Awards Schmawards; "Chop Shop" (2008)

I did not actually watch the Academy Awards last night, but I'm glad that many of the nominees whom I predicted would win did in fact win (Penelope Cruz!). Hitting 18 out of 24 categories on the head ain't too shabby, if I may say so myself.

If you were dismayed by the absence of Gomorrah and/or Wendy and Lucy from the list of contenders, both of which are extraordinary films, as Jacko would say, you are not alone (the latter film was deservedly honored at the Independent Spirit Awards the day before the Oscars).

As prestigious as the history of the Academy Awards is, the Academy also has a tradition of snubbing some of the world's greatest performers, directors, writers, cinematographers, etc. until they've determined that the said performer, director (usually), writer, cinematographer, etc. isn't long for this world. Then, by way of conciliation, it presents them with an honorary Oscar [e.g. Robert Altman].

Well, my sage friends, as you know, an Oscar does not always a good film make. Of course, the opposite is true as well. Each year, some of the most compelling films go unnoticed by the Academy et al.

Take Chop Shop. Written and directed by Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart), Chop Shop was released in the U.S. in 2008 to favorable critical reviews, but was seen by few audiences (much like Azazel Jacobs' "Momma's Man" (2008), a good film and an original take on a somewhat well-tread premise). I watched it for the first time tonight and it renewed my faith in the possibilities of American cinema (which needs renewal quite often).

Compared by Roger Ebert to Hector Babenco's "Pixote" (1981), "Chop Shop" centers on a young orphan named Alejandro, who works in the Willets Point, auto-body district of Queens in New York City (which the mayor is seeking to demolish. There was a great deal of public outcry this summer over the city's plans to evict the shop owners under eminent domain laws and redevelop the land). Alejandro reunites with his elder (though less responsible) sister, Isamar and together, by hook or crook, they save up enough money to purchase a used taco van, which they imagine will allow them the financial stability and self-sufficiency (i.e. agency) they lack.

Though there are obvious similarities between Chop Shop and Pixote (an excellent Brazilian film also about a child orphan, but which is a great deal more intense), this movie should really be placed (if it must be placed anywhere) alongside a film such as Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy (2008). Both films not only reveal the hopes, relationships, frustrations, and hardships of the working poor, but it also the tests the veracity, legitimacy, and ultimately, the feasibility of the "American Dream" in the twenty-first century for all Americans.

Upon reflection, the closing shot of Alejandro scattering grain for the pigeons is an extremely apt analogue for the precarious circumstances in which he and Isamar live. Perhaps it is also an appropriate metaphor for the way in which a large population of Americans are living at this very moment--barely pulling through, but buoyed up by an indomitable hope.