Chop Shop

Directed by Ramin Bahrani

Film Forum

209 West Houston Street

Review by Julie Colthorpe

 

Ramin Bahrani’s “Chop Shop” tells the story of a young Latino boy named Ale (Alejandro Polanco), his teenage sister Isamar (Isamar Gonzales), and their fight for survival on the mean streets of Willet’s Point, Queens. The place they call home is a small room above the chop shop where Ale works. Situated in the heart of a 20-block stretch of junkyards and chop shops (where stolen cars are dismantled for parts), the 12-year-old struggles to make a better life for himself and his sister.

 

The Prince of Queens: Alejandro Polanco navigates the mean streets of Willet’s Point in Ramin Bahrani’s gripping drama, “Chop Shop.”

 

With childish but ambitious dreams of owning a mobile-food van business, Ale works hard and obsessively saves his earnings in the hope of realizing his dream. Although younger than his sister, Ale’s main concern, other than scraping enough money together, is to look out for her. They never pass moral judgement on each other, and each accepts the decisions the other one makes in order to get by. Upon learning that Isamar is selling sex to truck drivers at night, Ale suffers in silence, never once confronting her on her nocturnal vocation.

 

Shot with a hand-held camera, “Chop Shop” uses non-actors and real life chop shop workers, adding a great sense of realism to the film. The scenes between Ale and Isamar are touching and tender, and the chemistry between them will have you believing that they are indeed brother and sister. Bahrani allows the two actors to improvise on occasion, which enriches the authenticity of their relationship. There is no mention of the children’s parents, and none of the adults in the film seem particularly concerned about the welfare of the children. While such negligence seems disconcerting, it is the cold and harsh reality of their lives — and a bitter pill for outsiders to swallow.

 

“Chop Shop” is a film of raw power set in the unforgiving ghetto that is Willet’s Point, a forgotten no man’s land in one of the world’s richest cities.