El Traspatio

It's a fictionalized account of a long list of dead young women found in Juarez, Mexico during the 90s. They are all factory workers drawn to the new jobs. It's 1996. Police detective Blanca Bravo (Ana de la Reguera) is new and investigating the latest body found in the desert of Cuidad Juarez. The first documented case was 3 years ago and the police investigations have been incompetent. There is a lot of political and economical pressure to minimize the reality. The movie also follows Juanita who just arrived starting a new job at a factory. Bravo arrests a lowlife criminal and he calls businessman Mickey Santos (Jimmy Smits) for help. Santos is supposedly squeaky clean but he turns out to be a fellow sex offenders from El Paso. The governor is always pushing to put the case away.

I really like Ana de la Reguera. She's playing a smart cop in a world of compromises. She's carrying this movie on her shoulders. She adds another level by being a woman in a male dominated world. The setting is quite compelling. It's great to get the realistic locations. I do wish for better cinematography. However that's a small matter.

Before the explosion of drug cartel violence in Ciudad Juarez was the ongoing murders of hundreds of women, many of whose bodies were dumped in the surrounding desert. Police Detective Blanca (Ana De La Reguera) tries her best to get to the bottom of the murders but runs into resistance at every step, from her commander all the way to the state governor. Juarez was a magnet for women from the impoverished south of Mexico thanks to the opportunities there to work in the maquiladoras. Sara (Carolina Politi) is a young woman from Oaxaca who is among the thousands who come to Juarez seeking work, and in the process being changed by the new life there, where the old conservative traditions are often discarded. Through Sara the movie presents the tragedy of the killings in Juarez, as the boyfriend she jilts after a few dates is taken in by a group of men who persuade him to get even. We never know who does these killings, but the exploration of this gruesome phenomenon is nothing short of fascinating in its look into the attitudes towards these victims. The real star of the film is the city of Juarez itself, as a radio commentator describes the "cobalt sky" and the camera captures the city's outlying areas at near dark. Jimmy Smits plays a wealthy El Paso businessman who owns some of the bars in Juarez and who is revealed to be yet another prime suspect among the seemingly so many who may have played their own parts in these horrible crimes. In the end, the film makes you appreciate the tragedy of this city.

BACKYARD is a gritty Mexican thriller that explores the plight of young women in the city of Ciudad Juarez. It's a film in which the rape and murder of these innocent figures plays a large part and thus it's largely unpalatable viewing, and yet as the whole thing is based on fact it's also extremely shocking.

Having experienced a few of these Mexican movies like the similar HELI I'm afraid to say that I'm not really a fan of them. I appreciate that the stories need to be told but I would much rather watch a documentary than a fictionalised version. BACKYARD is a hodge podge of all too familiar themes involving the drug trade, the problems faced by the police force seeking to bring those responsible to justice, corruption, exploitation, and of course human trafficking.

The story is rather overlong and does feel unfocused in places. It's never exciting or suspenseful, just rather depressing. Old-timer Jimmy Smits plays a local businessman and is cast well against type, giving a solid performance, but the rest of the cast seemed to me to be playing rather tired and predictable roles.

While this was played at the Fantasy Filmfest, it is anything but. It's more documentary than fiction. And there is no fantasy to be had here. Of course it is a very well known fact that crimes are committed around the world, so does this movie offer any new insight? Depending on how much you know on that matter, it might.

And it is mostly "educactional" rather than entertaining. Trying to open our eyes to a very shameful situation happening. The question is, how much do we care or are we able and willing to change what is happening? Is it the old: "What can I do from where I am at?" or the "There is worse things happening elsewhere".

Whatever is true, the movie is harsh and down and dirty and not something that can be considered an easy watch. It's as uncomfortable as to be confronted with things like the ones I have mentioned above. If you think this review is harsh, you may wanna stay away from this movie too

VERY loosely based (and I can't emphasize this enough) on the case of Abdel Sharif, the film covers the topic of the high murder rate of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico exposed when mass-graves were found in the surrounding desert last decade. While Traspatio attempts to "personalize" the events through very believable character back-stories, it sadly turns into an ultra-feminist sounding-board/propaganda film with the essential message being: "men baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" Yes, every single male character is unlikable in this movie; ranging from the simply incompetent to the dime-store evil villain. The movie is very graphic and violent...the rape scenes almost seem more gratuitous than shocking. I guess the only good thing I can say is the American version "Bordertown" with Jennifer Lopez was only slightly worse.