Our Lady of the Assassins

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VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Ballesteros & German Jaramillo</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="501" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 65 WIDTH="495"><div>  <IMG SRC="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/serve?bfmid=2181&sourceid=31770466&bfpid=1852426470&bfmtype=book" BORDER="0" WIDTH="1" HEIGHT="1" NOSAVE ><A HREF="http://service.bfast.com/bfast/click?bfmid=2181&sourceid=31770466&bfpid=1852426470&bfmtype=book" TARGET="_top">Book by Fernando Vallejo from Barnes & Noble.com..$13.99...A> <P>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Our Lady of the Assassins </B>***1/2 ( R )</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 ><NOBR><div> We're all born to die...later is generally better than sooner</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Fernando Vallejo: German Jaramillo</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Alexis: Anderson Ballesteros</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Wilmar: Juan David Restrepo</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Alfonso: Manuel Busquets</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Director: Barbet Schroeder</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="19" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="304" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: A writer returns to his homeland to find that it's core human values are now gone because of the drug trade. It's a very different love story that looks into the future at why the concept of family values is more than just a slogan.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> <I><B>Our Lady of the Assassins</B></I> is about so many things that it's hard to decide where to begin. The overriding theme is that the film is set in Medellin, Columbia, which has become the drug capital of the world. We have been recently reminded of that in the film <I><B>Blow</B></I> (Johnny Depp) with his specific contact with Pablo Escobar. While Escobar does not make a screen appearance here, the effects of what his drug cartel is doing are shown in his homeland rather than where his product is exported. We can also see the dissolution of that South American city's society; perhaps with an eye to what goes on in some US cities.  </div> <bR> <div> Fernando Vallejo (German Jaramillo) is a writer who has returned to his country of origin after being away for more than 20 years. He is heir to both money and a high-rise apartment, which has a grand view of the valley, the foothills and into the mountainside. When he sees a spectacular display of fireworks going off, Fernando asks his young lover Alexis (Anderson Ballesteros) what holiday it is. To his surprise he learns that it's the drug lords celebrating a shipment of cocaine that has successfully crossed the border into the United States. It should be noted that this event was not included in the autobiography on which the film is partially based, and though the fireworks were not in the book, it is indeed a fact that director Barbet Schroeder knew would add to the texture of the film. <I><B>Assassins</B></I><I> </I>is a film about the <I>effects</I> of the drug trade and not how the business is run as in the films <A HREF="id752.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Traffic"><U><I><B>Traffic</B></I></U></A> and <I><B>Blow.</B></I> </div> <bR> <div> Gang wars in Medellin make drive by shootings in South Central LA seem almost pacifistic. Alexis carries a gun with him and is not afraid to use it as he and Fernando travel about the city. At one point Fernando gets into an argument with a cab driver because he's playing the radio too loud. After Fernando insults him by calling him a name, the cab driver approaches him to engage in a fight and without hesitation, Alexis shoots him. Later while he and Fernando are on a subway train, they get into an argument with two strangers who call them names and gunfire again erupts.</div> <bR> <div> Escobar uses young men on motorcycles to carry out his gangland assassinations.  When Alexis is targeted for a hit, word spreads quickly and Alexis is warned of what the people will be wearing and what type of motorcycle they will be riding. Fortunately he is a young man who knows how to take care of himself. But on these streets your luck can't hold forever.</div> <bR> <div> Later Fernando takes another young lover named Wilmar (Juan David Restrepo), who closely resembles Alexis. Unknown to Fernando, Wilmar has a grudge against Alexis. While the homosexual affairs between Fernando and the two young men are impossible to miss, the story is not about homosexuality. It's shown for what it is…just a fact of life.</div> <bR> <div> The story is about Fernando, Alexis and Wilmar and why they are drawn together; and what hold the city of Medellin has on Fernando. Why does he remain, an observer amidst the violence? It's just as much a story about the people they meet for only a short period of time. Even those we meet for the briefest period can change our lives forever. </div> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: <I><B>Our Lady of the Assassins</B></I> is somewhat like a Martin Scorsese film set in South America rather than the United States. It deals with the effects of crime and people's values against a backdrop of the Catholic Church. </div> <bR> <div> The violence in the movie is profound, less for its volume of gunfire than for the casualness with which a life is taken. Perceived insults by something as simple as a person whistling can result in one's death. We thought we understood violence when it was in the black ghettos of America's inner cities, until well-to-do white suburban kids started shooting their classmates for not being included on the "A" list of friends. </div> <bR> <div> Even in Japan where the violent crime rate is 10% of what it is in the United States, out of nowhere comes things like a student who beheads another and takes it to school because of a perceived insult. In Medellin there are over 500 gangs and guns are illegal. When people want to kill, they will find a way; but some killings are made a damn bit easier than others. Guns allow killing at a distance and often in an impersonal way…especially with automatic rifles. </div> <bR> <div> The family value that might just have a kernel of truth underlying this casual violence across the globe may be more related to our need for a successful self-image than whether we smoke pot, sniff cocaine, or make love with a person of the same sex. </div> <bR> <div> Maybe it's more important to care about your neighbor in the community you recently moved <B>up</B> from than getting your kicks from feeling good because you're in a Lincoln Navigator looking <B>down</B> on your fellow man in a 10 year old car that needs a paint job. </div> <bR> <div> We all may have a little more <A HREF="id111.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="American Psycho"><U><I><B>American Psycho</B></I></U></A><A HREF="id111.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="American Psycho"><U> </U></A>in us than we would like to admit. It's time to take a long look in the mirror.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> R (sex; nudity; drugs; violence; language)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>