Pecados de mi padre

"Juan Pablo Escobar has agreed to tell the story of his life with his father, Pablo Escobar, once described as the 'World's Greatest Outlaw'. It is also the story of the sons of Pablo Escobar's most prominent victims. It is the story of a country torn apart by violence and revenge, of death and reconciliation, and of a son's attempt to atone for the sins of the father." Ultimately it is up to the viewer to decide whether or not the actions of Sebastian Marroquin could ever have the impact that he so clearly desires. But as a snapshot of the human side of drug trafficking and the misery heaped upon the families of the victims, from all sides of the equation, My Father, Pablo Escobar is a brilliant and hard-hitting documentary. SM

I am not going to talk so much about the historical part of this documentary, which indeed is great and one of the best I've seen. I have no objections about it at all. However I don't buy this "we're all victims" idea that the filmmakers and Marroquin are trying to portray. It's so sad that after seeing footage of the wonderful and brave leaders Rodrigo Lara Bonilla and Luis Carlos Galan you later get to see their sons sell out and in the most naive way accept Pablo Escobar junior's apology in front of the cameras, which is nothing more than a publicity stunt. Sadly Colombias now historical heroes' clear-sighted and firm stand against corruption and criminality weren't passed on to their sons. I felt sad seeing these nice, well intentioned guys being so manipulated by the opportunistic son of Escobar, or Sebastian Marroquin as he calls himself today. There is no way neither Cano nor Galan would sell out this way had they been alive today. Marroquin also tried to reach out to other victims, such as the Cano family who wisely questioned his real intentions and backed out of it. Marroquin is a guy that several times has tried to trademark Pablos name in Colombia and abroad sells t-shirts with his fathers picture on them under the ridiculous pretext that it's to raise awareness and that history should never repeat itself. That's rich. I guess with that same logic you should sell t-shirts of Hitler and swastikas to support anti-racism. Make no mistake about it. Marroquins biggest hero is his father and that is not something that you can combine with remorse and regret. His apology is as fake as Pablo Esobars speeches about peace in Colombia. Both Cano and Galan would've known that but apparently not their sons. If you're gonna see it, see it for the old footage and the interviews, not for the apology.

According to the now released from prison, John Jairo Velasquez, who was a hit-man for Escobar, Marroquin was trained as a kid to become a criminal and did in fact participate in placing bombs and torturing of victims. Apart from still sitting on a huge amount of his fathers dirty money. This movie he mainly did because he wanted to return to Colombia to sell some properties and arts that his father left him.

Believe what you want. But this guy is not as innocent as he wants to appear.

Think about your family history and the black sheep and how you would answer for their transgressions. Multiply that difficulty by infinity and you would face what druglord Pablo Escobar's son has had to answer for. Filmmaker Nicolas Entel has distilled and visualized that moral burden to powerful, personal dimension in "Sins of my Father." This absorbing, multidimensional film should be a strong contender for the Audience Award in the World Documentary Competition at Sundance.

For those too young to remember the reign of terror that Escobar and his Medellin drug ring wreaked on Colombia, not to mention the countless whose lives were destroyed by cocaine, this smart and solid film blends history with a deeply moving, ongoing personal story.

It's told through the eyes of Escobar's son, an architect in Buenos Aires who changed his name to Marroquin to escape the dangers and degradations of using his birth name. Marroquin, now middle-aged, is an introspective and highly intelligent man who has struggled to reconcile the different images of his criminal father: He remembers him as a doting dad but is deeply guilt-ridden by the reality that his father was a rampaging, murderous criminal. Escobar was so ruthless and crazed that at one time he held Colombia captive with merciless assassinations of public officials.

Entel has composed a masterwork, blending original news footage, home movies and Marroquin's candid revelations. Most remarkably, we see that while Marroquin realizes he always will live with his father's sins, he reaches out to the men whose own fathers were killed by Escobar. It's one of the film's most poignant moments when Marroquin and the sons of a Colombian presidential candidate whom Escobar had assassinated embrace one another, realizing they all are victims of the malicious drug trade.

Crisply paced and powerful, " Father" is a sobering and richly humane document.

The main reason why I think people should watch this documentary is because it shows, in less than 90 minutes and based on the true story of a country, where corruption, the pursuit of power and drug trading can take you to.

Just like many drug dealers don't think about how they will end up ruining their lives by entering the business, Pablo Escobar, one of the most successful of them all, most likely never thought it would ruin his life and affect his family's even decades after his death. Fortunately their stories remain there as a warning that we shouldn't ignore and that "Sins of my father" reminds the audience.

This documentary is everything from the personal struggle of Escobar's son to deal with his father's life, to the fight of a country trying to become a better place but finding powerful obstacles inside and outside of its borders. It is about the human nature of doing good and about the human nature (which can be awaken early during the childhood) to do bad and destroy.

Finally it is a story about regret, forgiveness and the direction in which we all should go: "pa' adelante".

This movie tells the story of the infamous and notorious drug dealer Pablo Escubar. It is told for the first time from the perspective of Escubar's son and juxtaposed with the same story told by a man whose politician father was murdered at Escubar's command.

Their story is absolutely gripping from beginning to end. The climax of the movie comes with a meeting between the sons of 2 assassinated politicians and Escubar's son. The director catches the whole meeting from the very first time they lay eyes on each other and the impact is strong.

Check out this documentary. The English version is called My Father, Pablo Escubar and was recently aired on Channel 4.