Zoot Suit

Zoot Suit
by Luis Valdez

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DVD details

Actor: Charles Aidman, Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, John Anderson, Tyne Daly
Director: Luis Valdez
Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
Cinematographer: David Myers
Writer: Luis Valdez
Producer: Gordon Davidson
Producer: Kenneth Brecher
Producer: Peter Burrell
Producer: Phil Esparza
Producer: William P. Wingate
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-27
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios

DVD Reviews of Zoot Suit

DVD Review: Zoot Suiter
Summary: 5 Stars

This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, the music is just great. And the fact that my first husband was there may have some thing to do with it. Besides that I still love the movie and the music. If you haven't seen it yet I'd say your missing a very good movie.And the price was just out of this world, you can't beat [..]every where that I have looked the price is over [..]. So thank you.

Thank You
Debbie Quintanar
quinnabe@sbcglobal.net

DVD Review: Zoot Suit - Great!
Summary: 4 Stars

Zoot Suit is a movie I recommend to all (especially Latinos) who are interested in a small portion of neighborhood life in LA during World War II. The musical score is excellent and has a tendency to urge you to increase the volume. The acting is very believable, while the alter ego character (James Olmos) constantly challenges your mind to determine who he is and what he represents - until the end. All in all, very enjoyable.

DVD Review: important history
Summary: 4 Stars

Though not strictly an historical piece, not a documentary, Zoot Suit shows an entertaining and engaging storyline. It does this while revealing an historical event and how it is indicative of the unequal justice of the past and present for non-whites and those not fitting the social norms set by white society. It is truly worth seeing but I have had to explain the Edward James Olmos character to several people. He is voice in Henry Reyna's head, the image of what a Zoot Suiter was seen as, narrator of the story, and a few other things all put together. See him as a shadow more than an actual character that all others can see.

DVD Review: A Classic!
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a classic film that depicts a special niche of the Mexican-American culture of Los Angeles in the 1940's. The style and dramatization of the movie is presented in a fabulous musical expression of both color and emotion. Edward Olmos's acting is powerful and captivating as he sheds light into the dark recesses of men's hearts. While this film is a classic, like all true classics, it still speaks to us today.

DVD Review: Dishonest Propaganda
Summary: 2 Stars

This movie's best feature is that it is a perfect "opening up" of a play, just enough to be cinematically compelling, but never leaving the stage behind. It was done so well that the artfulness of the storytelling almost made me forget about the evasiveness of the story being told. I kept looking for reasons to like this, until the cop out ending made me wonder if there had been a single moment of historic or sociological truth in the previous 100 minutes.

It would have been perfectly sensible to end the story with an honest and factual recitation of the subsequent crimes committed by the men who had been falsely accused and abused by the legal system. It was perfectly bizarre for Valdez to invent "let's pretend" destinies for the defendants, full of success and happiness. Am I supposed to be amused by this phony rewriting of reality?

The very real evil of American soldiers, journalists and judges is laid bare, but the evil crimes of Mexican-American gang members are self-righteously minimized and sidestepped. In its trivializing of gang violence this play/film is a perfect illustration of the phoniness of Mexican-American pride. The Big Message is that double-talk and rationalizations of violence within "Chicano" communities is perfectly acceptable, so long as you can point your finger at systemic Establishment (read "White") racism. I guess that's the true nature of El Pachuco, then and now: swaggering BS.

With some self-reflective honesty this could have been a worthwhile phantasmagoria of fashion, music, ethnicity, crime and injustice. Instead Valdez squandered his talents on dishonest propaganda.

Description of Zoot Suit

A CHICAGO GANG LEADER AND HIS ALTER EGO RECALL THE CASE OF GANG MEMBERS RAILROADED TO PRISON IN 1942.

This is a filmed play, rather than a stage piece reimagined for the movies, which is probably why the general audience never cozied up to this intense picture. But Zoot Suit has a couple of significant attractions. First, it's a landmark Latino work from the pre-indie period, directed by Luis Valdez, an important figure in Chicano theater. Valdez based his acclaimed play on the zoot-suit riots of 1940s Los Angeles, when a group of young Chicano men were railroaded into jail on a murder charge. The director later found a mainstream audience with his juicy rock & roll bio La Bamba, and perhaps a bigger budget might have garnered Zoot Suit the same kind of acceptance. Daniel Valdez, the director's brother, plays the hero and also composed the flavorful songs; but the big draw here is the sensational performance of Edward James Olmos. A brooding actor just beginning his screen career, Olmos plays a flamboyant, hectoring, all-seeing figure called El Pachuco--a Greek chorus with attitude to burn. The wild contours of the zoot suit fit Olmos as snugly as his white shirt and black tie from Miami Vice. --Robert Horton

General DVDs

Genres > Drama
Period Piece
Musicals & Performing Arts > Musicals > Drama

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