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Love between people often involves fear because it leaves us vulnerable. But as we watch Judy and Victor we see the way love can win out over fear.


RAISING VICTOR VARGAS
(2003)


This page was created on May 8, 2003
This page was last updated on
December 11, 2004

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CREDITS

Directed and written by Peter Sollett
Story by Eva Vives

Victor Rasuk .... Victor
Judy Marte .... Judy
Melonie Diaz .... Melonie
Altagracia Guzman .... Grandma
Silvestre Rasuk .... Nino
Krystal Rodriguez .... Vicki
Kevin Rivera .... Harold
Wilfree Vasquez .... Carlos
Donna Maldonado .... Donna
Alexander Garcia .... Al
John Ramos .... Macho
Theresa Martinez .... Judy's Mom
Randy Luna .... Pool Boy #3
Jeff Asencio .... Pool Boy #4
Juan I. Lebron .... Israel
Joe Rosario .... Security Guard
Gladys Austin .... Social Worker
Jacqueline Rosario .... Singer

Produced by
Jean Michael Dissard .... associate producer
Scott Macaulay .... producer
Vincent Maraval .... executive producer
Robin O'Hara .... producer
Peter Sollett .... producer
Cate Wilson .... line producer
Alain de la Mata .... producer

Original Music by Brad Jones and Roy Nathanson
Cinematography by Tim Orr
Film Editing by Myron I. Kerstein


MPAA: Rated R for strong language.
Runtime: 88 min
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG

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SYNOPSIS
Click to enlargeManhattan's gritty, majestic Lower East Side is the sweltering romantic playground for Victor Vargas (VICTOR RASUK), a self-styled teenaged Casanova who, despite his adolescent hubris, has a lot to learn about love.

Eager to protect his street-cred after his friends discover he's been sleeping with upstairs neighbour "Fat Donna" (DONNA MALDONADO), Victor sets out to nab a new girl. Much to her annoyance, popular "Juicy Judy" Ramirez (JUDY MARTE) finds herself the object of Victor's relentless attention. After a humiliating series of public rejections, Victor strikes a bargain with Judy's younger brother Carlos (WILFREE VASQUEZ). In exchange for a date with Victor's younger sister, Vicky, Carlos will help Victor win Judy's affections. His plan proves successful and Judy agrees to tolerate him as "her new man," securing Victor's place high atop the neighbourhood's social pecking order.

Unfortunately, his hilariously cantankerous old-school grandmother (ALTAGRACIA GUZMAN), with whom he and his siblings live, is convinced that Victor's teen-age sexual antics make him a bad kid. Caught between regaining his grandmother's trust and helping his kid brother and sister negotiate the oft-baffling ways of the world, Victor discover that there's a difference between acting like a man and becoming one. As he and Judy slowly start to trust and be trusted, Victor learns that a lot of love has been put into RAISING VICTOR VARGAS.

Peter Sollett's feature debut is a stunning piece of filmmaking that carefully explores the stumbling blocks of growing up, capturing adolescence at its most tender, funny and genuine. His script was developed through the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, a prestigious program which offers emerging artists the opportunity to work intensively on their feature film scripts with the support of established screenwriters. Sollett also extensively workshopped the film with the support of La Cinéfondation in Paris.

Review by DARREL MANSON BLOG
Pastor, Artesia Christian Church, Artesia, CA
http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01198
Darrel has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts.
His reviews usually include independent and significantly important film.
Click to enlargeRaising Victor Vargas is a slice-of-life look into the struggles of teenagers on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in coming to terms with life.

Victor, his brother and sister are being raised by their grandmother, who worries about them and about the influences on them. She tries to get them to church, but Victor isn't much interested. Victor, like many teenagers, is interested in sex. His brother is too, but is unsure what to do about it.

Click to enlargeActually, Victor is not so much concerned about sex as he is with the prestige that comes with sexuality. Whom one has sex with or belongs to is what really seems to matter.

But then he meets Judy. Judy isn't interested in all this. In fact, the blatantly loveless and crude desire of the boys in her neighborhood has turned her off from wanting desire. So she creates a pseudo-relationship with Victor to have some protection.

Click to enlargeBoth Victor and Judy are using each other for their own ends. But in time, the relationship begins to grow into something more valuable. In that growth, the relationship becomes much more risky -- such is the nature of love. And we watch as trust begins to grow and replace the objectification that they began with.

In one scene, Judy talks with her girl friend, who likes Victor's friend. Judy asks what is really a key question for her, ?How do you know you can trust him?? It is only as Victor opens himself to her and she to him, that they can begin to have the trust that is required to love.

Click to enlargeWriter-Director Peter Sollett let the actors improvise with the script to make it their own and make it something real. There is a strong influence of cinema verit?. The handheld camera is often closer that the viewer will feel comfortable with. There is a feel to this film that it is a documentary, even though you know it isn't.

The emotions are what drive this film, more so than the plot. The story may move slowly at times, but the reality of what is happening within the characters keeps the viewer involved. Sollett and the actors were able to truly bring these characters to life because they were able to put some of themselves into the roles.

One of the plusses of the film is that as central as sexuality is to the story, it manages to tell the story without any overt sex or nudity.

As I watched, the words of 1 John 4:18 came to mind: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear." The author, of course, was speaking of God's love for us. Love between people often involves fear because it leaves us vulnerable. But as we watch Judy and Victor we see the way love can win out over fear.
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