Luis Miranda’s name may not be as well known as his son’s, multiple Tony award-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, but by the end of Siempre, Luis it is his name that you will always remember. This is director John James’ first documentary and he does an extraordinary job of creating a compelling portrait of an unbreakable man who is passionate about his family, his work, and his home of Puerto Rico.
Luis was known by his siblings as “the brain” and his parents had high expectations. He reminisced about the pressure to perform well in school, saying that if he brought home a mark of 95, his mother’s first question was, “Did anyone get 100?” His gut told him that he was meant for more, outside of Puerto Rico. In 1970, he moved to New York to attend NYU and quickly became a leader and liaison for the Latinx community. Luis helped his community organize their needs and voice into active voting. He demonstrated to the candidates how vital Latinx voters are by creating strategic campaigning for Latinx communities that hadn’t been done before. He worked on the campaign for Mayor Ed Koch as the Director of Hispanic Affairs, as well as Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Senate, both of which won. His work on these campaigns and countless others created the space for Latinx politics and culture to be heard, listened to, and represented.
With impactful and touching interviews from Miranda, his family, and those who worked with him, James creates the portrait of an unbreakable man whose family and country come first, always. Luis looks at every challenge head-on and is never scared by them–so it’s easy to see how the apple (Lin-Manuel) inherited these qualities from the tree. The source of Lin-Manuel’s inspiration for his character Alexander Hamilton in his revolutionary musical Hamilton is clear, Luis is non-stop. Even after his heart attack in 2016, Luis would help Lin-Manuel open Hamilton at the University of Puerto Rico as a way to help rebuild after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017. Protests from employees seeking tuition reform for their children threatened the opening, but Luis found a way. In the short 4 week run, they raised almost $15 million for the arts and made sure that local Puerto Ricans had a set price of $10 a ticket, while tourists paid full price.
Siempre, Luis tells the beautiful story of a unique, proud immigrant who found a way to live his American dream and keep Puerto Rico closest to his heart. Miranda is passion and devotion personified. Lin-Manuel lovingly says that his father, “…is a relentless motherfucker,” and in the living nightmare that is 2020, I think we could have our leaders aspire to model themselves after Luis Miranda.
Distributed by HBO, Siempre, Luis is now playing on HBO and HBO Max, and On-Demand October 7, 2020.
