Rosario

Just saw this movie in Buga, Colombia. Not being a native speaker it was a bit hard for me to understand all the dialogues - especially the street slang of the hired killers. In my opinion Unax Ugalde did a very good acting job, but then again I didn't notice his poor paisa accent. The first part really was excellent. I loved the way the movie jumped back and forward in time, which added greatly to the suspension. It's a pity that the movie seemed to loose some of its direction in the second half. Still a memorable picture, and hopefully it'll get the international distribution it deserves. Does anybody know if there's a release planned in Europe or elsewhere?

In MHO this is probably the best film shot in Colombia to date. This film excels primarily due to the electrifying performance of the Colombian actress Flora Martinez in the role of Rosario Tijeras, a young and dangerous girl that works as a hit-woman to the Medellin drug cartel in the late 1980's.

Not only does the beautiful and talented Ms. Martinez realistically portraits the tormented girl that always gives a kiss before shooting to death his victims, but the rest of the cast gives a highly convincing performance. I didn't blink seeing the picture and neither will you....

Spanish actor Unax Ugalde gives an excellent performance as Antonio, the only pure soul to come close to the star-crossed Rosario. Some failings in pronouncing the local 'paisa' accent of Medellin, IMHO, doesn't in any way diminish his convincing performance.

Colombian actor Manolo Cardona, acting as Rosario's boyfriend Emilio, did also a very powerful performance, although he doesn't reach his co-stars levels.

Equally convincing are the performances of Mexican actor Rodrigo Oviedo as the hit-man Johnefe, Rosario's brother, and of Colombian actor Alonso Arias as the dangerous Rosario's former boyfriend Ferney.

The Mexican director Emilio Maillé did a very good job in this, his first full length feature film. Congratulations! The Marcelo Figueras's adapted script from the original novel by Jorge Franco maintains all the elements of this tale which will become part of Latin America's mythology. In my opinion, the Figueras's script clears some blind spots of the book

Filmed on location in Medellin, including the old living quarters of the henchmen of the Medellin drug cartel, this Mexican-American-Colombian production never looses pace in a frantic and crude vertigo of sex, drugs, tragedy, and violence.

Don't miss it!

This movie has an interesting, albeit somewhat formulaic, film-noir story as its foundation.

However, the movie ended up being too tedious to watch because of the excessively long segments devoted to hammering the same message time and again.

For instance, the wake and burial of one of the characters includes some creative twists---but ends up taking ~40 minutes of the film, so long before it moves on people in the audience start checking their watches.

This could have been of "City of god" caliber, but will never be. I'm not sure why it reached such a cult status in Colombia.

This was a really good Columbian film that starred Flora Martínez (Proof of Life) as a hit-woman who falls in love. That sounds like a formulaic movie that has been made a thousand times, but Martinez really brings home the film in a way that will keep you watching.

I don't know much about Columbia, but i was really fascinated with the celebration of death before the funeral of Jonhefe. They borough him to the bar and sat him in a chair and had a party, including a lap dance for the dead man. Makes it kind of a grind house film, but it was a film about love and loss.

It's worth a look just to see Martinez.

In 1989, in Medellin, the prostitute and killer Rosario Tijeras (Flora Martínez) has an affair with the playboy Emilio (Manolo Cardona) and is introduced to his best friend Antonio (Unax Ugalde) in a night-club. The relationship of Rosario with Emilio is limited to sex and she befriends Antonio, who is in love with her. After the death of her brother Jonhefe (Rodrigo Oviedo), Rosario and Antonio become closer and she falls in love for him. But Rosario is chased by her enemies from the past.

I had a great expectation for this movie based on the awards highlighted on the cover of the DVD but after watching it, it became a huge disappointment. The plot has a promising beginning, mostly because of the erotic scenes with the sexy Flora Martínez and her naked body. Her mysterious character is intriguing in the beginning. However, the dull story goes nowhere and I had trouble to write a summary since nothing happens but a silly triangle of love in the landscape of the underworld of Medellin in a messy soap-opera. The characters are awfully developed: for example, Rosario Tijeras is one of the most ambiguous characters I have ever seen. Is she an expensive prostitute and a killer, and also a drug-dealer or what? Where is her money charging large amounts for sex and murders? She seems to be a powerful and cold woman in the beginning, but she is disclosed extremely fragile like a housewife along the story. Is the upper-class Emilio just a playboy? And who is Antonio? Why are these guys connected to the underworld of drugs? The celebration with the dead body of Jonhefe is funny but totally out of the context. The dinner at Emilio's home is another terrible moment of this forgettable flick. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Rosario Tijeras"