El cuaderno de Sara

"Sara's Notebook" is a Drama - Mystery movie in which we watch a woman traveling from Spain to Central Africa in order to find her younger sister who is missing for quite some time.

I found this movie interesting because it presented some sensitive subjects in a simple and understandable way. The direction which was made by Norberto López Amado was good in general but he did not succeed on making us relate to his main character since it was not so realistic. The interpretation of Belén Rueda who played as Laura Alonso was good and she made the difference. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Iván Mendes' who played as Jamir and Marian Álvarez's who played as Sara. In conclusion, I have to say that "Sara's Notebook" is a nice movie to spend your time.

Motivated by the very mixed opinions and descriptions put forward by previous reviews, I wish to reframe this movie in what I believe to be, as a simple viewer, the correct context.

It seems to me that the obvious wish of the director is to bring to the screen the dire situation encountered in the Eastern Congo, for many years (decades) now, but that he does not wish to go totally over the top by showing the absolute full extent of the horror that has stricken that area of the world, presumably by fear of frightening the public. A lighter note is added by the story of two sisters, one of whom, established as a lawyer in Spain, sets out to find the trace of the younger sibling, working in an NGO in the Congo. At the same time, this gives what inevitably will be a predominantly western audience a number of characters to identify with.

The setting is borrowed from a very real situation, and a very real insurgent - or terror - operation lead in the 2000's by Laurent Nkunda. Barely disguised under the false name N'gunda, all the elements that characterized the reign of terror of Nkunda's group are brought to the screen, in a mix that gives the average viewer an idea of what went on there, without frightening her or him away - the real truth is simply too appalling to be portrayed frontally. The lead character should simply be seen as the narrator, the guide who leads the viewer through all this.

Remember that this is a movie, and that a director is free to portray what he or she wants. It therefore does not matter whether Laura's travels sometimes border on the irrealistic or luck or circumstance play too large a role in the plot. That is just entirely besides the point, since Laura is basically our "tour guide". I feel that the movie fits well with works of a similar character, notably "Cry Freedom", which, even though called a masterpiece, was fraught with much the same weaknesses. In "Sara's notebook", the director makes a very clear and laudable effort to portray the country, its circumstances, and the action as accurately as he can, given the means at hand.

In all, the director succeeds rather well. I would tend to dismiss accusations of racism read in other reviews. Being a western director, and having chosen to film from a western, european vantage point, certain prejudices are inevitable. It should however, be recognized that these are part of our western, european, point of view and inbred behaviour and set of reactions. That is just the way things are, and the author shows it. Nothing wrong with that. The most poignant is of course the fact that the Uruguayan UN soldiers (accurately portrayed) refuse aid to congolese nationals who need it most. Yes, institutional racism, or a necessity imposed by local circumstances, pushed to the extreme ? I do not pretend or permit myself to judge, I merely admit that the resulting picture looks realistic.

So, go have a look for yourself, and tell me what you think.

A tale of a Moronic Spanish woman whose idiotic quest to find her less bright sister in the war torn Congo leaves in her wake countless bodies of friends and foes because she has the gray matter of a marsupial and always places herself and others in harms way .. her continuing propensity to make the wrong descision defies credulity.

The story had a chance to be enthralling. It missed, but not badly. A story of a disastrous Central African drug/diamond/or in this case minerals human tragedy is compelling on its own. This movie also tries to throw in a sibling re-unification thread, which I found lacking. The story of the sister and her young African guide/translator was the star interaction of the movie. However; as with so many movies, the overuse of dramatic shootings and narrow escapes becomes nearly comical. Our heroine is shot at a thousand times, is surrounded numerous times, and ambushed a few more times for good measure. We even get car chases and plane disasters. It was as if the director wanted to make "James Bond goes to an African civil war." I still liked the movie. The acting was solid and they did capture the feel of living in Africa in the 21st Century.

I read another review, where the reviewer made a good point. It seems like the Western world needs someone the audience can root for. Someone they see and can feel and relate to. That person is our female protagonist in this case. And while that is more than a fair point, try not to let this get your focus of the main issues of the movie.

Genocide, hunger, murder, rape and a general abuse of power. But this does not give us a look into the higher powers who "control" this. We get to the ground, down and dirty and go on the look for our sister. Well the sister of the main actress that is. She was missing and now it seems like there is a glimmer of hope. Hope they can reunite and go back "home". But on her way, she finds a new friend. A friend that is troubled, but a friend is useful to her. Someone you should not judge prematurely or even with other moral standards than the ones he has to obey and live by. This may sound weird, but once you've seen it, you'll get it. A really well thought of movie, that takes its time (maybe a bit too long at times), but is really worth your time, if you have the faintest interest in the subject