutrition. Ignacio is not purely a saint. He is also a man. He has secret passions for the tutor, Sister Encarnacion. He has hopes to win her over as he provides for the orphans. Ultimately, through a series of events his true nucleus is revealed. He faces hardship and rejection. He’s forced into the wilderness. His love for the Lord and the orphans is a transforming agent to the hard hearted, orphan hating, non-baptized, Esqueleto. In their final fight, Esqueleto prays with Nacho, and asks God to grant them favor. The underdog wins. Ignacio uses his winnings to adopt all the orphans and buy a bus. He, Encarnacion, and Esqueleto take the child on trips to see new places, and experience the world!
I realized there are two contrasting sets of the heart revealed in this movie. Ignacio’s heart is easily seen in his love for the orphans. The other heart is much more subtle. The priests are devout. They oversee the monastery. They attend and direct Mass. They are seemingly devoted to the Lord’s work. However, they are spiritually aloof, placing themselves as the elitists in the monastery system. They are there to be served, and not necessarily to serve. They show little concern for the orphans. Their primary concern is conforming to the religious system. This sounds very familiar to the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.
As I skimmed through the Gospels in my mind, I realized the same theme in Nacho Libre revealed itself in the life of Jesus Christ, and His disciples. In Matthew 25, in verse 31 Jesus prophetically shares a scene that is to come during the End Times; when the Lord judges His people, separating those who are His sheep, blessed by the Father from those who are not. He says to those who are His people, “Come, take your inheritance, and kingdom that was prepared for you. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was lonely, a stranger and you invited me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me.” To which the righteous replied, “Lord, when were you all these things, and we responded to you?” Jesus said, “Verily, when you did these things to the least of my brothers and sisters you did these things for me.” Jesus then turned to the wicked and said, “Depart from me, you who are cursed to the place reserved for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, thirsty, lonely, naked, sick and in prison. You did nothing for me.” They never saw the least of these. They never took the opportunity to share love with those in need. This reminded me of another scene from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapter 7. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of the Father in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and performed signs and wonders in Your name?’ And I will declare to them, “I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Jesus gave us two commandments, love God and love one another. He came to share love and show us how to love. All the religious rules could not make man right before God. Jesus’ disciples got it. They fed the poor, took care of widows and orphans. They visited those in prison. They shared the Good News with everyone. They prayed for the deaf, lame, and blind, FREE OF CHARGE. They didn’t peddle the Gospel of Truth for profit. They served. They did not take the best seats at the party. They understood the Heart of the Father was to edify others, and lift others above themselves. They understood what it was to be and live as a humble servant, serving the Lord as they served those less fortunate than themselves. They understood the dynamics and economy of Jesus’ Upside Down Kingdom. Ignacio was patterned after this heart. In the end, Esqueleto, the orphan hating chip thief, experiences redemption and has a change of heart simply because he saw the goodness of God in Ignacio’s life. On the other hand, just as the Pharisees of Jesus' day did not understand the second half of what Jesus commanded, neither did the priests in Nacho Libre. They were devout Catholics. They loved Jesus. They served Mass, and taught the orphans. However, they hated and cursed Ignacio and the orphans with their actions and indifference. Sadly, just as the Pharisees missed the Kingdom of God, so did these priests. All the devotion and religion, good works and penitence could not buy the Kingdom or favor from the Lord.
Nacho Libre leaves me with deep thoughts and a desire to be found faithful and obedient to the fullness of the Father’s commandments. Many of us claim to love Jesus, love God. We write songs about our love for Him. We spend countless hours in prayer and the Word of God. We go from meeting to meeting hoping to be filled with His glory. In John 14, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” He demands we love others. It is not an option. It is not a suggestion. If we fail to live a life full of love for one another, yet we claim to be passionately in love with Him, we lie. The only one effected by this lie is our self. We can be religious about our devotion. We can do all the right things in worship, learn great biblical mysteries, memorize bible verses, know all the right Charismatic leaders, or reformed Bible scholars, prophesy, speak in tongues, write books, create new sounds all for His Kingdom. However, if we never grow deep in love and move past lawless (loveless) religion to what James, the Brother of Jesus, called pure and undefiled religion caring for orphans and widows in their time of need, we will unfortunately miss the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is made of such as these, “Little children, and the least of these.”
I want to be like Ignacio, full of love for the orphans.
