MANITO
Rating out of 4 stars: 3 Reviewed by Harvey Karten The 7th Floor Director: Eric Eason Writer: Eric Eason Cast: Franky G., Leo Minaya, Manuel Cabral, Jessica Morales, Julissa Lopez, Hector Gonzalez, Panchito Gomez Screened at: Tribeca, NYC, 4/23/02
So many Americans have relatives in other places that when you travel to villages anywhere from Canada to Kierabati and tell the people you meet, "I come from (say) New York," you'll inevitably get the excited response, "Really? Do you know my cousin Louie," or "You must have met my uncle Pepe!" Maybe they think that New York is a town like their own, one big happy family. You may have to tell your foreign hosts that there's a good chance if you come from Park Slope you never even set foot in Inwood and if you're from Flushing you may have not even seen Riverdale, much less pass by on the road. I'll have to admit that, though a lifelone New Yorker, I may have passed through Washington Heights by train but I've never put my Hush Puppies on the ground there. Washington Heights is a vibrant neighborhood inhabitated largely by Dominicans, but I don't think you'll find much in Fodor's or Frommer's guide that would encourage travelers to take some time there. Such is the benefit of movies like "Manito," which in just 85 minutes takes armchair travelers to that area in the northern reaches of Manhattan island that they'd not otherwise get to know at all.
The forty-eight hour time period of Eric Eason's film which plays at the brand new Tribeca Film Festival in one of Manhattan's tres chic neighborhoods centers on one family, particularly on two young men, 17-year-old Manny Moreno (Leo Minaya, who has just graduated second in his high school class and will be the first in his family to attend college (on a full scholarship no less), and his older brother Junior (Franky G.). Junior and Manny might remind theatergoers of the brothers in Arthur Miller's play about a cop and doctor, the former accusing the physician of earning his bright future only because the police officer was willing to stay home to take care of their aging and ailing father. In this situation, Junior is not going to have the benefits of a higher education because he spent several years in jail, taking the rap for his drug-dealer father Oscar (Manuel Cabral) who never visited him during the entire time that Junior sacrificed his youth.
Though the film is brief, spending quite a bit of time listing the end credits for the scores of participants in the neighborhood who lent at least a couple of seconds of screen time to the project, Eason dawdles quite a bit, maybe too long, during the opening segment to impart to us the spirit of the area. The teens are really not much different from young high-school seniors anywhere, a bit more assertive toward the women while the women, for their part, gamely talk in an earthy manner in response. As the real narrative unfolds, we see that Junior and Manny not only appears to be from different families but, though they seem to love each other (Junior makes sure to tell everyone that), they each distinct personalities. Manny is on the quiet side but blossoms at his graduation party which his uncle (Hector Gonzalez), a gentlemanly chap, arranges. For his part Junior, a muscular guy that you wouldn't want to alienate, is busy jumping about the 'hood in his van, angry at the world, in one case throwing back a six-foot sandwich that his bodega- owning father made for the party. Considering how Junior took the rap for his dad, the hostilities between them go beyond the Oedipal. Not until Eason is three-fourths done with his story does an event occur that (as the cliche goes) changes the lives of the brothers forever.
Eason, who wrote and directed this gritty adventure, has been influenced by the Dogme 95 manifesto, shooting in digital video using, it seems, only natural light which keeps much of the story in a dusky ambience. Kyle Henry's editing is on the frantic side while photographer Didier Gertsch cuts through the area like a man in a hurry with a mission to convey the feeling of Washington Heights to the audience. While there's no breaking new ground in "Manito," we get to empathize with both brothers, envy the lives of music and partying to which the youths are involved, while recognizing that most of the people here are economically disadvantaged. As the story's riveting center, Franky G. makes an astonishing debut. With no formal training in the thespian arts, he exudes magnetism and energy, spending the day as a painting contractor who picks up Mexicans at a street corner only to show up two hours late to an appointment. (The woman who hires him appreciates Junior for more than the paint job.) "Manito" is a vibrant bit of street theater that could lead to a film career for Franky, a dynamic dramatization of dirunal Dominicana.
Not Rated. Running time: 85inutes. (C) 2002 by Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com
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