With the Democratic Republic of Congo suffering from a gasoline shortage, criminal Riva comes back home with gasoline stolen from his sometime employer, Cesar. Determined to use his new wealth to have a good time, Riva hits the town with longtime friend J.M. At a club, Riva meets gorgeous Nora and steals her away from her gangster boyfriend, Azor. With both Cesar and Azor after him, Riva struggles to stay alive.
4 September 1974, Luanda, Angola
June 06, 2016
One of the most vivid, ambitious cinematic offerings of 2011.
July 21, 2011
Pulsing with polyglot music and outlaw vigor, "Viva Riva!" is a raucous reply to the new world order.
July 07, 2011
"Viva Riva!" has its cake and eats it, too. Shoots it to pieces, actually.
August 18, 2011
A slick, exciting, well-made crime thriller, dripping with atmosphere.
June 23, 2011
The titular exclamation point promises exuberant fun that the movie delivers only in spots.
January 05, 2012
The alien environment makes Viva Riva! a fascinating watch.
October 17, 2011
The film looks and feels like another Pulp Fiction clone at times, but what emerges is a far more thoughtful work that makes important (and surprisingly) salient points about the humanistic struggles of developing countries.
November 07, 2013
Meet Riva (the spectacular Patsha Bay), a man who thrives on scarcity: he smuggles gas, and has recently come upon a mother lode-which becomes, of course, a powder keg.
May 03, 2015
Pulpy flourishes lend it the crude spirit of a Warner Brothers gangster picture from the 1930s, albeit one with an unexpectedly carnal edge.
August 04, 2011
It feels so raw and urgent and real.
June 10, 2016
What more can you ask from a gangster thriller than kinky sex, extreme violence, comical playfulness and soulful music?

