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Movies / On DVD / The Price of Sugar
The Price of Sugar

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The Price of Sugar (2007)

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Reviews Counted: 18

Fresh: 13

Rotten:5

Average Rating: 6.6/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release:Sep 26, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: Paul Newman narrates this documentary about the corrupt system surrounding sugar production in the Dominican Republic. Director Bill Haney follows the story of Father Christopher Hartley, a Spanish... Paul Newman narrates this documentary about the corrupt system surrounding sugar production in the Dominican Republic. Director Bill Haney follows the story of Father Christopher Hartley, a Spanish priest who is determined to help the Haitians who work in slave-like conditions at their neighboring country's sugar plantations. [More]

Director: Bill Haney

Director: Bill Haney
Screenwriter: Bill Haney, Peter Rhodes
Producer: Bill Haney, Eric Grunebaum
Composer: Claudio Ragazzi
Studio: Metroscape Entertainment

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Release:

Sep 23, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • The Price of Sugar exposes the tragic, near slave-like conditions of Haitian plantation workers in the Dominican sugar industry. Narrated by Paul Newman, the film is a disturbing, emotionally affecting, and yet optimistic look at this largely unknown atrocity.The crew put its own life at risk to capture incriminating footage that will change forever the way we look at our dinner table.
  • Source: New Yorker Video
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    Reviews for The Price of Sugar

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    These Haitian sugar slaves are starved, beaten, disappeared, malnourished, and lacking uncontaminated drinking water, even as other far more privileged foreigners frolic in the waters of the DR's tropical tourist paradise nearby.

    Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
    04/18/09
    Prairie Miller
    NewsBlaze
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    07/22/08
    Joe Leydon
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
    01/03/08
    Anthony Kaufman
    Time Out New York

    Price of Sugar is designed to educate, outrage and finally spur viewers to action. That it does so with vibrant visual style and an engaging narrative makes it that rare consciousness-raising film that's not only good for you, but a joy to watch.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    11/15/07
    Ann Hornaday
    Washington Post
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    It's been conceived and executed as an instrument of human rights and a tool of shame. But it's the political controversy that's at the heart of this movie -- the contempt that one poor country feels toward its somewhat poorer neighbor.

    Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
    11/09/07
    Wesley Morris
    Boston Globe
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    In this compelling documentary, narrated by Paul Newman, Hartley comes off as a man of intense will, and he needs to be.

    Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
    11/02/07
    Walter V. Addiego
    San Francisco Chronicle
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    ... even those naturally sympathetic to the film's position may feel like they're taking their medicine.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
    10/21/07
    Andy Klein
    Los Angeles CityBeat

    Haney doesn't strive for balance, and he doesn't have to; the images speak for themselves.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
    10/19/07
    Lael Loewenstein
    Los Angeles Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    The tainted relationship between the dessert on our tables and the suffering of those who produce it gets a horrifying workout in Bill Haney’s multilayered account of Haitian cane cutters in the Dominican Republic.

    Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
    10/18/07
    Ella Taylor
    L.A. Weekly

    Illuminating and deeply distressing.

    Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
    09/28/07
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    New York Daily News
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    [A] no-frills doc, which isn't done any favors by Newman's monotone narration.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    09/28/07
    Chad Greene
    Boxoffice Magazine

    Uplifting and enraging in equal measures, Bill Haney's The Price of Sugar is a powerful issue-driven documentary that also happens to have one of the most compelling heroes of any movie this year.

    Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
    09/28/07
    Jim Hemphill
    Reel.com

    Like most documentary polemics, it simplifies the issues it confronts and selects facts that bolster its black-and-white, heroes-and-villains view of raw economic power.

    comment Comment
    09/28/07
    Stephen Holden
    New York Times
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A portrait of a modern-day saint, a courageous Spanish Catholic priest in the Dominican Republic with a ministry of compassion to poor, enslaved Haitian immigrants. One of the best documentaries of the year.

    Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
    09/27/07
    Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
    Spirituality and Practice

    Few will doubt the priest's claims given the Dominican Republic's appalling human-rights record; one only wishes they had been explored in an objective documentary format.

    Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
    09/27/07
    Maria Garcia
    Film Journal International

    Profoundly disturbing.

    Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
    09/27/07
    Andrew O'Hehir
    Salon.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    A vivid, visual experience that will easily convince skeptics that slavery is alive and well.

    Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
    09/15/07
    Harvey S. Karten
    Compuserve

    In the end, this is a fevered tale of an outsider, spurred on by his belief in God, who believes his role in life is to save a people, and for a while it seems he is making a difference. What film can top that nowadays?

    Full Review Source: New York Theatre Wire | comment Comment
    09/12/07
    Brandon Judell
    New York Theatre Wire

    The director's investigation has a clear-sighted persuasiveness, as well as a formidable, complex central figure in the person of Father Christopher Hartley.

    Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
    09/11/07
    Nick Schager
    Slant Magazine
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
    08/18/07
    Screen International
     
     
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    Latest News for The Price of Sugar

    May 03, 2009: These Haitian sugar slaves are starved, beaten, disappeared, malnourished, and lacking uncontaminated drinking water, even as other far more privileged foreigners frolic in the waters of the DR's tropical tourist paradise nearby. Opens in new window
    More...

    September 09, 2008: These Haitian sugar slaves are starved, beaten, disappeared, malnourished, and lacking uncontaminated drinking water, even as other far more privileged foreigners frolic in the waters of the DR's tropical tourist paradise nearby. Opens in new window
    More...

    December 14, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
    More...

    November 20, 2007: Fifteen Documentaries Vie for Oscar Consideration
    A little over a week after reporting the names of the dozen films being submitted for Oscar consideration in the animated feature film category, Variety has given readers the... More...

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