(Possible spoilers) David Riker means well (I suppose), intending to show us the oppressive lives of recent Latino immigrants in New York City. But he apparently decided to strip his stories of all joy, all spirit, all struggle. No one laughs, no one fights back, no one gets ahead. There are only dead ends for all the people he portrays--they are all victims. And he emphasizes this by moving the stories along at a snail's pace, accompanied by a funeral-dirge soundtrack. His characters are crushed--in one case, literally. Even when one of his vignettes leads in a positive direction, he shoots it down (the love story) or leaves it hanging (the factory). This is an insult to the real lives of immigrants, which is a far more complex mixture of hope and sadness, victories and defeats. It therefore sends a very negative political and cultural message. I have a personal and professional interest in multicultural perspectives on American life; in that regard, this film is a real disappointment. For two much better films about Latino immigrants, see El Norte or La Familia.
Review of La Ciudad (the City)
