Paraiso Travel Debut

Depicting the horrors of illegally crossing the U.S. border so starkly that even Lou Dobbs might shed a tear, Paraíso Travel plays its immigrant song with only one chord.

Based on a 2001 novel by Jorge Franco Ramos, who co-wrote the screenplay, Simon Brand’s second film tidily categorizes most of its women characters as whores or mothers, and sometimes both.

Teen temptress Reina (Angelica Blandon) convinces boyfriend Marlon (Aldemar Correa) to leave his comfortable life in Medellín, Colombia, and make the trek with her to New York, where he’ll be rewarded with her virginity.

They’re separated in Brooklyn; Marlon ends up in Jackson Heights—desperate to be reunited with his queen as he cleans urinals—has his manhood insulted by strippers from back home, and shares a squat with John Leguizamo (who also co-produced) as a stuttering s/m impresario.

No cliché about journeying or ironic use of “paradise” goes unused; when Marlon arrives in Atlanta for his rain-soaked cathartic moment, the pitch of the melodrama is so deafeningly high that only employees at nearby Tyler Perry Studios could possibly hear it.

Those who make it to the finale will be rewarded with a gorgeous end-credit sequence. Everything else is paraíso lost.

via LaWeekly.com

www.paraisotravelmovie.com

The film has won 14 national and international awards, including several audience awards at film fests in Latin America and Spain and the Jury Award at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.

Spread the love

More Articles for You

Basque, Portuguese & Noble Families of Puerto Rico: The European Roots You Didn’t Learn About

Explore how Basque, Portuguese, and noble European families shaped Puerto Rico’s southern towns (like Ponce) through surnames, migration paths, and hidden ancestral histories.

Spread the love

Puerto Rican Surnames with Taíno & African Roots: Origins in Ponce, Juana Díaz & the Southern Highlands

Many of the names we still see today (Montalvo, Negrón, Fontanes, Rivera, Chamorro, Zapata, Maldonado) carry the intertwined legacies of Taíno survivors, Africans and European migrants who moved through the island. This guide unravels those lineages with care.

Spread the love

I, Medusa by Ayana Gray: A Myth Retold with Power and Humanity

Ayana Gray’s I, Medusa reimagines the mythic villain as sister, priestess, survivor. Read Valerie M. Evans’ review of this bold, haunting retelling.

Spread the love

Brooklyn’s Jane Doe: A Shocking True Story of Assault, Media Betrayal, and Delayed Justice

Book review and critique by Valerie M. Evans: Brooklyn’s Jane Doe reveals how one woman’s assault became a public smear, and why her fight for justice still matters today.

Spread the love

Other Inheritances: Scent Memories from a Childhood at Fat’s Pet Shop in East Harlem

Before I ever knew what a perfumer was or that someone could make a living decoding and remixing scent, I …

Spread the love

Ghosts of the Palisades: Threads between memories, places and time

Somewhere tucked away, high on the Palisades, on lovely, dead end street, in the ether of the internet and Google …

Spread the love