O Inferno

I just got back from watching this movie, and I feel like a just got a beating, unfortunately, it's a beating of reality, and it's not pretty.

First of all, it's a raw human drama that grabs you right from the beginning and doesn't even let you breath right until the end. It pretty much portraits the dark side of the human soul: violence, corruption, greed, murder, revenge etc. everything under the sad reality of the narcos and drug trafficking in Mexico. It's interesting that you see this from the point of view of the narcos. And it even has the virtue of using some dark humor that doesn't make the viewing more comfortable.

Script, production, cinematography and acting are wonderful, especially Joaquin Cosio, absolutely brilliant (no wonder why he was picked as one of Bond's villains in Quantum of solace). I found valuable the fact that it is a hard criticism to the government, the authorities, the police, the justice system, and not just the actual ones, but the ones we've had in the past 80 years, and that, in a way, it's a slap in the face to the celebration of the 200 years of independence.

That said, it has to be understood that it reflects only a part of Mexico's reality, though it's a brutal one. Just like after watching City of God you can't assume that Brazil's whole reality are the favelas, the same way it'd be wrong to assume that Mexico is just narcos killing each other.

Powerful and brutal, not an easy watch, but, in my opinion a must see for any movie fan.

I assure you that this movie's legacy will still be talked about in decades to come. Certainly, the sole fact that this movie came to be speaks wonders of how great cinema can be made in Mexico, together with its box-office companion, "Hidalgo".

There is a little something for everyone: emotional dilemmas, intellectual reflection, and scenes so well composed that they're worthy of being shown in film schools. For the general public, the tasteful black comedy, the strong symbolic images, as well as the numerous occasions it gives for yelling "burn!!" (or "pedradas", in Spanish) will be the most memorable.

The ideas behind the making of this movie are definitely genius, but it still should be taken with a grain of salt. It is a very simplified view of the lower levels of the narco industry, as it only portrays the case of how a small rural town, with typical small-town values and small-town conservatism, is affected. The movie has been warmly received by the Mexican public, who after only seeing the consequences of this battle against narco forces, have no idea of what this narco business really is about, and crave any type of inside scoop they can get their hands on.

This movie presents what feels like great insight in an easily digestible way.

"El Infierno" is a satirical approach to the actual social situation of Mexico. This movie was released few days before of The Bicentennial Independence Day celebration. That fact gives a plus to this movie because it shows in a "funny" way how brutal the reality in this country is. Director Estrada wants to show that there is nothing to celebrate in a Nobody's land, where the law is made for those to have the money to corrupt a whole system. "El Infierno" shows not only a harsh present, but also a hopeless future.

The main topic of this movie is, of course, drug-trafficking; but, in this case, is only a pretext to show that drug-trafficking is not the problem itself, because it is only the consequence of a very long "tradition" of arrangements between mafia and government. The most characters in this movie were very well performed. I said the most characters, because Maria Rojo's performance was not so good as the other actors. This movie is easy to see and although it contains brutal violence it will be never so brutal as the headlines at the daily news.

This movie shows the reality of corruption, church and drug traffic but don't make it sound like everyone in Mexico is a slave to this. What the director did was focus on some drug trafficker and what he moves up his cartel's ladder but Mexico is just like all of the countries in the world, there are opportunities for everyone who really looks for them and the people in general are not dehumanized they are scared by what they see in the news and what they see in papers which is only the bad news. In all the time I've been here I have only heard s h i t in the news and what people say they heard. Sure the economic crisis hurt the people but that's everywhere not just in Mexico. This is a good movie but don't be a victim and say it's a sad reality, instead do something about it, demand the government what you want because in the end the people have the power to do anything.

As a Mexican who lives in México I have to say that it is very different to read the stories about crime, death, drugs, etc. in the newspapers than watching this film that put names and faces to the people involved in this kind of lifestyle. Some of the reviewers are very offended with the stereotypes in this movie, but it is undeniable that this movie portrays just one piece of reality about a part of our society. The offensive part should be that the rest of us live our lives normally without thinking about these things. It seems that many of us live in a different country, so far from this hell, and this movie is a great remainder of the problems we have as a country. I think that many of us are indifferent to these problems; we do not even imagine that this "war" affects all of us. I have read some reviews in which the way of telling the story is questioned and criticised. Many people think that the comedy is unnecessary, that it is a safe and easy way to say this kind of things, but I wonder if people are ready to pay to watch a film that does not involve comedy or any kind of humorous situation... sad but true, our TV and cinema culture is pathetic. Good for Luis Estrada, not everything is tequila, mariachi loco, spring break and telenovelas in México.