Product Description

A CHICAGO GANG LEADER AND HIS ALTER EGO RECALL THE CASE OF GANG MEMBERS RAILROADED TO PRISON IN 1942.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16676 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
• Released on: 2003-05-27
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
This is a filmed play, rather than a stage piece reimagined for the movies, which is probably why the general audience never cozied up to this intense picture. But Zoot Suit has a couple of significant attractions. First, it's a landmark Latino work from the pre-indie period, directed by Luis Valdez, an important figure in Chicano theater. Valdez based his acclaimed play on the zoot-suit riots of 1940s Los Angeles, when a group of young Chicano men were railroaded into jail on a murder charge. The director later found a mainstream audience with his juicy rock & roll bio La Bamba, and perhaps a bigger budget might have garnered Zoot Suit the same kind of acceptance. Daniel Valdez, the director's brother, plays the hero and also composed the flavorful songs; but the big draw here is the sensational performance of Edward James Olmos. A brooding actor just beginning his screen career, Olmos plays a flamboyant, hectoring, all-seeing figure called El Pachuco--a Greek chorus with attitude to burn. The wild contours of the zoot suit fit Olmos as snugly as his white shirt and black tie from Miami Vice. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

A Chicano West Side Story -- entertaining and informative.
Director Luis Valdez has done an outstanding job in bringing us this highly entertaining and informative picture of life in LA in the 1940's. The music, song, dance, and story in itself will make you cry, laugh and want to swing along with the film. Edward James Olmos demonstrates his many talents as he sings, dances, and plays El Pachuco, trying to convince the hero (Daniel Valdez) to use violence rather than intelligence to overcome prejudice by "Anglos" toward the Latin culture. Great theatrical props and settings along with an in-show audience makes you feel truly part of the whole production. Loved it!

Luis Valdez is the Mexican American Shakespeare!
This movie is California history
come to life.
It is a Mexican American story
told by the master.
Has has all the elements of a classic:
tragedy, love and good music!

Edward James Olmos makes this movie!
This movie is worth watching if for no other reason than Edward James Olmos' tour de force performance as the mythical spirit "El Pachuco".

Those interested in historical information regarding the true story around which this musical revolves are encouraged to seek out "The Zoot-Suit Riots: The Psychology of Symbolic Annihilation" by Mauricio Mazon - available via Amazon.