the crack towers are not really what they are perceived to be in the movie. its actually a neighbourhood called punta paitilla. its a really nice place, expensive but nice! as far as i know...no crack kings live there!
"Buongiorno Principessa!!!"
A) Cocaine, not crack
B) It didn't mean that dealers themselves lived there, just that the money to build it (the economic infastructure) came from the drug trade
"Creasy's art is death. He's about to paint his masterpeice."
Based on the cost that my husband and I paid for our high rise condo's
in Panama, I would say that the money (as least in the residences that
we are going to live in) were not paid for by cocaine.
...it's just more propaganda from governments that don't want it's
citizens to know about the tax friendly places to live in this world...
Again, the infastructure.
"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"
www.myspace.com/andrehill
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Yes, calikidd2k has it right: Ostensibly, the Panamanian economy, except for its cut from the canal traffic, is largely agricultural. With all those banks, the Panamanian economy appears hydrocephalic -- a huge banking head with almost no economic body to support it, unless you take into account Panama's economic role in the drug industry.
Significantly, the film also mentions the bombing of Barrio Chorillo. Yes, The Tailor of Panama is fiction, but its historical background is far more accurate than, say, CNN's coverage of the ironically named Operation Just Cause, which showed the arrest of Noriega live on TV (one of the first televised American military operations) but made no mention of hundreds of innocent Panamanian men, women, and children getting fried -- with surgical precision fire bombing, no less -- at the same instant. The American public has little knowledge of this blood on their hands, but it's well documented on the Internet; in particular, Noam Chomsky has written much about it. Le Carré alludes to but doesn't explain one of the great horrible truths of the modern world: The War on Drugs isn't a war to stop drug traffic; rather, it's a war between competing drug dealers.
You are right about the Chorrillo fires during operation Just Cause however Panama's economy is not based in agriculture, is based on service.
Most of the BIG brands in technology, clothing, cars, tobacco, etc have their regional offices here.
Copa Airlines (Plane showed in this movie) is THE fastest growing Airline in America and probably the only profittable one in the region.
The presence of most international banks is needed because of the canal and the Colon Duty Free Zone. Most of them just work with international transfers.
"The Cocaine Towers" are nonsense. Most of this buildings are inhabited by the Jewish and Arab community, most of them are owners of the companies in the Colon Free Trade Zone.
I didn't read the novel but this movie just shows the common "view" of the american public on Latin America. I live in Panama and I have never heard of any Druglords getting toghter and throwing a party.
Very unrealistic. They should have added a few people riding donkeys to make it even worse.
im panamanian and couldnt agreee more with what you are saying.. that movie portrays panama as a dump, which is definately not the case..
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The movie portrays a dump of panama
The movie portrays a dump of english embassy
The movie portrays a dump of MI6
The movie portrays a dump of USA military force (here satire and reality mix up)
Remember is a satire...
I agree with most of what you say.
I am from Panamá, myself (I don't currently live there). I think that though some of the depictions are exaggerated, there are some that are outright satire, and some that most Panamanians either don't know about or don't care about.
Depends on what its like for you in Panama. Punta Paitilla residents, Altos del Golf, Obarrio, people in these kinds of areas will feel one way about something, where people from Veracruz, San Felipe, Carrasquilla, will feel another way about it.
The satire and exaggeration, truthfully, don't bother me. I think most Panamanians who felt offended or indignated (and I know a lot) by this movie are missing the bigger picture. Yes, it makes the place look bad, but the governments (all three involved, Panama, United Kingdom, and United States) are also poked a great deal of fun at the U.S. and Great Britian. It doesn't get funnier, for me, than a U.S. General saying "there's a star missing on the American flag..."
It's still not a GREAT movie, but as a Panamanian, I like to chuckle at it.
P.S. - If you're not convinced some of the things in that are implied about Panama are *beep* I suggest you try and find "One Dollar", by Hector Herrera. It's not on IMDB, but I KNOW you can get your hands on it at certain semáforos.
LA DROGA DE PANAMA ES MUUUY BUENAAAA
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