POTENTIAL SPOILER in first paragraph
A very interesting work that revolves around an apparently true incident where a Panamanian woman committed suicide rather then be raped by U.S. soldiers. The soldiers then riddled her body with bullets and were sent home after six days of punishment for "fraternizing with civilians" and wrongful discharging of their weapons. I vaguely remember this incident which didn't get much coverage in the states.
The film could have devolved into a typical leftist "oppresed third world good / imperialist U.S. bad" propaganda piece but the director has a more holistic vision to allow that. The conflicting needs of the people are addressed in the film and no easy answers are given. The performances are very good throughout the movie and the dance numbers are very entertaining if weird. The only weak part is a re-occurring "everyman" who shows up at times to look on in disbelief. The suicide is very disturbing to watch.
The film resembles an art film commissioned for PBS. That's not a criticism just to give you an idea of what it's like. The print that is circulating on video in the US is very murky. I would see this again if the print could be improved.
A very interesting work that revolves around an apparently true incident where a Panamanian woman committed suicide rather then be raped by U.S. soldiers. The soldiers then riddled her body with bullets and were sent home after six days of punishment for "fraternizing with civilians" and wrongful discharging of their weapons. I vaguely remember this incident which didn't get much coverage in the states.
The film could have devolved into a typical leftist "oppresed third world good / imperialist U.S. bad" propaganda piece but the director has a more holistic vision to allow that. The conflicting needs of the people are addressed in the film and no easy answers are given. The performances are very good throughout the movie and the dance numbers are very entertaining if weird. The only weak part is a re-occurring "everyman" who shows up at times to look on in disbelief. The suicide is very disturbing to watch.
The film resembles an art film commissioned for PBS. That's not a criticism just to give you an idea of what it's like. The print that is circulating on video in the US is very murky. I would see this again if the print could be improved.