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Sanky Panky (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Sanky Panky' is a 2007 Dominican Republic comedy film directed by Jos Enrique "Pinky" Pintor.
The film was produced entirely in the Dominican Republic and highlighted issues about the Dominican diaspora. The film was shown at the 24th Chicago Latino Film Festival in 2008.
Plot
Sanky Panky tells the story of Genaro (Fausto Mata), a not particularly handsome Dominican mulatto. He works in a colmado a combination of a store and a bar in the slum of El Capotillo in Santo Domingo. The opening scene focuses on Genaro, who is trying with great difficulty to learn English. He is preparing to make his big dream of going to the United States with an old gringa come true.
The traits of such women are later defined by his friend Carlitos as "flabby, cellulite, boobs, navel, boobs, white like milk." Genaro manages to find work at a family resort due to his friendship with its Italian manager Giuseppe (Massimo Borghetti).
The fact that he has to dress up as a chicken to entertain the children does not prevent him from trying his luck with the women. Surprisingly, he manages to charm Martha (Zdenka Kalina), a young American who, in order to forget her boyfriend spending a week in the Dominican Republic in the company of her two aunts, Helen and Dorothy .
To win Martha over, Genaro enlists the help of his two friends, Chelo (Tony Pascual) and Carlitos (Aquiles Correa), who meanwhile have turned the colmado into an open nightclub, despite Genaro having banned music being played during his absence of him. Chelo and Carlitos entertain the aunts, whose sexual fantasies they try to satisfy, while Genaro sets about seducing Martha. In the end, Martha's boyfriend Alex (Miguel Lpez) arrives, and after some complications Martha leaves, while the two friends accompany the gringas to the United States and Genaro stays with La Morena (Alina Vargas), a Dominican who has also been making a living in the resort and with whom Genaro has shared his woes.
Cast
*Fausto Mata - Genaro
*Tony Pascual - Chelo
*Aquiles Correa - Carlitos
*Nuryn Sanlley - Dorothy
*Patricia Banks - Helen
*Zdenka Kalina - Martha
*Massimo Borghetti - Giuseppe
*Miguel Lpez - Alex, (Martha's boyfriend)
*Olga Bucarelli - Genaro's mother
*Alina Vargas - La Morena
*Sugeiris - La Chacha
*El Jeffrey - Miguelito
*Joryi Castillo - himself
*Henry - himself
*Yajhaira Quezada - Chelo's girlfriend
Critical Reception
Sanky Panky was a success in the island's cinemas, with attendance figures over 800,000. It was shown in Cuba, Spain, Puerto Rico, and the United States (Boston, Chicago and New York) among other countries, and it was subtitled in several languages. The YouTube version has been watched more than three million times. However, its success with the public contrasts with its rather negative critical reception. The film's cinematographic value has been questioned, with some calling it cinematographed television or even advertising for the Barcel chain's Bavaro Beach Resort, where much of the film was shot. Critics have even described it as a series of music videos, or classified it as a musical or a failed comedy. In its entirety, the synopsis seems to suggest that Sanky Panky hinges upon a series of very clear dichotomies, whether of a linguistic (English-Spanish), sexual (male-female), racial (white-nonwhite), geopolitical (North-South), identity (national-transnational/global), or socioeconomic (exploiter tourists-exploited Dominicans) nature.
References
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