Ghosts of Cite Soleil | 
| Directors: Asger Leth, Milos Loncarevic
Actors: Winson Jean, James Petit Frere, Eleonore Senlis, Wyclef Jean
Studio: VELOCITY / THINKFILM
Category: DVD
List Price: $27.98
Buy New: $9.38
You Save: $18.60 (66%)
New (30) Used (15) from $3.33
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 9356
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Genre: none
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
ESRB: Teen
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: THKD55345D
UPC: 821575553452
EAN: 0821575553452
ASIN: B000TLMWNI
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: November 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The reality of life today in haiti unfolds before us as we get to know two brothers & their stories intimately. They are 2pac & bily hatian gang leaders who strive to make better choices in a world with no choices at all. Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 11/20/2007 Run time: 85 minutes Rating: Ur
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 depressing but riveting documentary June 29, 2009
Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA)
According to the U.N., the most dangerous place on earth is a slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti known as Cite Soleil, an area of unimaginable poverty ruled over by armed gangs dubbed by the locals "Chimeres," which, loosely translated, means "ghosts." For the most part, these Chimeres have been active supporters of the Aristide government, which, in turn, has often paid them to intimidate and do violence against anyone who might have the temerity to dissent from the official party line (though the government has long denied doing so).
The documentary "Ghosts of Cite Soleil" focuses on two brothers - one who goes by the name Haitian 2Pac and the other Bily - who, at the time the movie was filmed, made up two of the five major chieftains who ruled the area. 2Pac, who describes himself on camera as a gangster/rapper and as "pure Mafia," nevertheless sees himself as a defender of the downtrodden who have been largely abandoned by the higher-ups and powerbrokers in his country. Thus, his devotion to the Aristide government is seen as tenuous at best. His younger brother, Bily, however, would appear to have political aspirations of his own, so he is more overtly loyal to the corrupt leader.
The movie was shot mainly in February 2004, which, as fortune would have it, was also the precise moment when Aristide was forcibly removed from office by groups of armed rebels, many of them former soldiers of the army that Aristide himself had earlier disbanded. Thus, the latter portion of the movie takes place in the not-much-more-stable post-Aristide era.
It's hard to imagine a more despairing film than "Ghosts of Cite Soleil," as even 2Pac himself states right up front that in this impoverished hellhole "you never live long, you always die young." Given such an assessment, is there even the tiniest glimmer of hope to brighten the lives of the people who live there? Well, there's Lele, a compassionate French relief worker who devotes her life to providing medical assistance and emotional comfort to these citizens trapped in unremitting poverty and endless cycles of violence - and even helps to broker peace among some of the rival chieftains at a crucial moment. But that moment is an ephemeral and fleeting one, as the status quo of violence, hopelessness and mutual distrust is quickly reestablished there once the crisis is over.
If the movie makes one thing clear, it is that the situation in Haiti is hopelessly complex and entangled, with acts of violence coming from all sides in the daily struggle for survival and in the endless jockeying for power that takes place there. Even the brothers can't figure out if they're really allies or enemies of one another. And always, always, grinding the people down and preventing them from making a better life for themselves, there is the poverty - the debilitating, soul-crushing and inexorable poverty that rules their lives.
Congratulations to director Asger Leth and cameramen Milos Loncarevic and Frederick Jacobi for their personal courage in being willing to thrust themselves into a situation so fraught with volatility and danger. For there is rarely a moment in the movie when guns are not cocked and at the ready - and tempers not flaring. In fact, there are times when you have to remind yourself that what you're watching is not a staged docudrama but a real-time documentary - so close do the filmmakers get to actual violence.
This is definitely a must-see documentary - but prepare yourself for heartbreak.
 Ghosts of Cite Soleil March 19, 2009
Ruth Tucker (River Falls, WI)
This film portrayed how life was in Haiti just a few years ago. Ghosts of Cite Soleil is an excellent film, but I would not recommend showing it to children; it has strong language.
 Out of context January 11, 2009
C. Biewald (CMB 617)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Cite Soleil is an important movie to see and understand, if it is kept in context. The film portrays conditions that are real and are not well understood throughout most of the developed world. It gives criminals and gangsters a real face, and lets the world see that it is truly the conditions of Cite Soliel, the abject poverty and decimating hunger that offer no path to real success, or even real happiness. The footage is excellent and shockingly powerful. With fitting music, the cinematic features of the film stand out.
The picture is however, dangerous. It is a twisted misrepresentation of the situation in Haiti. The film makers bias and agenda are clear. Each and every press voice over are the standard right wing propaganda that have been proven false countless times in recent literature on the subject. Without a real understanding of the situation, the vast popular support for Aristide, the United States support of the violent and oppressive Haitian military and undermining of the legitimate government, and Billy and 2pac's loud mouth and bragging about a "relationship" with Aristide, the worry is that people who pick up this film will come away without any understanding of recent Haitian history will be completely ignorant to what the U.S. role and responsibility toward Haiti should be.
Universal Story of Ghetto Life November 27, 2008
Rudy (Woodbridge, VA)
Riveting snapshot of life in the Western Hemisphere's most violent and impoverished ghetto during the last weeks of the Aristide government. On one hand the documentary keeps the audience on the edge of their seat trying to figure out what's going to happen next. But for those who've experienced ghetto life the ending is all too obvious and tragic. Highly Recommended!
do not be fooled by appearance August 1, 2008
Anaiis Nin (Norway, Europe)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This "documentary" might seem without proper structure, yet it provides you with all you need to know. Yes, the historical background is not provided in depth, but so what? You expect to learn on this from this movie? Go read a book! You have all the tools you need to judge. I've been watching it alone first, then with a roommate and then with a Haitian. And I rarely see any move more than once. Anyhow, here are the results: personally, I was shattered. My roommate is an idiot. Haitian was not, so we really bonded on this one. I was surprised my roommate (a young, intelligent man in his twenties) could "dis-interprete" the strong message this movie has. Ok, maybe it's this generation z thing or something, but if this is possible, I love this documentary even more. So it is up to you to notice WHO carries guns and who doesn't, who is supposed to help and who doesn't, who expresses very pathological behaviour, who kills, in short, who has the power and who doesn't. There are a lot of people in Cite Soleil struggling to survive and many of them actually do not deal drugs and do not posess guns. Keep that in mind, let the beauty and the charisma of 2Pac not fool you, and you'll be well off. Climb out of gangsta syndrome and see the big picture.
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