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OUR LADY OF THE ASSASSINS Send This Review to a Friend
A film as bleak and upsetting as it is dramatically stunning, "Our Lady of the Assassins" relentlessly and uncompromisingly depicts the overall despair in the midst of Colombia's drug business. It is a film in which death is everywhere, and life is chillingly cheap. Killings are taken for granted and people go about their routines with a matter-of-fact attitude toward the pattern of chaos and destruction. In addition, this latest work by Barbet Schroeder is a story of homosexual love and a cynical writer's weary view of the world.
The scene is Medellin, home of the drug cartel. German Jaramillo as Fernando, the writer, returns from his wanderings with the expectation of dying in his home city. He feels that life is all but over for him. Yet a fresh spark is struck when he meets Anderson Ballesteros as Alexis, who is a tough youngster living the street life in poverty-ridden surroundings. Alexis has a violent temper that can explode at the slightest provocation. He can kill casually, as he has done in his effort to survive. He is also hunted in the gang warfare that rages. Fernando is appalled, but he is also fascinated, and he develops a strong affection for the youth, whom he would like to protect and re-direct.
Schroeder, who has based his film on Fernando Vallejo's 1994 novel "La Virgen de los Sicaros," follows the older man and his new-found lover, through the maze of the disturbing milieu of Medellin. It is a harrowing journey, but also very striking photographically. The tone is a mix of realism and repressed emotion. I was reminded in some ways of segments of Fellini's "La Dolce Vita." The acting is utterly convincing whether in scenes of startling violence or moments of understated tenderness.
This is a difficult film, however, because what occurs is so depressing and off-putting. One needs a strong constitution to deal with the stark truth that "Our Lady of the Assassins" is expressing. This is to Schroeder's credit. He has made an unflinching film about personal relationships, perspectives and the cruelty in this part of the world, which may not be all that different from life elsewhere. A Paramount Classics release.
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