Raising Victor Vargas

By PETER CALDER

(Herald rating: * * * *)



All but one of the characters in this tiny and charming film are grappling with the hormone-rich trials of adolescence. The other, a grandmother, is just coping.

The film derives from a half-hour short, Five Feet High and Rising, which earned writer-director Sollett a prize at Sundance and which created the title character of this assured feature debut.

Victor (Rasuk) is the swaggering elder son of a family which originated in the Dominican Republic but now, installed in Manhattan's Lower East Side, is ruled by an exasperated grandmother in the unexplained absence of his parents.

To say he fancies himself as a ladies' man is something of an understatement. He chases down girls, not with the lewd and threatening propositions that seem to be the neighbourhood's lingua franca, but with a self-confident insistence that is only one jarring notch beyond sweet.

When the willowy and self-contained Judy (Marte) glides into view, we can see Victor's eyes bulge. But his pick-up lines do nothing to disabuse her of her belief that "guys are dogs". Judy and her pals fight off male attention with downcast eyes and a tired resignation but the boys just don't give up.

Victor is the genetic celebrity of his cheerfully dysfunctional family: his brother Nino (played by Rasuk's brother Silvestre) and his sister Vicky (Krystal Rodriguez) are, in their own different ways, hanging on through the roller-coaster ride of growing up.

Sollett grew up in a white, Jewish and Italian neighbourhood and had intended to set his films there but he ended up finding the talent he needed in Latino sections of town.

And talent is the word for it: the movie's cast is entirely novice, discovered by posting fliers on East Village walls, and the film was developed by a long slow process of improvisation and rehearsal. The script, Sollett remarked, "was for the crew and me".

And he has captured from these amateurs performances of radiant and unforced authenticity. Sollett and his cameraman Tim Orr exactly trace the pockmarked and blemished urban landscape in which the characters live - all cracked photo frames and peeling wallpaper - but the focus is on the people.

At times, Victor's grandmother (Guzman) almost steals the show as the head of the household determined to protect her charges from the dangers of their adopted homeland. Sollett finds the comedy in her knotted brow but he does not make her a figure of fun.

What is most touching about her is that she believes unshakeably in the goodness of people. That's the lesson Victor has to learn.

Cast: Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte, Altagracia Guzman,

Director: Peter Sollett

Running time: 87 mins

Rating: M (offensive language, sexual references)

Screening: Lido