Movie Review

The Sleepy Lagoon case of 1942 and the Zoot Suit riots of the following year are probably the best-known events in Chicano history, so much so that many people take the facts for granted. This docudrama takes a new look at those events, and the result is a gripping account that goes a long way toward solving the mystery of who killed José Diaz and absolving the Thirty-eighth Street gang defendants of that crime. The narrative is clear, and it tells a good story—just as good history used to. Set in the context of the white-Mexican tensions of wartime Los Angeles, it explains subtle ideas such as how Anglo racism contributed to Chicano youth's passion for territoriality, a passion distinguishing them from today's African American and Asian gangs.	1
Beautifully narrated by the actor Hector Elizondo, the story and visuals lead the viewer into the central focus of the drama, which is the week of June 3–7, 1943, and the riots by thousands of military personnel, flanked by some five thousand civilians, who created a pogrom that was particularly outrageous, considering that U.S. propaganda of the time condemned Adolf Hitler's race politics. Mobs generalized their antipathy toward zoot-suiters to all Mexicans. Refreshingly, the documentary shows that the victims organized and fought back, and the inclusion of black-and-white, and sometimes brown-tinged, photos gives viewers the feeling that they are thumbing through a family photo album.	2
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