“A Most Violent Year” has all the glamour of a classic gangster film. But its plot sidesteps the violence motif to explore the American dream through the eyes of its Latino hero.
The slow-burn drama has its moments of action, most notably with a climactic chase scene that showcases the grit of New York City in 1981. But overall, the film portrays the steady unraveling of a Latino immigrant’s business and peace of mind during what is statistically the most violent year in city history.
Director and writer J.C. Chandor (“Margin Call,” “All Is Lost”) is no stranger to writing films that focus on a particular moment in a character’s life and presenting it on a grand scale. He calls it “operatic.”
Guatemalan-born actor Oscar Isaac, 35, (“Inside Llewyn Davis) leads the cast as Abel Morales, a righteous Latino immigrant who finds his ambition at odds with his sense of morality as his family’s well-being and the growth of his heating oil business are continually threatened by factors outside of his control.
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“Well anyone who has a realistic understanding of the immigrant experience knows that some people go mad from it because you’re away from your home, it’s a horrible thing,” Chandor said. “I use to live next to these guys, where four of them lived in one little room and they would rotate in and out of there, and it was only two beds and they basically worked shifts. We’d see one come in to this little apartment building where we had an apartment for a while, and there was like a rotation.
“And so [Julian is] there to remind Abel and remind us that we’re very fortunate.” Chandor added. “My family came here as immigrants, just like most of us did, and I’m very fortunate that I am living off of those sort of foundations that they laid for me.”
“A Most Violent Year” opens at theaters nationwide on Friday.
