‘Story Ave’ Review: Asante Blackk Stands Out in Old School NY Food Drama – SXSW
Name the story of a young black man after a traffic stop flute veil Vibes, but Aristotle Torres‘s feature-length debut dates back to early ’90s hip-hop moral tales like Boaz Yakin. fresh Or Ernest Dickerson’s juice — The wave that followed John Singleton’s influential figure boyz the hoodSurprisingly, given Torres’ history of videos such as Ludacris and Nas, the soundtrack is less rapping and uses unexpected needle drops like Pavarotti’s version of “La Donna e Mobile” , documents scenes of spray can anarchy on the New York subway.
However, for all other methods, story avenue Its young protagonist is very much a “hood movie” in the sense that he is constrained and defined by where he lives, in this case the Bronx.thank you black), the talented young artist was distressed by the recent death of his disabled brother. Kadir runs a graffiti called Outside the Lines with his crew, leading his dangerous but charismatic Skemes (Melvin Gregg), desperate to prove himself to the older man. . That’s why I came to point my gun at a random stranger at a Story Avenue stop one night.
In an event clearly inspired by a true story, Qadir chooses Puerto Rican MTA conductor Luis (Luis Guzman). deadpan). Instead, he takes Qadir to a Cuban cafe for dinner and eventually buys a gun from him, not knowing that it actually belongs to Skemes. Just as Qadir has lost his father figure, Luis has also lost his son, and the fight to win his son’s trust turns into a tug of war when Skemes hears of it. There is a glimmer of light in Kadir when a caring teacher opens up the possibility of a place at an art school. Outside the Bronx, he thinks). And with a ferocious scheme on his tail, that decision might be out of his hands anyway.
All the while, the Bronx is changing around him. story avenue What stands out from the crowd is the treatment of “The Hood” as a living entity, both in script and on screen in DoP’s Eric Blanco’s exquisite composition.There is a melancholy sound here the last black man in san franciscoand in this regard, the Outside the Lines crew is the keeper of the flames, guarding the turf like sharks. west side story (“Rule 1: Always respect the hood. If you don’t respect it, who else will?”). Qadir was drawn to this keen sense of urban philosophy that “the streets tell you who you are”, and graffiti, disparagingly called “big bubble letters”, made him bristle when hearing his art. Become.
The plight it sets up is sketchy at the time, but the performance is not. Guzman is as dependable as ever, never saintly, and he’s probably one of the few actors who can play this kind of role, but Blackk is the revelation here, destiny has taken him all the way. It certainly awakens lost souls at crossroads that may go. Either way (fame and fortune or prison/death). Greg, on the other hand, is probably the movie’s secret weapon. Schemes is remembered as “a crazy motherfucker, but nasty in the paint,” and that’s exactly how he plays. The final showdown between Kadir and Skemes may have been a little too successful, as it’s not as big a shootout as you’d expect.
Still not story avenue Looking at gentrification from the other side, what’s most remarkable is the reflection on the inner lives of the graffiti gangs and their quest for immortality. “Everybody wants to go to Heaven,” Skemes sighs.
title: story avenue
festival: SXSWNarrative Feature Competition
directed by: Aristotle Torres
Screenwriter: Bonce Thompson and Aristotle Torres
cast: Asante Black, Luis Guzman, Melvin Gregg
Execution time: 1 hour 34 minutes
