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You won't be disappointed!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

well done documentary that, for the most part, just lets the camera roll while people reveal themselves. you know it's a good film when you immediately start researching it after watching. i read many reviews and commentaries after watching the film as i had many questions that were not explored by the filmmakers. some were merely missing scene- setters like giving a clear name and picture of each person from the start as i was confused at times as to who was who. some people were identified, but others not so well. (i find the misidentification of the victim's last name by some reviewers lamenting how he had been dehumanized to be ironic given that the assailants themselves didn't know his name for sure). other omissions, i think, were subtle clues as to the filmmaker's attitude. the victim himself was somewhat dehumanized by the director's decision to give almost no background about him other than that he came to the US for economic reasons and had a family, here and in Mexico. it appears he was (but it is very hard to confirm this - i don't know) in violation of immigration law. the filmmaker's official website does actually mention "undocumented" once, but this is not obvious. i understand why that fact was purposely left out as this film is about racism and senseless behavior, not public policy. however, even the film itself eventually specifically asks why people act/feel the way they do - just because? learned from environment? taught that way by their parents/community? etc...? public policy has a lot to do with shaping our worldview. in real life, the "story" is not made up carte blanche in a vacuum, unmoored by any past circumstances.i am not trying to offend anyone and am not "blaming the victim", but rather - i think this is a missed opportunity to try to explain what is an aspect of why there is such a strong current of resentment towards immigrants, especially Hispanics, in the US: the flagrant violation of US law combined with the (seeming) failure to want to be an "American" (whatever that means). the speaking of the predominant language of a country (that would be English in the US - i know - my "i"s are not capitalized, nor are the beginnings of sentences - i'm spoiled by iOS) is a sign of efforts to assimilate. the reviewers excoriating the "USA! USA!" rally i guess just don't get this. if one wanted to successfully live for years in Mexico one had better learn Spanish real quick. we are given no indication how the victim lived his life, other than he had a girlfriend. we have no idea how he fit into the community that is being revealed to us. there is little attempt by the filmmakers to explore how pervasive "Hispanic" culture and language actually are in Shenandoah, or how "assimilated" recent immigrants are. there is no mention of any problems with integration of African-Americans or any other minority group. we are left with an avoidable tragedy of a clique of drunken teenage boys beating up a seemingly random Hispanic man badly enough that he dies and the conclusion that the police really didn't care and possibly purposefully undermined an attempt at getting to the truth of what happened. the film seemed to be an indictment of the whole town without showing us the 'whole' town.i remain confused about the final sentences and "justice" meted out. there is not really a satisfying "wrap-up" given, even if it were to just be a scrolling summary with the end-credits. very little of the actual trial was presented. part of the subtitle is "... the American Dream on Trial". what? where'd that come from? there was no attempt to define "the American Dream". in fact, you could say the victim had an Dream and it ended with his murder. i do think that if you approach this documentary as an attempt to focus very narrowly on a small town, how its fortunes have changed, and its individuals and overall "culture", then you will be somewhat satisfied, but there remain large gaps in the picture we are presented. the demolition of the town's old Catholic Church was nice reality/symbolism. i just felt a larger opportunity had been missed by the narrow focus. the power of this film is the decision to focus mostly on just letting people speak for themselves. even the woman with the microphone at the "USA Rally" felt compelled to admonish the more radical shouters in the crowd.i was left with many competing thoughts and emotions regarding the mentality and behavior of many of the people (and our society) in the film. this is probably why i felt strongly enough to offer a review - not something i do very often. this speaks to the power of the film: to give the viewer pause, and stimulate some reflection, both of self and of "tradition". one is left to once again ponder, like the main cooperating perpetrator, how such a tragedy happens ... there are no simple explanations and few people are really very self-aware, teenagers and adults alike ... concluding "they're just a bunch of racists" might be true, but fails to enlighten anyone as to the "why", and thus fails to offer any hopeful analysis or suggestions for how our society can minimize such mindsets and behaviors.fyi: i stumbled on another tragic documentary yrs ago on PBS late one night, it is now posted on Vimeo: i highly recommend: "Unless a Death Occurs" by Anjalika Sharma. hazing death at Plattsburgh State. it gives a good comparison for how "active" an interview type documentary might be.

Shenandoah follows the aftermath of a gruesome hate crime that happened on the homonym town. Had this not been a true story, it would sound like a cheap script movie: declining Appalachian town, start high-school football players who provide the only entertainment, bitter people unable to cope with new economic realities, suspicion of outsiders, bigoted locals, corrupt local police...However, this is not fiction, but the grim reality surrounding the murder of a Mexican immigrant. The basic facts are presented on first two minutes. Then, the documentary alternate interviews with the victim's family, one of the accused students, and people in town as they prepare for the trial. This documentary does a good job of trying to look at the crime from different angles without providing validation for the excuses of the perpetrators. Permeating the narratives and the very few on-camera questions is the question of how the ex-ante dehumanization of the victim somehow makes the crime more palatable to the local community. Nonetheless, instead of stating this fact repeatedly, the directors cleverly let the prejudice and the other processes that go on people's mind transpire to the viewer.

Scully. It's all about Scully. The young football player turned stage actor is the pivotal character in this compelling documentary. Scully represents the hope of redemption in the racism that plagues our society.We're all products. This is never more evident in the film than in the scene where people of region rally with t-shirts declaring "I order my food in English." The ignorance is astounding, worthy of outrage, tempered only by this unassailable fact: it is learned behavior.Racist parents rear racist children. Ignorant parents rear ignorant children. These people are a product of their society, of deep, systemic issues in the United States, including an amnesiac's perspective on our origins. We all came from somewhere.To stake some dubious claim, to gather and chant "USA! USA!" ... to be unaware of one's position in this pointless culture of football, of overweight people sneering at anyone whose heritage is not Irish or German...it's just sad.And that's why Scully is so important. Scully shows us how each individual has a much greater power than the blinding ignorance of group-think. Scully starts thinking for himself, putting himself in the shoes of the victim. He starts to feel something where he was just "empty" before.That's called compassion, Scully. And it's more powerful than a million people chanting "USA!" in those ridiculous t-shirts. Good for you.

This amazing and rewarding documentary is one that will not fail to move you. It tells the story of the brutal, racially motivated killing of Mexican Luis Suarez. The assailants were all members of the High Scholl football team and had been drinking. They chased him down and kicked him to death.In this small close knit town all the locals know each other and so the police colluded to ensure there was a cover up. What director David Turnley has done here is allow both sides to have their say – that is those that were willing to appear on camera. This is non judgmental and allows the viewer to make up their own minds. It is a very moving and gripping story and raises issues of racism, truth, honour and justice. I watch a few documentaries bit am no way near a fan, but if they were all of a calibre such as this then I would quite quickly become an addict – absolutely recommended.