The tone of the movie is excessively in thrall to its admittedly charismatic subjects.
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07/20/07
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Ghosts of Cite Soleil (2007)
81
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Reviews Counted:48
Fresh:39
Rotten:9
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Asger Leth risked his life to bring audiences this rare and gritty glimpse at Haitian gangs, poverty and politics.
Theatrical Release:Jun 27, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: An epic portrait of a family and a culture torn apart by poverty and violence, GHOSTS OF CITÉ SOLEIL is a powerful and unsettling documentary that takes us inside the lives of the notorious gang... [More]
Director: Asger Leth
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Reviews for Ghosts of Cite Soleil
Gripping, powerful documentary with a terrific soundtrack and a compelling narrative that resonates on both a personal and political level.
07/20/07
Leth’s gritty, haphazardly edited film plays like a music video, with jagged rap sequences interlaced with urgent handheld Super 8-style footage and a stonking shanty-blues soundtrack.
07/20/07
Raw authenticity makes this a strong contender for a Haitian City of God, but it seems too staged and narrow in its focus to properly convince as a documentary.
07/20/07
Arguably the film romanticises its morally challenged protagonists, but there's little hint of rose-tint in the fear, peril and hopelessness that seem to soak every frame like a cold sweat.
07/17/07
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07/14/07
When it comes to depicting hell on Earth, Ghosts of Cite Soleil burns right through the eyeballs and straight into the soul.
07/13/07
An expressionistic portrait of a society in violent chaos, the film blends cinéma vérité and newsreel footage to capture a modern-day tragedy with Shakespearean overtones.
07/12/07
Cité Soleil is the scariest and most captivating ghost story you’ll see this year.
07/11/07
Fascinating stuff, but this portrait of these scary 'altar boys' is probably the last thing that Haiti's Board of Tourism wants to see in circulation.
07/03/07
Consistently riveting thanks to the sense of sheer terror that infuses its best moments.
06/29/07
[An] indelible documentary, which dives into the brutal heart of a place most people would avoid at all cost.
06/29/07
Shot like a music video, the movie is quick-cutting, glossy and superficial, causing one to wonder about its serious intent.
06/29/07
The director, Asger Leth, isn't terribly organized, but he puts us smack in the middle of everything: petty squabbles, horrible riots, casual shootings, even a love triangle.
06/28/07
The filth, squalor and constant gang menace are all vividly captured in Ghosts of Cité Soleil, a daring yet wearying piece of 16mm filmmaking, defiantly in the tradition of guerrilla feel-bad cinema.
06/28/07
A moving and profoundly upsetting portrait of life near the bottom of the global power pyramid.
06/27/07
Top CriticAsger Leth's Ghosts of Cité Soleil offers a tour of a notorious, hellish slum in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.
06/27/07
Top CriticDanish filmmaker Asger Leth's gritty documentary is an all-too-real -- and rarely seen -- glimpse into the dark side of Aristide's Haiti.
06/27/07
This is a film that burns.
06/27/07
That the most powerful aspect of this story is described rather than shown is one of Ghosts' many mysteries. Another is Leth's remarkable access to his subjects.
06/27/07
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