Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

36thshaolin The movie tries hard to convey some sort of political or social message, but it utterly fails. Instead it just shows some gun-slinging thugs with ridiculous names like "2Pac" or "50 Cent" smoking weed, shooting each other in the foot, or calling their homie Wyclef Jean. A plot is virtually absent. The political developments in Haiti are shown every once in a while by using TV footage, but there is only a very loose connection between this background material and the leading characters, so the viewer soon loses interest. The brutish and violent life of the ghetto-dwellers is exactly the opposite of politics: pure anarchy.

Robert_Woodward Asger Leth offers a rare glimpse into the world of Haiti's largest slum through through his remarkable recorded encounters with the Chimeres ('ghosts'), a loose organisation of gangs supporting President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Among the Ghosts of Cite Soleil are two brothers, Bily and 2Pac, whose changing perspectives and fortunes are documented alongside Aristide's downfall in the face of an armed rebellion. Bily, 2Pac and their fellow gang-members patrol the streets of Cite Soleil to a soundtrack of rap music, fraternising one moment and racketeering the next; there are guns everywhere and the peace is never more than tenuous. Leth's own camera-work, itself shorn of commentary, is interspersed with newsreel footage of Aristide's worsening fortunes to provide a lucid backdrop to the unfolding drama on the street.Leth attained remarkable access when recording this film; we see 2Pac showering naked on two occasions and are witness to his startling and intimate affair with Lele, a French aid worker. Yet Leth does not reveal how this access is attained – he chooses not to show the seams of his documentary style and this leaves many important questions unanswered. Due to editing we do not hear Leth's voice, whether he is speaking to one of the Chimeres or to an expert on Haitian affairs. The lack of a 'presenter' – which contrasts with TV documentary series such as Unreported World – means that the subjects speak directly to us and not through a translator, but at the same time we are left with little clue of the questions that are being put across by the film-maker.In the absence of a presenter or commentator the camera takes on a greater role in interviewing people. In the presence of the camera, 2Pac and Bily are often full of bluster about their status in Cite Soleil. Such scenes are revealing about the self-image and social interaction in Cite Soleil but they draw the film away from the more detached style of observation employed by many documentaries. This is a film closely centred on Bily and 2Pac and those viewers expecting a lucid account of life in a Haitian slum will be disappointed. Ghosts of Cite Soleil nevertheless succeeds as a unique and compelling portrait of gang life in Haiti.

Sue I saw this tonight (8/17/07)at Facets in Chicago and was handed propaganda by American people who are apparently jumping on another cause that blames America for everything. This film did not appear to have an agenda at all to me. I actually was wishing it had a little more of one because I kept getting confused about who was good and who was bad. There is a reason I was confused, because they didn't portray anyone as completely good or bad. The place seems a mess.The people handing me the papers definitely had an agenda just like some of the reviewers on here. In fact one of the papers I got has word for word the same thing as one of the reviewers. People yell out racist and compare the director to Leni Riffenstahl and we are supposed to think it's the film is biased??? The propaganda against the film is what seems to be blatantly biased. It is unquestionably pro Aristide.I don't understand how anyone can call this film racist. That seems to be a typical ploy to get people emotional and disregard any facts. I didn't see any of the Hatian people as evil thugs, I saw them as victims and survivors used and manipulated by corrupt governments.This film maker did not appear to be for deposing Aristide at all. I got the impression that both leaders were corrupt which is most likely the case. It definitely looked like the new government had the brothers killed unjustly. The brothers were not shown as completely good or bad either. We see their deplorable living conditions and their bones prominent on their scrawny bodies as they showered and know that they are desperate.I think this film maker did an excellent job because no one came out blameless. Some reviewers on here want you to believe that Aristide was blameless and that the gangsters were made up, despite actual footage of gangsters attacking demonstrators. Even if Aristide didn't order it, he should have at least gone after the gangs.

Seamus2829 Despite a few rather dour write up's on this site, I admired 'Ghosts Of Citi Soleil'. If anybody followed the news in Haiti a few years ago, it's dictator, Aristade was deposed, leaving the country in a state of chaos. This "cinema verite" documentary concerns two brothers on opposite sides of the whole ugly scene (one, pro Aristade,the other, con). Both brothers are involved in vicious street gangs, although there is still a sense of brotherly love between the two, despite the odds. The film documents a warts & all approach to the whole gang problem that makes daily life a misery in the ghetto where it all takes place (it's very gritty, complete with a firecracker string of f-bombs, gun violence & general ugliness). The great Wyclef Jean not only composed the incidental score to the film, but also has some on screen time, as well (for those who have been living in a cave for the last ten or more years now, Jean is a musician,producer,arranger, and former member of the Fugees). If I have any quirks about this film, it's sometime hard to pin a bead on the film's camera work (the hand held camera work does tend at times to shake around a little too much). Apart from that,for anybody who has an iron clad will (and doesn't get too offended by rough language), Ghosts Of Citi Soleil is a grim, but interesting window into another culture,generally ignored by America.