The City (La Ciudad)

A character study of hope and frustration in the Third World underbelly of New York City, David Riker's La Ciudad offers a quartet of social depression and hardship vignettes with art film airs, depicting a handful of Latino immigrants struggling with poverty-class life. It's a pandering but moving picture with a glaze of fresh-from-film school pretension about it that sometimes overshadows the notably raw and unrestrained emotions of its non-professional cast. However, even though the deliberateness of it all intrudes on the narrative at times, the end result is still a beautifully rendered social document of the striving and strife faced by many new Americans. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include the 28-minute "making-of" featurette “The Making-Of a Community Film,” and trailers. Bottom line: a small but decent extras package for an interesting if flawed film.] (R. Blackwelder)[DVD Review—Oct. 20, 2015—Oscilloscope, 88 min., in English, Spanish & Korean w/English subtitles, not rated, $34.99—Making its latest appearance on DVD, 1999's La Cuidad (The City) features a fine transfer and Dolby Digital stereo sound. Extras include a “Cinema from Below” making-of featurette (28 min.), a “Fifteen Years Later” retrospective with writer-director David Riker and cast members (24 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a beautiful-looking presentation of an often-moving film that is even more relevant today in its depiction of Latin American immigrants in New York City.]