Film Forum

U.S., 1981
Directed by Luis Valdez
Written for the screen by Luis Valdez, based on his original play
Starring Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos, Tyne Daly, Alma Martinez, Lupe Ontiveros, Rose Portillo, Tony Plana
Approx. 103 min. 35mm.

The debut feature film by writer/director Luis Valdez is a searing adaptation of his play about the events that led to the infamous 1943 Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles. Starring Edward James Olmos in an early starring role as a nattily-accoutred pachuco (“street cats with style,” per Valdez), as El Pachuco, he relates the story of a Mexican American—Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez, Luis’s brother)—and his crew, arrested for a crime they didn’t commit against a backdrop of racism against Chicanos in WWII-era Los Angeles, loosely based on the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial. With exuberant dance sequences scored by Daniel Valdez and music legend Lalo Guerrero. Combing stage and film techniques, ZOOT SUIT remains a defining work of Chicano cinema, exploring identity, injustice, and the power of cultural expression. Olmos reprises his Pachuco role in AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ.

Presented with support from The Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film and The Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Fund

Reviews

“Valdez’s feature debut is an undeniably timeless piece of cinema history.”
– Carlos Aguilar, Remezcla

“You can see it on the screen. He had the qualities of a young Toshirō Mifune, he had the qualities of Humphrey Bogart, and he had the qualities of the Pachuco. When you finally put it all together, these are the elements that you need to do it. Not everyone can do the Pachuco. It was one of the most fortuitous events in the history of art all over the world, of the right person at the right time.”
— Luis Valdez on Edward James Olmos’ performance in ZOOT SUIT