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James saintil akari endo11/18/2023 For more information visit the Caribbean Film Academy website. This screening is part of the Caribbean Film Series, which presents feature films made by Caribbean filmmakers that highlight the richness, uniqueness, and viability of Caribbean cinema to Brooklyn, home to the largest population of Caribbean nationals in the United States, and to all New York City residents and visitors. This film is a depiction of the impact of the Dominican Republic Constitutional Tribunal’s decision of September 2013 on Dominicans of Haitian descent. Screens with Martine Jean's Purgatorio (2014) 12min. At the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Rosa Jean-Louis fights for her life and the survival of her child. A selection at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival, this vibrantly shot contemporary update of Romeo and Juliet is a powerful indictment of racism and poverty in the Dominican Republic. When Rudy learn the two have fallen in love, his plans for revenge threaten disaster for the entire community. Haitian-born Janvier takes a job as the bodyguard for Jocelyn, the sister of a powerful kingpin, who he soon discovers dated his Dominican half-brother Rudy. Caroline Backer, Christian Alvarez, Francis Cruz, Héctor Aníbal, James Santil, Julieta Rodríguez, Mario Lebrón, Natasha Alburquerque, Omar Ramírez & Victor Checo. Surely there can be no going back for Cristo Rey after Jocelyn has deathlessly whispered to Janvier to “take her with him to the end of the world”.Set against the violence and poverty of a shantytown, where undocumented Haitian immigrants clash with Dominicans, this gritty drama follows the struggle between two half brothers over the woman they both love. Reparto: James Saintil, Akari Endo, Yasser Michelén, Jalsen Santana & Frank Perozo. And there are thriller elements too, as the gorgeously overweight and immobile El Baca issues instructions to his sidekick Pedro Lee (the again very watchable Moises Trinidad.)īut predominant, at least through the film’s second half, is that 50s teen romance element, and it’s this which hobbles the film. (It is neatly echoed at the end by something far more melancholy.) There’s social realism in some of the sequences shot in these tumbledown, poverty-ridden streets, with the script making at least some effort to tackle issues of anti-Haitian sexism and racism, as in one scene in which Jocelyn thoughtlessly washes a glass from which Janvier has drunk. The opening sequence seems to come from a vibrant, Stamp-style musical, as neighborhood folks pick up anything lying to hand and beat out rhythms. Tonally, Cristo Rey fails to cohere, as the script feels more in thrall to teen rebellion movies than it does to the specific details of life. The excessive use of rap music sounds more like a stylistic visiting card rather than emerging naturally. The visuals are vibrant, colorful and rarely suggestive of anything resembling authentic poverty. The characters are often wonderful, but less so the performances from a largely newcomer cast, and Janvier is rather dull. Also, it’s not clear why Janvier and Rudy are half brothers, unless the script wants to point out that blood should be thicker than water: something that really doesn’t need to be pointed out. As the film goes on, it’s the cliches of melodrama which come to the fore, undoing a lot of good work earlier on. Because Janvier and Rudy, for example, are half-brothers, the sons of Mon (the powerfully charismatic Arturo Lopez) by different women. And it’s here that the telenovela structure beneath the surface of Cristo Rey starts to become clear. Joceyln’s ex Rudy ( Yasser Michelen) is naturally not happy about this. So when local drugs lord El Baca (the physically mighty Leonardo Vasquez) hires him to be a bodyguard for his sister Jocelyn ( Akari Endo), Janvier’s all too happy. Janvier ( James Saintil) is one of many Haitian immigrants living illegally in Cristo Rey, a poor neighborhood in Santo Domingo: the film’s analysis of the explicit racism suffered by Haitians at the hands of Dominicans on the island the two countries share is one of the subtler things about it, a racism embodied in the figure of nasty local cop, Mantilla ( Jaisen Santana). Janvier’s mother is back in Haiti and as a virtuous son, Janvier’s looking to raise cash to get back to see her. But despite the heavy intentions promised by its opening, Cristo Rey is only intermittently more than a standard street romance, like a clunky Caribbean version of an early Springsteen song. Teeming with good intentions and shot through with a freshness which goes some way towards redeeming its flaws, Leticia Tonos’ follow-up to the superior The Natural Daughter, the first Dominican film to be directed by a woman alone, does well to portray the racial tensions of life in this Santo Domingo slum. Ambition outweighs execution in Cristo Rey, a Santo Domingo-set racism drama that starts out with real punch and drive before settling down into cliche.
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