#1067: BAHRANI, Ramin: Chop Shop (2007)

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BAHRANI, Ramin (United States)
Chop Shop [2007]
Spine #1067
Blu-ray


For his acclaimed follow-up to Man Push Cart, Ramin Bahrani once again turned his camera on a slice of New York City rarely seen on-screen: Willets Point, Queens, an industrial sliver of automotive-repair shops that remains perpetually at risk of being redeveloped off the map. It's within this precarious ecosystem that twelve-year-old Ale (Alejandro Polanco) must grow up fast, hustling in the neighborhood chop shops to build a more stable life for himself and his sister (Isamar Gonzales) even as their tenuous circumstances force each to compete with other struggling people and make desperate decisions. A deeply human story of a fierce but fragile sibling bond being tested by hardscrabble reality, Chop Shop tempers its sobering authenticity with flights of lyricism and hope.

84 minutes
Color
5.1 Surround
1:78:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2021
Director/Writers


Written by Ramin Bahrani and Bahareh Azimi.
Bahrani was 32 when he directed Chop Shop.

Other Bahrani films in the Collection:

#1066: Man Push Cart (2005)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Twelve-page wraparound featuring an essay by novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen.

Commentary

From 2006 featuring Bahrani, DP Michael Simmonds, and actor Polanco.

Program

Featuring a conversation among Bahrani, Polanco, actor Razvi, and assistant director Nicholas Elliott about the making of the film.

Conversation

Between Bahrani and writer and scholar Suketu Mehta on the immigrant experience in New York City and on film.

Rehearsal footage

From 2006 featuring Polanco, Razvi, and actors Gonzales, Sowulski, and Zapata.

Trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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