Chop Shop is about Ale, a twelve year old street kid, and his every day grind. He's tough and street smart, hustling candy bars and bootlegged DVDs for a couple bucks but his main job is at an auto repair shop in Queens, NY where the owner allows him to live in a shabby room above the shop in exchange for work. He is joined by his older sister Isamar who comes to live with him. His tough demeanor immediately softens in her presence, she is the only family that he's got. He proudly shows off his room, exclaiming that it has a microwave and refrigerator. He opens the fridge and it's stocked with sodas. What more could anybody want?
Ale's ultimate dream is to own a taco truck and work for himself, pretty ambitious plans for a twelve year old. You almost forget that he is only twelve as his hard exterior and tough lifestyle would be impressive for even someone twice his age. The truck he wants is $4500, a seemingly impossible amount for someone so young, but he's been saving up in his coffee jar keeping track of every dollar. The owner of the shop gets annoyed when Ale counts his day's pay in front of him, but every dollar has to be accounted for. Isamar supports Ale's dream and contributes her own money to the stash in her own ways. In a heartbreaking scene, Ale discovers just how hard she has to work for the extra cash. Despite being much younger than his sister, he tries to take care of her by working twice as hard, buying her sneakers, running through the rain to suggest a tip jar for extra money at the food stand she works at in her day job. Ale learns tough lessons about life and must grow up fast. He's already grown up so fast.
One of the remarkable things about Chop Shop is its naturalistic approach. It reminds me of what I read about Italian neorealism when I watched The Bicycle Thief. Italian neorealism typically deals with the lower working class and poverty, often using real people instead of actors and real locations. From what I understand, virtually no one in the film is a professional actor, just regular people from around the area, and all the scenes in the film are shot on location. In the scene where Ale snatches a purse, no one else is in on it but Ale and the victim, the extras don't even know there's a camera around. (What if Ale actually got caught and beaten by someone trying to stop him?)
The little neighborhood where Ale and the rest of the people in the film live in is dirty and dingy. Scrap metal and debris are everywhere. People just casually roam the streets, hanging out or doing their thing. This is a small neighborhood in Queens next to the old Shea Stadium, but at any given moment you might think they were in a shantytown in Lagos or a favela in Rio. It's kind of shocking that this is all happening in our very own backyard. But it is when Ale and his friend visit Shea Stadium to catch a game do you realize exactly where they are and the stunning contrast between the bright lights and pristine green grass of the stadium with the cold hard concrete world they live in is quite remarkable.
There is also no musical score to this movie until the credits roll at the end. All the sounds from the film are natural. In some of the emotional turning points of the film it would be easy to cue some dramatic music, but I actually appreciate the natural setting the film goes for. The sounds of the street serves as its own soundtrack as they have a rhythm of their own. The sounds of bustling traffic, people chattering, dogs barking, the machinery from the repair shops all have a nice ebb and flow to it. It is kind of a reminder that we're watching real life more so than a movie.
While the film is pretty short, just over 80 minutes, it is more than enough to get us a close look into the every day lives of the characters. By the end of it we feel like we know them all and what they must go through to survive. I feel kind of guilty by leaving them on their own at the end, but a little thankful that I was just a passerby in their lives. The film doesn't really have a true ending point, it sort of just ends. It just reminds us that after the movie is over and we go on to do our own thing, they will still be there doing theirs.
Grade: B+
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