Rains Of Injustice (aka Tropico
de Sangre/2009/Maya DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: C+
It is not
easy to do a political drama, especially when it has to do with persons who
made the ultimate sacrifice for change.
When Rafael Leonidas Trujillo took over the Dominican Republic as its leader
and dictator in the 1930s, a resistance slowly formed, but he lasted until the
1960s brought that all to an end. Many
suffered and died during his reign and Juan Delancer’s Rains Of Injustice (aka Tropico
de Sangre) tells the story of the three Mirabal Sisters and their battle to
save their country from the dictator, which led to their eventual torture and
much worse.
Michelle
Rodriguez, Luchy Estevez and Sharlene Taulé play sisters Minerva, Patria and
Maria in the latest of at least three narrative features based on the story
that is still not as well known as it should be. I liked this film somewhat, but despite the
good casting and performances, this did not have the impact I expected for the
effort placed here. I wanted to know
more and more could have been shown about the country and its history. The script may be assuming too much knowledge
on the part of the viewer, but I also thought the pacing was a little off. Still, it pulls few punches and is worth a
look, but only expect so much.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is a little soft throughout, though locations are nice
and this is not badly lensed by Director of Photography Ricardo DeAngelis (Tourists, Play) has its moments.
However, one too many classic car is used to let us know what era we are
in and they are all too clean and well lit for their own good. The Dolby Digital Spanish 5.1 mix is limited
in range and dialogue is too much in the center channel, but is better than the
awful English dub which for some reason has better dialogue than the English
subtitles. There are sadly no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
