To put it as simply as possible Cartel Land is perfect. Bottom line. It's a swift, beautifully shot, kick in the ass of a documentary that will have you gasping at the fact that it's a documentary. The film follows two upstart vigilante groups that were created to fight cartels, yet mostly focusses on one called the Autodefensas. The job of the Autodefensas is to liberate towns in Mexico from the cartels. And this is all real. This is no western film, or Akira Kurosawa creation. This is real. The cameramen are running around with this group. Running through gunfights, through meth labs, through bloody torture sessions, and the film has a narrative to back it up. It's a documentary that has a more interesting story then almost anything I have ever seen. It's more intense then almost anything I have ever seen, and that's because it's real. It's visceral, people are dying on camera, and the audience is experiencing all of it. Atrocious crimes are described, and then criminals are caught. The vigilante group changes as the power players change. This film is electrifying, intense, and all that combined with the fact that it's all real helps the film feel extremely smooth. The fact that the cinematography is so engaging helps too. This film is beautifully shot with everything looking very vibrant for a documentary, and with all the gun battles being captured perfectly. Guys I cannot think of a better documentary that I have seen other then this. Cartel Land will have you thinking for a very long time, and is so exhilaratingly rich you will not believe what you are seeing. This is the first perfect film I've seen from 2015 (the other perfect ratings were films that came out in 2014 but open in my area in 2015), and I can't recommend it enough. I give Cartel Land a 10 out of 10. PS: Cartel Land is now playing at the Tivoli in St.Louis. Reviewed by Stephen Tronicek.
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AuthorI am a 17 year old film enthusiast that is happy to be sharing my opinions on this site. Archives
March 2016
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