Maze of Fate

"Live and Die in East LA" is a gritty, modern-day crime noir that authentically captures the underbelly of East Los Angeles. Directed by Attila Korosi, the film stands out for its creativity, action, and engaging storyline. The narrative is deeply rooted in the concept of choices and their consequences, which cleverly parallels the journey of a caterpillar navigating through a forest-symbolizing the varying options and crossing paths of life.

At its core, the film delivers a powerful message about family, survival, and the blurred lines between right and wrong. The commendable performances, particularly from non-professional actors, add a layer of realism to the film. Attila's vision comes to life depicting its harsh realities, including moments of intense violence.

"Live and Die in East LA" is a must-see film that offers a fresh perspective on the crime-thriller genre, and it leaves me eagerly anticipating what Attila will bring to the screen next!

A Poignant Meditation on Destiny and Identity

"Live and Die in East LA" is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant film that asks one of the oldest philosophical questions: Is our fate written in stone, or do our choices truly shape our lives? The film centers around an immigrant nurse and a young dreamer from a Chicano neighborhood who aspires to become an astronaut. Their stories interweave across three alternate timelines, each showing how small moments-and powerful, unseen forces-can lead to vastly different outcomes.

The narrative structure is ambitious but handled with care. Each timeline feels unique yet connected, exploring themes of systemic barriers, cultural identity, resilience, and hope. The performances are heartfelt and grounded, especially from the two leads, who bring depth and vulnerability to their roles. The cinematography captures the soul of East LA with authenticity, and the score subtly enhances the emotional undertones without overpowering them.

Though at times the pacing can feel uneven and some plot points could have used more development, the film's core message shines through: the delicate interplay between destiny and choice is more complex than we imagine. "Live and Die in East LA" is a bold, moving story that lingers long after the credits roll.

When Attila Korosi gets ahold of the film noir tradition, it comes alive in Live and Die in East LA. Beginning with a caterpillar animation, he lets his aud know there is more to the thrills and violence than usual. He adds the figurative value of showing that drug-dealing and murderous dreams can lead to a moth rather than a butterfly.

As his self-named character, Attila, he leads a band of sometimes dense, and in the case of his sister, Anita, just rebellious, relatives and friends into a labyrinth of drug-dealing to rescue her and learn enough to stay out of trouble for a lifetime.

Despite the gritty hell they descend into as they violently try to survive in a deal that will free Anita, Attila amazingly keeps his crew in a more-or-less benign state because next to the skin-headed, tattoo'd bad boys, they do look like angels. In their misguided sense of righteousness, they are nonetheless canny enough to avoid being murdered, in most cases.

One of the blessings of Live and Die is that unlike in other noirs, Korosi has dialogue that can be heard and shots that can be seen. He has not given into the figurative dark shots and mumblecore speech that often robs the aud of seeing and hearing each frame.

As Korosi marches toward success in the independent, thriller mode, he may very well branch off into the more romantic thriller motif, carrying his caterpillar into the butterfly stage, of say, Affleck's The Town or McDonagh's in Bruges. In any case, he has an independent wi8nner in Live and Die in East LA.

Live and Die in East LA is a crime-thriller directed by Attila Korosi, who also acts in one of the central roles. There is a fair amount of ambition in this one, despite its small-scale finances and I do have to say that it was considerably better than most movies of such low budget origins. It has some cartoon sequences (which are quite shakily drawn it has to be said) of a caterpillar and its journey through a forest, with various predators and pitfalls along the way. The choices this creature makes is reflected in the main story involving various characters in East L. A. This story is made less straightforward with it reversing every so often and replaying, to show different outcomes to scenarios which hinge on different decisions made by characters in the story. It's a good idea, as it makes what would have been a fairly routine story about people caught up in circumstances into something quite a bit more engaging and interesting; instead, it examines the effect of our choices in life and how they can have a profound impact. Acting performances were good all round with several performers not professional actors at all and more people from the street playing versions of themselves. There are a few visceral moments of violence, with a particularly grim arm chopping sequence and there was some good tension generated in a few key moments as well. It's a very honourable effort overall, and certainly worth checking out for sure.

I found this movie to be very different from what is normally seen in main stream films. You felt the grittiness of that life. I don't watch this genre very often, but this movie kept you engaged and feeling the palpitations of what was to come next. The feel of the culture was authentic and you felt the intensity of the characters in those situations. The story drove the inter-twinning of the characters to keep you engaged. This is just the beginning for this Director and I will definitely be watching for more to come from him. I hope to see more movies that represent La Raza in an authentic manner, which I feel was done very well here.