Do yourself a favor and watch this movie
When I first saw Chacaleria I was confused, I didn't know if i liked it because I'm Panamanian (living in Texas) or because it was a great film. Luckily the VOD rental lets me see the movie as many time I wanted so I decided to see it again.
Chacaleria looks unique. It's cinematic, I'm not a film critic or someone who knows a lot about cinema but lately movies (especially Panamanian ones) look more like soap operas than a movie. So I don't know if this is the correct term but it looks like nothing I'm used to seeing.
It is super smart. I didn't realize that the plot is not in chronological order until the second viewing. How most of Ronny's scenes are in a 3 day period and told out of order but the story moves so well it didn't matter the first time I saw it but understanding the timeline was super interesting. It really made me think about how one bad day, one bad decision can just derail your life.
The acting is great, very surprising because I've seen most of these actors in different movies and I would have never thought they would be able to act. They really proved me wrong with this.
I never write reviews but this is a cultural gem. The dialogue, the locations, the problems, the solutions... if any piece of cinema represent Panama its Chacaleria.
Like Antonia says at the beginning of the film. "Whats the Panamanian dream? It's just like the American dream... but instead of getting rich its work yourself to death just to escape extreme poverty." Im paraphrasing but it seems to me the Panamanian dream has become the reality of the world lately.
Chacaleria looks unique. It's cinematic, I'm not a film critic or someone who knows a lot about cinema but lately movies (especially Panamanian ones) look more like soap operas than a movie. So I don't know if this is the correct term but it looks like nothing I'm used to seeing.
It is super smart. I didn't realize that the plot is not in chronological order until the second viewing. How most of Ronny's scenes are in a 3 day period and told out of order but the story moves so well it didn't matter the first time I saw it but understanding the timeline was super interesting. It really made me think about how one bad day, one bad decision can just derail your life.
The acting is great, very surprising because I've seen most of these actors in different movies and I would have never thought they would be able to act. They really proved me wrong with this.
I never write reviews but this is a cultural gem. The dialogue, the locations, the problems, the solutions... if any piece of cinema represent Panama its Chacaleria.
Like Antonia says at the beginning of the film. "Whats the Panamanian dream? It's just like the American dream... but instead of getting rich its work yourself to death just to escape extreme poverty." Im paraphrasing but it seems to me the Panamanian dream has become the reality of the world lately.
- rvmcinnis
- Jul 20, 2024