Soul Survivor (1995)

A young Black man struggles to find a job in Canada.

Director:

Stephen Williams

Writer:

Stephen Williams

Stars:

Peter Williams, David Smith, George Harris

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Williams	...	Tyrone
David Smith	...	Reuben
George Harris	...	Winston
Clark Johnson	...	Busha
Judith Scott	...	Annie
Ardon Bess	...	Papa
Leonie Forbes	...	G'ma T
Denise Jones	...	Cherry
Rumble	...	Hilton
Tyrone Benskin	...	Jerome
Rino Romano	...	Goldfinger
Ron White	...	Officer Smythe
Tony Craig	...	Officer Weston
Ho Chow	...	Huy
Michael Hogan	...	Donald

Storyline

In Toronto's Jamaican community, a young Black finds a job with a hard guy who lends money to destitute people. His job is to collect outstanding debts. One of the debtors is his own cousin and doesn't seem to care about paying back, apparently unaware of what it may cost him...

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Plot Keywords:

canada | reggae | jamaica | immigration | racism | 

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Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 December 2001 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Survivant dans l'âme

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miracle Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Wes Craven Presents Don't Look Down (2013)

User Reviews

A good, but maybe somewhat long, music video...

The main interest of "Soul Survivor" is how it attracts you into a particular world, the world of Jamaican immigrants in Toronto. You can't call the plot enthralling, but it is interesting in showing some dilemmas and the real world of immigrants and children of immigrants for whom a place under the sun is not won beforehand in their new country.

Not a depressing film, though. Actually, the whole movie looks rather like a long music video, complete with excellent Jamaican music and a special colour and feeling for images. I would say that the plot, though not uninteresting, comes third.

One important problem is that I found the main character, Tyrone, to be the one with less depth. I especially liked Reuben, his cousin, the artist-type, would-be music star, always hopeful, idealist, trying to educate his Black brothers about their origins, but somewhat empty-headed. And George Harris makes very good pictures as Winston, too.

A 6 out of 10. For first the music, second the atmosphere, and third the plot.