Le carnet de Sara

For someone who has lived in the Congo, this story is as real as it gets. Some reviews find certain events unrealistic and far fetched but they have probably never been in a jungle in Africa

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

"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.

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.

The critics may be right that much of the story is unrealistic, and I agree the protagonist never would have survived any part of the trek she's on. But still it is well acted with some enjoyable supportive actors, especially the actor who plays the woman who saves her life and the young man who plays Jamir-who's actually the best thing about the whole film.