[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onv_w3KKijk[/youtube]
Young and charming Alejandro hustles, steals and scams his way to becoming his own boss, and provides us with a glimpse into the lives of children surviving the streets in the Iron Triangle of Queens in New York City. Adept at survival, he takes on the care of his teenage sister, who is in great sexual peril at all times.
“Chop Shop” screens March 4, 2008, 7:30 PM at Jackman Hall, Art Gallery of Ontario.
“Miraculous. . . . stunning performances. . . . Now we have an American film with the raw power of City of God or Pixote, a film that does something unexpected, and inspired, and brave” (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times).
Far from a hyperbolic assessment, Ebert’s appraisal of the brilliant Chop Shop is spot-on. Set in the “Iron Triangle,” a section of Queens in which stolen cars are stripped for their parts, the film offers a wonderful addition to cinema’s pantheon of child heroes: intrepid Alejandro, who is determined to become his own boss and overcome his dead-end circumstances – he lives above an auto-repair shop and ekes out a living scamming, stealing, and hustling. Mature beyond his years, Alejandro looks out for both himself and his older sister, struggling to side-step the pitfalls of a precarious existence on the fringe.
Working in the neorealist tradition, director Ramin Bahrani constructs an eminently believable drama that fully captures both the hardships encountered and the little victories won on a day-to-day basis.
“Following the model of Ken Loach and the Dardennes . . . Bahrani digs deep into Alejandro’s world to create something raw and affecting” (Jason Anderson, Eye Weekly).
Rated 14A.
Program notes by George Kaltsounakis
