AllMovie

The anger and disappointment of a generation of Mexican youth is personified in the lives of three people in this documentary. 1973 profiles three people who were born in that year; the first, Rodolfo Escogido, developed a passionate interest in politics while he was a student, but discovered that battling his country's firmly entrenched system of political parties was all but impossible. Escogido became a member of a "porro," a gang who devoted much of their energies to radical activism, and organized massive protests against the government before being sent to jail on charges of robbery he insists were falsified. In the second segment, Maria Fernanda Ramos was raised by a mother who neglected her children, and at an early age Ramos began indulging in recreational drugs. Partying eventually became addiction, and Ramos's life became a downward spiral leading to a suicide attempt and a prison sentence. And finally, Alejandro Cota was raised by a family who were by turns caring and unwilling to deal with his emotional problems. At the age of nineteen, Cota snapped, and he explains on camera how he came to murder his family, though by his own admission not everything he has to say is true. 1973 received its United States debut at the 2006 Palm Springs Film Festival.