Paraiso Travel (2008)

I am a Colombian who currently resides (legally!) in NYC, and I have actually visited the restaurant (it's in Jackson Heights) featured in the film. I watched the movie in my home country, but i had to watch it again upon moving to NYC. It is a staggering film filled with energy and drama and mystery.What truly makes this film great? It is probably the best film ever made that explores what illegal immigrants go through when they come to this country. Through a series of flashbacks, the main character recalls the journey to get to NYC while trying to track down the girl he came with to the country. The promises made to the Colombians making the trip, what they had to go through, the abuse they took and the number that made it to America alive will leave an emotional mark on the souls of all who watch the film. The best part is that the director is not heavy handed with it. Instead of several overly long tense scenes, he makes the point quickly with several much quicker scenes. It ultimately creates a type of narrative drumbeat, a rhythm if you will, that builds and builds in a subtle and articulate way.Most of the film, however, follows the main character who got separated from his traveling companion and girlfriend, and who is now totally lost and despondent a country where he doesn't even speak the same language. At the risk of sounding political, I would love all the Congressmen and women to watch this film to better understand what people go through and why they often want to leave their home country. That said, the film is not political, but it is profoundly social and cultural, painting a narrative picture that will stay with the viewer for years to go. I highly recommend this movie!!!

It's been done far too many times. If you stare away from the drug trafficking, the immigration issues, poverty, lying, betrayal, family, and most importantly, love, are far better fodder for this film.Some of the images and situations are very real and graphic. You can appreciate it because it doesn't show people who take a plane into the US, get a PhD and work their way up to a six-figure salary. This movie shows addiction, prostitution and squalor--a much more realistic point of view.It's reminiscent of Amores Perros and Buendia Bakery. The plot is quite rich with many twists and turns. The journey in the film is also quite perilous. Upon arrival, the male lead is faced with many tough decisions. His search for Reina also gets to the point of lunacy.I won't completely spoil the ending but the movie is well worth the watch.

I enjoyed watching Paraiso Travel. The plot line is fairly simple, about the hardships gone through by a Colombian emigrant (Marlon) trying to settle into a gritty-looking New York. Several (clever and quite gripping) flashbacks bring Marlon back to the journey from Medellin to the USA. Though it is simple, it is nonetheless shot with much enthusiasm and with an unbiased approach to the plight of emigrants trying to make it from scratch.Yes, it is on the whole quite catchy, without too many off-topic errances which frequently marr such films. The film delivers on its depiction of hard-by emigrant families, never allowing itself to wallow into pessimism despite the hero's predicaments, I believe its message is essentially one of hope.A last note: the ending was in fact very good, a good point for this movie which is worth catching.

Yes, one of the leading women turns out to be manipulative and appalling, but the woman at the restaurant and the woman who runs the stand next door are almost saintly, and even the woman who turns to topless dancing turns out to have a considerable heart.This is not remotely a portrait of all Latin women or men. It is a story about one fairly naive guy who undergoes a series of adventures in a land where he can't speak the language and emerges with new knowledge.Some of it is funny, some of it is heartbreaking. If I have any criticism -- and it's not much of one -- it's that the end titles are way more sophisticated stylistically than the movie they follow, and so they don't quite match. Big criticism, yes? Other than that, it's fascinating to see a film a lot of which takes place in a New York that seems to be a parallel and largely unseen world to the one Anglos like me live in. The idea that New York contains entire cultures that co-exist without much contact is intriguing.