Simply amazing & inspiring

Rating: 10/10 (24 September 2009)

I've watched this movie about a dozen times now, and finally decided to give it a rating here on IMDb: 10/10.
The movie is so close to flawless, so brilliant in it's depiction of real people, so well put together that I find myself just dumbfounded every time I watch it. Like another reviewer, I find myself moved to tears by the poignancy of the struggles these people have to make something special and beautiful out of literally nothing. Life is hard for most of the people on this planet, and the continuous beatdowns take their toll, yet somehow, people find the courage, the will, to keep on keeping on and trying to create order out of the chaos. The depiction of this situation in this movie is inspiring.
The characters are the lowest of the low, stuck in horrible lives, in terrible conditions, and cognizant of it. Yet they find inspiration in their desperation, find the strength to keep struggling, even when it seems that every turn is a dead end. Like Sisyphus, they never give up, never let the boulder force them back down the mountain, and it is this indomitable characteristic in all the main players that keeps you watching, keeps you interested, keeps you caring about them and what will happen to them.
Amazing performances from all involved, great direction, great script, AWESOME music and a realistic feel that really hasn't much existed since the great films of the 1970s; this movie is one of very few that I will ever call flawless.