Kill the Poor

Kill the Poor is about a group of people living in a formerly abandoned apartment building in a bad area of NY. One of the group, Carlos and his son, cleaned up the building that was infested with addicts and dealers before anyone else got there. As other weirdoes move in they formed a corporation and wanted to secure the building further, but the intimidating Carlos didn't feel he had to pay rent to the corporation because he made the building a draw in the first place. Conflicts arose and between the scenes and the flashbacks you get the whole story by the end. A little bit of a surprise ending, but nothing too far out. Good acting, camera work and a decent screen play. Some problems with editing.

The two major attractions of this marvelous film are:

1.) the editing... the folding of time into an elaborate "Memento"-like structure is deliciously mystifying, and yet - it all hangs together quite well from the outset, and

2.) the characterizations... and I DO mean "caracters." This is a feast of actors making the most and best of some VERY juicy roles.

The direction and camera-work are all top-notch, too. No passive entertainment, this... it takes a bit of patience and a positive expectation that is well-rewarded to get through the first twenty minutes. I was interested to see that John Malkovich was one of the producers. This film is so HIM!