Zoot Suit

1981

103 Min

Currently 1.8/5 Stars.
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DIR Luis Valdez

CAST Edward James Olmos, Daniel Valdez, Charles Aidman, Tyne Daly, John Anderson, Abel Franco, Mike Gomez, Alma Martínez, Frank McCarthy, Lupe Ontiveros, Tony Plana

Berlinale (Forum)

Synopsis

Based on a 1940s Los Angeles murder trial, Zoot Suit follows the various members of a Mexican-American gang, led by Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez), as they’re tried and sentenced to San Quentin for a murder they may not have committed. Miserably contemplating his life sentence, one of the young prisoners copes with his anger by inventing “El Pachuco,” a zoot suit-wearing persona full of youthful machismo and vigor.