Our Lady of the Assassins

Rating:
Summary: a world gone mad!!
Review: Once again we have some reviews that are not very objective. One person says it's too depressing. Yes, my dear that is the point! Another person said it's to ammoral. Yes, it supposed to be!
I have never visited Columbia so I'm only assuming Mediene is really this bad and the point of the story is this is what happens when there is no hope and all value in human life is gone. A strong point of this movie is the cinematography, while a bit rough gives the impression of really being there. Its ironic how the city of Mediene can be so beautiful and yet vicious at the same time. I appreciate letting the story be told between the Old Man and the Younger Man without moralizing. It lets you draw your own conclusion. While there is a glimmer of hope that the Old Man can turn around the Younger Man the story makes the point that this society may have gone to far to turn back and may have to destroy itself before any hope returns. My biggest complaint about the screen play is, the second half of the movie is too repetetive (almost like they ran out of ideas). I would have liked to explore more of the Older Man's past and let him ponder his current meaning of life rather that have the plot repeat itself (i.e. one senseless murder explains all senseless murders). So if you're not to squeemish about murder, violence, and sexuality I highly recommend you check out this film!!

Rating:
Summary: An HD Bonanza!
Review: This movie is not only realistic with Colombia's today situation, but is very well ellaborated and does not leave anything out in regards to the story's argument. One of the nice surprises I found when watching this movie is that for owners of DVD players w/ Progressive Scan and an HD capable TV, will get the pleasure to watch this movie in High Definition quality; since it was filmed using a Sony HD camera. So, the movie is not only high in quality as a story but in its video resolution! don't rent it and buy this Latin American gem!

Rating:
Summary: Unsure
Review: The point is definitely made in "Our Lady of the Assassins", and for an American viewer unexposed to the violence and corruption in Colombia, this was definitely an eye-opener. Artistically, however, the film was very disappointing. The acting was mediocre at best, and the camera in it's entirety does nothing for the film... I would vehemently disagree with the reviewer that said that camera technique was similar to that of Amores Perros (a favorite of mine): it looked as though it had been shot with an expensive home video camera... and no stylistic changes were made. The violence was incredibly cheesy... and the plot drags in a very uneventful way. Even the main character in his desperation spouts cliched words of despair and depression; while his emotions are sufficiently conveyed, they are not in any way poetic or moving, and so it is hard to appreciate what he is saying. In any case, the movie was not absolutely awful, but I would say that it had a lot of wasted potential to be a more moving account of the corruption and desperation in present-day Colombia.

Rating:
Summary: Cinema-verite
Review: Deshumanization caused by socio-economical injustices. Life is meaningless in a Nation (Colombia) where the State is desintegrating by political corruption and lack of social sensibility of the ruling classes. The violence of the State on the great majority of its people generates violent people. The only possible answer in this social formation is individual violence. This picture and the novel depict also the social and economical efects of drug globalization. La virgen de los sicarios is a realistic video that show us Medellin and the aftermath of the drug hubb.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie!!
Review: Just wanted to say that this movie was great, different and interesting. I feel that some of the reviews posted for this movie have been totally out of line. Specially the one from KOZKOZ. Everyone is entitle to their opinion, but for this person to tell everyone not to watch this movie just because he didn't like it, give me a break! give your opinion but how about and educated opinion, why not sound like you know what you are talking about. Also before this person decided to badmouth Colombians they need to learn how to spell first. COLOMBIA with an O.. Again I think this is a great movie and people who want to see something different go ahead and watch it.

Rating:
Summary: The worst movie EVER!
Review: This movie was DREADFUL. Poorly acted, filmed, edited, and scripted. Just AWFUL!

Rating:
Summary: AS MOVING & SHOCKING AS PIXOTE, BUT EVEN MORE CHALLENGING!
Review: Barbet Schroeder's "Our Lady of the Assassins" is an impassionate, yet candid analysis of the personal and collective vicissitudes and disintegration of societal mores in the director's drug traffic-driven, native city of Medellín, Colombia.
The struggle to survive under such conditions is sensitively and honestly portrayed by the interplay of two main characters:
Fernando (German Jaramillo), an aging but virile intellectual, who happens to be a gay, and who, apathetic with his personal and professional life seeks to "die" (in peace?) in his native Medellín; and
Alexis (Anderson Ballesteros), a teenager byproduct of family abuse, poverty, and social violence, who also happens to be a gay, and who, embroiled in the cruelty and hostility of his environment, seeks to survive day to day at gun point.
Fernando and Alexis meet under a frank, for-money pre-arranged sexual encounter, but the two unexpectedly discover in each other honesty and acceptance, compassion and empathy, from which they try to derive hope and meaning for their existences, even if only fleeting due to the inhumane living conditions that they both must face.
THIS FILM IS AS MOVING AND SHOCKING AS PIXOTE AND EVEN MORE PSYCHOLOGICALLY AND PHILOSOPHICALLY CHALLENGING!
A MUST!

Rating:
Summary: The purgatory to which we may be headed
Review: Barbet Schroeder has given us a rare insight into what the future may hold should we continue on the course of senseless brutality we witness in the Media daily now. OUR LADY OF THE ASSASSINS is a terrifyingly realistic account of the world gone mad, of the use of the gun as the immediate stimulus response solution for opposing opinions/views/misunderstandings. The writer who is the main character seems to be time-warping into the future of what might eventually consume us. The terror is in the reportage manner in which this film is delivered. Beautiful young boys exist by making their bodies available to adults who have money or power or who afford food and protection. This is not a film about male hustlers: the relationships between our main character and his young men are full of warmth and tenderness, if edged by the acerbic razor of street rules of survival by the gun. The visual and poetic references to the cathedrals of this Colombian town under moral siege are even more poignant in these days of the Catholic church's dealing with its own demons. This beautifully made film is disturbing, but somehow it is not depressing because the need and fulfilment of love between two characters no matter how disparate rings loudly throughout. A major movie.

Rating:
Summary: Great Movie.....Not so great DVD!
Review: I saw the movie on the big screen and thought it was amazing! I purchased the DVD and it looks horrible. First of all it doesn't have a letterbox version. Watching the movie on my TV felt like I was watching a home video and it just didn't have the same effect.

Rating:
Summary: DVD looks videoy... Not theatrical version
Review: While the film itself is excellent, the DVD (and VHS version I presumed) version is not the same version in its theatrical release. They simply encoded the original digital video version and the "film" truly looks like a video on DVD/VHS. They should have telecined the film-transfer/35mm version which has the depth, color and grain of film. It's much better to watch the print in a theater...