Gangster's Paradise:
Jerusalema (2010/Anchor Bay DVD)
Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: C Feature: A-
Lucky Kunene is a bright, smart, and influential young boy...
but sometimes that’s not enough. Raised
in the slums of South Africa
he attends 'The School of Life' where his teachers are crime and corruption,
and only the strong survive. He
graduated with high honors in hijacking cars and then moved on into the even
more dangerous life in the city, of leading a crew to get rid of those who corrupt
others, then soon and quickly rose to power and is hated by slumlords, resented
by druglords, feared by law enforcement, and yet the locals hailed him as a
hero and called him a modern day Robin Hood, but how long can he his dreams
last? In a city where the ends can
justify any means can Lucky Kunene survive both criminal factions and law
enforcement agencies whom would like nothing better to see him dead?
Can you blame a man for the world he was born in? Lucky Kunene
was not born a villain, but if life taught him anything, life doesn't play
fair. The only way to get ahead was to
take from others, and crime does pay. But after moving to the city he finds there
are worse crimes than his, slumlords ripping off tenants, drugs dealers and
prostitutes, and lawmen who only protect the 'Whites'. He starts taking things into his own hands the
'Hillbrow Non-profit Organization' buying up buildings from the slumlords,
tossing out drug dealers and prostitutes, virtually starts his own little
empire. Everything he does angers those
who are power, but can he stay a step ahead of before they serve his head on a
platter?
Based on a true story, this film tells a tale of one man's struggle to live in
the high crime cities of South
Africa. While normally I don't root for mafias, I this
case didn't root for the government either. You can sympathize with main character and his
struggle, in a city where only 16% of the population is white and get 90% of
the tax revenue for their communities, and the black communities get only 10%
of it, it is not hard to imagine life would be rough and how laws would be
even more crooked. I enjoyed the film
and it pretty much sums up how countries in power can abuse and turn a
blind eye to third world countries and it’s people. Extras include Commentary with
Director/Writer, deleted scenes, and trailers.
- Ricky Chiang
