“More than 12 million children are victims of modern slavery. This is the story of one of them who fought back”
There have been many films made over the years that deal with horrific crimes against society. Whether it be about drug dealers, robbery, murder, or many other crimes. One of the worst is slavery or the kidnapping of women and children. City of Dreams portrays a story about these very issues. It is not pleasant to watch. It is absolutely horrifying to watch, but this is the only way Americans can see what is happening in our towns and cities across the United States.
Director: Mohit RamchandaniWriter: Mohit RamchandaniStars: Jason Patric, Paulina Gaitan, Renata Vaca
Jesus (Ari Lopez) is a teenager in Puebla, Mexico. He loves playing soccer with his friends. When he is offered the chance to go to the United States to play soccer at a special school, he dreams that it could be his salvation. Instead, he is sold into slavery. He works grueling hours in a sweatshop making dresses. When he has finally had enough of punishment and abuse at the hands of the men running the operation, he devises an escape plan. Hopefully, he will try to find help from the local Los Angeles police department.
This was a passion project for everyone involved in making this film. It sheds light on an epidemic in this country. Children are supposed to grow up with a life where they have the ability to learn or find a skill or trade and go to college if they want to. Not end up working for rich garnet warehouse owners and cartels. This is not the American dream. The problem is that it is all too familiar to so many children from low-income countries like Mexico and many other third world countries.
The cast is filled with mostly unknown actors, but there are a few that I recognized. A pair of police officers who suspect something is going on involving a suspicious house are played by Jason Patric and Nicole Preston. Both are good in their respective roles. Samm Levine plays Nazarian, the owner of the textile warehouse, Lucky Fashion Group, where the clothing is sent for shipping. He is an unlikable character who ends up in a foot chase with little Jesus at one point in the film. This was done very well. I am sure Samm and Ari got a workout during these scenes. Other characters in the film were also quite unlikable.
Lopez's character has dreams or nightmares that are very visually reflected on screen. These sequences were quite dramatic. The images are shown as a way of seeing the danger this child sees in his mind, which parallels the danger he is going through in his real life. The dichotomy of these two aspects of his life is fascinating to me. As children, we think differently, so we don't always know what is really going on. He had to figure it out on his own and try to do something about it. It was a harrowing experience, to say the least.
There is dark cinematography in this film. I don't know if it was on purpose or not. Every time the film was set in the sweatshop, it was very dark. The outdoor scenes were better lit, but that is because they were shot during the day. If the darkness of the house was a metaphor of some sort, I didn't get it. Other than that, the movie, for a low-budget independent film, wasn't that bad. Writer-director Mohit Ramchandani did a good job.
City of Dream is a heart-wrenching story of survival. It's a story that is repeated too much in this country. Children are our future, as the song says. They are not meant to be sold as slaves for rich cartels and businessmen to enrich themselves without paying their fair share of wages. It's criminal activity at its finest. It's so wrong. This movie depicts that behavior very well. It also shows that children have the will to survive like in the movie. I implore everyone to watch this movie and help prevent this from happening.
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