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Cartel Land Reviews
For a subject that has had plenty of movies, series & doco's made about in recent years, this is one of the duller efforts.
Good to see people aren't taking this lying down. This is what happens when the government doesn't do thing properly, refuse to do anything, and/or corrupt. Vigilantism.
The movie opens with masked men adorned with AK-47s cooking meth within walking distance of the US Border and by the time you hear the first bullet flying past the Camera Person you are so fully engrossed in the film that it is virtually impossible to forget. A stunning piece of work that gets so close to the realities of an industry regulated by virtue of its criminalization that you can almost taste, smell, and feel it. The motifs of independence, armed resistance, and self sufficiency in the face of overwhelming financial and political power reinforces the broader objective of pointing out not only the reality but the futility of the war on drugs. Probably not a popcorn and candy type of movie, but certainly not one you should miss.
These guys are straight up making meth in the middle of the woods. Wtf. Matthew did a terrific job with the cinematography. Capturing not only the intenseness that is the drug world but also the beauty of the different landscapes. It's amazing to see the process of the formation of vigilantes in Mexico with the old mustached guy as the leader. Seeing how they go to small towns and seeing who wants to volunteer to take out the cartels that are destroying their community. Interesting how the Mexican Army tries to intervene when the vigilantes are trying to do good and get rid of the cartel members and even take their guns. Coincidence? No. The Mexican government is in on it because it makes them a shit ton of money. Quite beautiful how the townspeople came out in numbers to support the vigilantes and tell the army to fuck off. That reveal was mind blowing, how the mustached old guy was actually a doctor. Wow, that was amazing how Matthew was able to record the capture of Caballo and El Chenque. I think it's amazing how the townspeople unite. It's a pretty dark truth how the cartel is the same as the federal police is the same as the autodefensas. They're all working together to satisfy each other's needs. It's a pretty dark reality. Really gripping and enthralling documentary. I respect Matthew for literally being right in the middle of everything that was going on. Takes balls and guts.
This is a story that needed to be recorded from the ground level, a story of good vs evil with a ton of grey areas. Life as raw as it is. Mexico true face shows here
Cartel Land, directed by Matthew Heineman and with acclaimed, Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow as an executive producer, is a compelling, informative, and rather thought provoking look at the use of vigilantes in the battle against the drug traffickers, also referred to as narcos. Both on the United States side of the U.S.-Mexican border, where people with varying motives, of which drugs are one, attempt to sneak through, and down south within Mexico in areas where whole towns are essentially run by criminal gangs allied with cartels, there are groups of people organizing to supposedly help make a better, safer community or country. The ones in the US—some of whom have less than noble motives for joining—attempt to organize together to guard the border, using the fairly limited means they're able to garner. Inside Mexico the situation is quite a bit more serious, if not from a drug addiction perspective than certainly from narco violence, representing serious threats to particular communities in a manner beyond even the most crime-ridden American city. I think it's best to look at Cartel Land as a piece that's neither necessarily condoning, nor condemning, the actions of these vigilantes, but pretty even-handedly documenting them—their organizing, their actions, and the effects they have, good and bad, on both the impacted community and larger society; sometimes they have little apparent change results at all. This film is certainly not an all-encompassing look at the drug war, but it's a decent and fairly gritty view of some real slices of the picture—of which in many ways are emblematic of the messed up larger situation. Vigilantism, arguably, might have some role to play going forward, but it hardly seems like a stable solution in itself, and can easily backfire. Thoughtful policy distributing resources and opportunity are what really must be done for meaningful lasting change.
Cartel Land depicts Mexico's drug war from an angle not as frequently covered - not from the perspective of police, the cartels, or the innocent bystanders, but from that of the vigilante groups which have sprung up on either side of the border in response to the violence. The film primarily focuses on the Autodefensas, a paramilitary group founded by Dr. Jose Manuel Mireles to fight the Templar cartel in the Michoacan state of Mexico, with occasional diversions to the Arizona Border Defense force, a vigilante group created by Tim Foley to deal with the flow of drugs across the border. The filmmakers clearly empathize to some extent with their subjects, as shown by the inclusion of interviews where supporters of the Autodefensas describe the grievous wrongs, including torture, rape, and murder, inflicted upon them and their families by the cartels, likely causing many people in the audience, myself included, to root for the people brave enough to fight against the obvious evil of the cartels. As the film progresses, however, the filmmakers hold anticartel vigilantism in an increasingly critical light, revealing that both organizations have a darker side, showing how some members of the Autodefensas lie, deal drugs, and murder, effectively operating their own cartel under the pretense of protecting locals. The situation for people living in cartel-controlled territory, as depicted in the documentary, is one of few good options. The police and military can't stop the violence, the cartels are murdering people by the dozen, and the vigilante groups created to oppose the cartels are quickly becoming the very evil they were meant to fight. Given this hopeless situation, one can understand why people join the cartels or resort to violence and underhanded tactics to oppose them, perpetuating the cycle of violence - there are no knights in shinning armor and getting caught in the crossfire over a war over which you have no control gets wearisome. The movie ends with an interview with a meth cook who muses that the cycle of violence and the drug trade at its center will never stop - someone will be cooking the drugs, whether they are part of a cartel or part of one of the paramilitary groups. I've watched plenty of documentaries with utilitarian cinematography. Cartel Land has much more polish, which is especially remarkable given that the Heineman shot several scenes amid actual firefights. Heineman appears to like aerial shots of landscapes, which can get tiring if used, but I like the usage for major transition on display here. Most people who watched Cartel Land were presumably not drawn in by the cinematography, however, but a desire to learn something about Mexico's drug war. The Central American end of the drug trade was not a subject on which I was particularly well-informed before watching this documentary, and I feel a tiny bit more knowledgeable after watching Cartel Land. Cartel Land, while not for the faint of heart due to a couple shots of severed heads, is an interesting new perspective on its subject matter.
Cartel Land has gripping action sequences with ton of emotion to go along with and it's anybody's closest look at Mexico's brutal killings and turf wars.
Thrillingly powerful - and terrifyingly persuasive with morality still being questioned - as Heineman riskily, with astonishing commitment, ventures out to uncover the hidden truth with overwhelmingly disturbing, visually raw results that are mostly sickening and actively injustice. Besides providing an ideological message, this is an addressing call for help that is being ignored by the cowardly, corrupt governments with supposed ignorance; and this very documentary over-achieves its genre's accessible role for the hard truth into the hidden reality. (B+) (Full review TBD)
Hands down the best documentary I've seen to date. Oppenheimer shows film making at its most raw, and risks so much to provide every point of view, and shed light on an issue of upmost importance.
Hard hitting expose of the tangled web between government, drug cartels and the vigilante opposition to both. Nothing is simple and the damage done to Mexico is palpable. Sad tale.
Courageously filmed story of how revolutionary guerrilla movements that become detached from the people can be corrupted, but which acknowledges that the desire for control over our lives is a positive impulse.
This was a very good look into the Mexican drug cartel and the people who "oppose" them. It is an interesting film even though it is kind of depressing as well. If you are interested in the subject matter, than I would suggest you watch this documentary.
Probably The Most Hard-Hitting, No Holes Barred Documentary That Cuts So Incredibly Deep. There Is Answers Hidden Within The Story But It Is Elusive, With Complex Answers Falling Back Upon Poverty, Class & A River Of Drugs Flowing Always Towards Those Willing To Pay For It (With Money Or Blood). I Commend 'The Doctor' Hopefully Searching With A Romantisized View Of How Things Should Be..I'm Not Sure It Will Ever Be Reached..But Maybe One Day.
Uno de los mejores documentales que he visto. Bien merecida su nominación al Oscar.
Inspiring and tragic it tell the story of two citizens on either side of the border that take the law into there own hands. On the american side a man half the country would write off as a racist is taking down drug traffickers. In mexico a man starts a grass roots militia and gets brought down by the system and the culture. Lots of lessons in this movie that most people wont want to accept.
Quite groundbreaking journalism converted into this intense documentary. Clearly, the makers went through some extreme measures to produce 'Cartel Land', which results in a movie that impacts largely.