Manito

this film is an exceptionally strong story about how difficult it is to transcend the forces of the past, your own, your neighborhood's and your family's. the gritty urban drama uses a handheld camera to create a reality that is never broken or compromised.

the exuberance of this Uptown Manhattan Latino clan is beautifully rendered as they attend the star of the family, Manny's graduation. his older brother, Junior, throws a great party and we sense that this family is on the road to recovering from the dark shadow cast by their former drug dealing father, now estranged.

but Manny's bright future is jeopardized by a tragic incident that forces Junior to turn to the one person he despises above all. Franky G's turn as Junior Moreno, a live wire who negotiates all that life dishes him with charm, brute force, or simple perseverance is amazing.

the climax is stunning and all i can say is this is like Shakespeare in Spanish Harlem. amazing.

a multiple festival award winner: best film at south by southwest, special jury at Sundance, special jury at Miami, this film will grab you on the first frame and hold you until the final subway departs.

The beauty of the movie lies in it's grittiness. It's a small intimate portrait that subscribes to the idea that there are stories every where that's worth being told and we as audience members have the responsibility to appreciate that. Manito isn't wholly original, nor is it groundbreaking, but it is a story, and a strong story at that which provides a certain truth that has been a long absent from the regular Hollywood fare. Take the time to watch this film. I guarantee you won't be dissapointed.

This is the story of two brothers in a Latino area of a big city. The older brother has just been released from prison and is determined not to let his younger brother, Manny (the title is an affectionate nickname), follow the same path. Manny has excelled in school and is graduating from high school, but he is not home free yet.

The film takes place over 48 hours, and was filmed in 25 days in a gritty, documentary style. The actors were mostly new to film, which probably added to the realism. It's the performances that make this film, which won a Special Jury Prize for ensemble acting at Sundance. As is often the case, it's not an easy film to watch, but it's worth it. Seen at Cinequest (the San Jose, CA film festival) on 2/24/2002.

Here is a film (along with "City of God") that explores a violent world infested by drugs--and uses a cast of non-professional actors. Shot for much less money than the Brazilian masterpiece, Manito is something of a "minor masterpiece". I had heard that the images and editing are jarring. But I discovered it to be, on the contrary, a beautifully photographed film, the grain structure of which reminded me of 8mm Ecktachrome stocks from the 1960s...Furthermore, the camera choreography is a daring risk to mimick the exuberance of a passionate family in the throes of a tumultuous celebration that turns to tragedy. This is a style that could not be more perfectly suited to the material. The highest compliment one can say about these incredibly brutal yet beautiful images is that nothing like this has ever been seen before. "Manito" is better than virtually every other film made in America this year. That's not saying a whole hell of lot in year that has given us one bomb after the next. But "Manito" is a significant achievement.

I just watched this film for my Latin-American Cinemas class. I wasn't overly impressed with "Manito," but it is a good film with a realistic, inspired feel. I can tell Eric Eason based the script on real-life experiences, and didn't simply recycle old Hollywood crap. The narrative definitely has uniqueness. The scene on the subway train, where Manny is with his girlfriend and two hoodlums taunt them, is an extremely powerful scene with no cheap cinematic devices. Since it's shot guerilla-style on hand-held digital camera (don't quote me if I'm wrong), there are no pretentious extreme close-ups or anything like that. We're simply taken in by the drama of the situation. The acting is good, though I don't suppose many of the actors were playing characters that drifted from their regular personalities. Franky G, who plays the lead, is a fine actor and it's nice to see that he moved onto bigger movies like "Confidence" and "The Italian Job." All in all, the film is not highly memorable, but it was written and directed from the heart, which is what I appreciated and why I could forgive little flaws like the clumsy lighting (since most of it was natural light that really didn't do the job). Also, I could've done without the heavy-handed symbolism of the train coming in during the opening titles and moving out at the conclusion.

My score: 7 (out of 10)