Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

samuelsson91 La Virgen de los Sicarios is a movie about 2 gays- a senior and a teenager (Alexis). Both live in a city where killing on streets is a daily routine. Alexis literally shots everybody who he wants to and only death stops him. Paradoxically, although he killed tenth of people, he could not have killed a sick dog. Because of the generational difference there are always 2 looks at one situation- the olds experienced look inwrought with memories and Alexis updated, who always knows what is happening. Unfortunately, the film does not know what he wants to say and becomes boredom, although there are some funny scenes and sudden turnovers. From the “sleep” wakes you nothing up.

jotix100 Medellin is a dangerous city in more ways than one is lead to believe. At the time of the action, Pablo Escobar's empire has been dismantled and his loyal soldiers are scattered all around the city engaging in a game of death, revenge and petty vendettas. There is no reverence for life in a place that has seen violence on a daily basis and where children have access to guns for protection in order to survive in that environment.Barbet Schroeder, the German director, expands on Fernando Vallejo's novel, which the author adapted for the screen, resulting in a highly violent and bloody film that is disturbing, as well as true.Fernando, the older gay man who comes back to his native city of Medellin, quickly finds a boy to satisfy his needs. Alexis, the young man, is seen at first at the all-male brothel where he is offered by the pimp to Fernando. Alexis turns out to be something the older man didn't expect. This is a boy that is savvy in the ways of how to survive in the city, who clearly takes an interest in the older, and richer Fernando.Alexis is a marked man and it's only a matter of time; his days are numbered because there are other youths behind him that will do whatever in their power to eliminate him. Fernando can't believe what his city has become, but he has no desire to go away again. When Alexis is killed, Fernando mourns his death until Wilmar, another young gay man appears in his orbit. Little prepares Fernando to realize who Wilmar is really.Fernando's comments on the situation in his city, as well as in the Colombian reality, are the basic themes of the film. While one side of him cries for that old place he knew as a child, he welcomes this new metropolis full of danger and people that attracts and repulses him at the same time.German Jaramillo appears to be the alter ego for the writer, Fernando Vallejo, whose story seems to resemble that of the Fernando in the novel and in the film. Mr. Jaramillo's take on Fernando keeps him away from the confrontations between his young lovers and what he thinks is right. He never passes judgment on what the young people are doing, yet he is instrumental for providing the bullets that Alexis needs to defend himself. The other two young actors, Anderson Ballesteros and Juan Diego Restrepo, play Alexis and Wilmar respectively.Barbet Schroeder has directed the film with all its realism showing us a society in which all hope seems to have abandoned the citizens of the city.

wotamovie1 I'll put in my 2 cents on this flick for what its worth, not that it matters much but it is interesting to see the wide extremes of opinions here. I'm quite oblivious to the situation in Colombia today. I've heard about the casual violence and the kidnappings through news media. As an outsider, I found the film to be some sort of a modern masterpiece. The use of digital video was odd but I felt somewhat closer to the locale. The screenplay was incisive, witty and at the same time displayed the depths of the human condition. Some have noted that the acting of the young boys to be bad and unrealistic. True, they are not thespians by trade but I thought they displayed their reactions and emotions toward the writer very well. If I was in their shoes I would have been taken in by this writer as well. Why not? He is providing me with what I need and at the same time showing me the compassion and wisdom that is lacking around me. I believe wholeheartedly that this is Mr. Schroeder's most personal work. Why else would one risk his life filming it in Colombia? I've seen some of his other works and none come close to this. The irony of this film is that the cinematography shows Colombia to be beautiful beyond words. It makes me want to visit. Maybe I'll be like the writer in the film and go there to die after I have done everything I wanted to in my life. This is an excellent companion piece to 'Maria Full of Grace.' Both films are two of the best to come out of this decade.

pijaomonkey The first time I saw this movie I was so excited to see a film not only touch on the subject of violence that is all to prominent in Colombia, but also see parts of Medellin, the beloved city of my family, on screen. However, when I watched for a second time and perhaps with a little more objectivity. I felt the movie lacked in a few areas. For one, the movie does seem to drag in prolonged scenes of silence that doesn't seem to serve even a dramatic effect. This makes the movie feel slow and boring. Also, the central relationships between Fernando and his two young lovers seem a little unplausible. Fernando is an aging writer with the rhetoric of a intellectual and a cynical academic. The young lovers, Alexis and Wilmar, are to young, too hip, and to modern for it to be believable that they would have such an intimate and profound relationship with Fernando. The ending also leaves with a void and a sense that there is something else that was left out. The acting is good, very natural in the dialogue but some of the non-verbal actions of the characters ( such as love-making or the killing) can seem a little rehearsed. The cinematography is beautiful and it uses the city of Medellin to the fullest as another character in the backdrop of the movie. It also gives a glimpse into the everyday life of the Colombian city culture with the infusion of music and outdoor shots of the people and places in the city. I like the fact that it doesn't hold back in portraying the violence it addresses as raw and common, but sometimes it seems a little unreal or dramatized.