Cartel Land (2015)

The greatest movie ever!

One of my all time favorites.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

While the war on drugs in Mexico may seem simple at first glance, with an obvious good and bad, "Cartel Land" has shown me that it's much, much more complicated.The film is both a character study of Jose Mireles and Tim Foley, and a tense examination of why they are currently stuck in this awful position. The film begins by showing Mireles beginning his resistance, or the Autodefensas. From the first scene, it is clear who the bad guys are, the cartels, and who the good guys are, the Autodefensas. We begin to be shown, and told about, the horrible acts of the cartels, and the autodefensas' fight to free the innocent towns from the hands of these tyrants. On the other side of the border we have Tim Foley, a man fighting for a similar cause on a much smaller scale. He recognizes the enemy, the cartels, and wants to keep them away.What we slowly come to realize, is that the Auto defenses are not as morally sound as we thought they were. After Mireles barely survives a plane crash that was possibly intentional, "Papa Smurf" is put in charge. Under his control, we begin to see more complaints from innocent citizens than the rejoicing that we saw earlier in the film. There are many other red flags, when we see them capture a man who was shooting at them, and then hear them torturing one. There is a moment when one of the Autodefensas says "you cut off one of our fingers, we cut off five of yours", and this is when I realized that they w were slowly becoming corrupt. When we hear that there is a cartel within the autodefensas, and that the government will forgive them for everything if they join, all hope is lost. What was once started to end the cycle has only become another cog in the machine, and it's terrifying to see this transition. Even Mireles, a man who seemed to be a great leader and a family man had turned to adultery for some comfort in this hopeless situation he has gotten himself into. The final scene of the film uses the same shots as the first, and the same dialogue from the same people. But what was once the obvious bad guy is suddenly revealed to be part of the police force in Mexico. So, is there any hope, or are we doomed to perpetuate the cycle eternally? Tom states the outsiders perspective. If we realize our mistakes and do the opposite we can stop this. But on the inside, we witness an anti-cartel vigilante organization, transform into a government run cartel organization, almost without us even realizing.

If anyone was ever under any doubt that the country of Mexico is one seriously messed up place then showing them Cartel Land would be a good way to prove a point as Matthew Heineman's unflinching documentary looking at the land bordering the United States is a telling piece of documentary filmmaking that offers us a glimpse of life in the war torn streets of the drug fuelled land.Nominated at this year's Oscar ceremony in the best documentary feature film category and co-produced by Oscar nominated filmmaker Kathryn Bigalow, Cartel Land offers a ride ranging look the world of cartels and corruption that runs rife through Mexico by giving us access to the cartels themselves, those trying to defend their country in the form of the well intentioned Autodefensa and also American citizens who patrol their towns borders as vigilantes trying their best to discourage the drug and people smuggling cartels from using their land as an easy access point to the land of freedom.Juggling all these different components is no easy task and director Heineman does struggle at time for fluidity in his tale that can at times jar the viewer's interest. Cartel Land also finds difficulties in giving us a centralized figure to be our lead through this violent, chaotic and confusing landscape even though Mexican local and the vigilante leader of the Autodefensa José Manuel 'El Doctor' Mireles is an intriguing and multilayered persona.Cartel Land is at its most powerful when it brings the audience into the thick of the action and chaos that inhabits the daily lives of many Mexicans caught up in the illegal activity that runs rampant around them and whether its horrific stories of cartel atrocities (the film is not for the faint of heart), real life shootouts or Breaking Bad like meth cook ups, Cartel Land isn't afraid to show it how it is and paints a horrific picture of everyday life in a country that has lost its sense of purpose.With its roots planted in the midst of terrifying situations, Cartel Land is often powerful viewing that is hampered by a clouded sense of direction. For a no holds barred look at life on the front of line of drug cartel fuelled life however, Cartel Land will make for shocking and eye opening viewing for many who would rather forget that the land so close to America is well and truly a day to day warzone.3 Papa Smurf's out of 5

Documentary filmed on location on the US side of the border with Mexico showing the actions/views of self policing locals guarding against traffic across the border and in a separate filming the actions/views of citizens in the Mexican state of Michoacán self policing (calling themselves the Autodefensas) against cartels (mostly Templar Cartel). Very graphic depicting of violence. Also, clear presentation of the corruption/collusion within/between the government, police, Cartels and locals who benefit from all the illegal activity. The physician who organized the citizen action against the abuses of the cartels/police/government was jailed as a threat to their businesses. The cartel-government connection in Mexico parallels that of corporate-government cooperation in the US with gunmen as their emissaries and lobbyists as ours. Ironically both parallel institutions use cheap comfort/convenience opiates to keep their populations sedated/submissive/powerless.

This is the most real and most different perspective I have seen in this doco subject. It is an eye opening, jaw dropping, heart aching ride that will more than likely leave you feeling like you have lost all hope in humanity but in my opinion if a film can draw out emotion and make you think too it has done a good job. The doco gives different points of view but mainly it is divided into two alternating perspectives. One perspective is from the Mexican side and one from the U.S.A side which, without giving too much away, kept me very interested all the way through.If your after a feel good ending with butterflies and fairy floss then you might want to reconsider watching this doco. This is a must watch for any person who has some type of fascination or interest in this topic.