Thursday, February 9, 2012

Movie Review: Miss Bala


Beautiful girl caught in a ugly situation. It's always tragic, and Gerardo Naranjo's latest film exemplifies this adage to a tee. Miss Bala (or Miss Bullet, thanks Google translator) exposes the horrors of Mexico's long and bloody drug war, and the havoc it has reeked on the nation's innocent population for decades.

It ain't easy being sleazy
Newcomer Stephanie Sigman stars as Laura, a gorgeous young beauty pageant contestant who, by a cruel twist of fate, becomes the reluctant accomplice of a criminal drug lord. Sigman's performance is amazing. She literally carries the entire film on her shoulders and doesn't miss a beat. Not quite as mesmerizing as Elizabeth Olsen's turn in Martha Marcy May Marlene, but damn close. As the carnage of Miss Bala unfolds, Laura remains true to herself and tries to do what she believes is right. Putting the welfare of her friend and family before her own, Laura even tries going to the police, but doing what's right is next to impossible in Mexico's ultra corrupt landscape, completely engulfed in the cloud of it's drug war.

Naranjo's direction is superb. Although his script is a bit spartan, his choice of shots and most of all, his ability to create tension is amazing. From the disco hall massacre in the beginning, to the shoot out in the streets of Tijuana (very Michael Mann-ish a la Heat) and the final narco hotel attack scene, each of these action set pieces should have you at the edge of your seat. For large parts of the film, Naranjo's camera stays over Laura's shoulder. This allows for a disorienting, yet gripping fly on the wall perspective. The audience is as clueless as poor Laura, descending further into suspense and madness together. My only problem with this is, I started getting annoyed with the back of people's heads. When an actor's haircut starts intruding into the world of the film, I don't consider that a good thing.

I'd wife that

Either way, small grievance aside, Miss Bala is still a great film and accomplishes it's goal of shedding new light on Mexico's brutal drug war. In a world where cops and government officials can be bought and sold (even pageant officials as well!) no one is safe from the violence, rape, death and misery of Mexico's all encompassing narcotics trade. Not even a beauty queen.



*NOTE*
Thanks to DM over @ classy-films.com for giving me the heads up about this movie. Although I saw the trailer for Miss Bala before watching Shame, it was the blog post at classy-films that first peeked my interest. Thanks again!

34 comments:

  1. This does look good. Gritty and real with that touch of beauty should make this worth the watch.

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  2. it does look good and i like that its got that real world element

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  3. Ehhh... Not really for me. Not lighthearted enough.

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  4. Not heard a thing about it until you reviewed it, I'd give it a watch.....

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  5. Another one I haven't heard off, sounds like a watch for me though.

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  6. i might watch this, thanks. :)

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  7. Thanks for the review. Never heard of it. Must watch :)

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  8. Sounds good to me mate. Have to admit that gritty films are usually my favourite types of film for some reason. Looks great in the trailer.

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  9. I'd wife that. It sounds pretty gritty, there seems to be a lot more of those movies these days, though they also seem to still be escaping the mainstream. Maybe they've always been around but are just more prominent now.

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  10. I wouldnt mind seeing that myself. :D

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  11. Yep decent film, and Sigman is very easy on the eyes.

    I reviewed this one a couple weeks ago: http://www.bonjourtristesse.net/2012/01/miss-bala-2011.html

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  12. Wow! This looks like a fantastic movie! I love movies that are as realistic as posible! (And the back of peoples heads interests me!)

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  13. This movie was Mexico's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar entry this year. Unfortunately it didn't make the cut. I still wanna see it though.

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  14. Yeah, I've been meaning to watch this one. A long with about 50 others, granted. It's on my list.

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  15. I'm all about well crafted suspense. This one will go in my 'to watch' folder.

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  16. Sounds like a movie with a message! I'd watch it

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  17. Wow! Never would of considered Miss Bala without this classy review from you. :) BTW...made you new blog of the day.

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  18. Wow I really, really want to see this movie now. Thanks for letting me know about it, I had never heard of it before

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  19. I'd wife that lol nice caption.

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  20. This looks like a pretty interesting film! Might have to check it out!

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  21. I don't need to watch this film. I live that stuff everyday here in northern Mexico. :/

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  22. Mexico is more like India then? Anyone can be bought?

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  23. I heard good things about this movies

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  24. Gotta give this film a go. I've seen a few that were of a similar genre and loved them.

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  25. Never heard of this one, looks kind of good though! :)

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  26. Gotta love a good film based on actual current events. Crazy to think that that stuff actually happens.

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  27. mexico sounds scarier than the middle east nowadays

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  28. The comparison to Heat is quite a bold statement since Heat is in my top 100 films.

    I'll give this movie a chance.

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  29. Wow, this got by here. Will definitely screen this.

    H*

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  31. The movie and the soundtrack is awesome, I thought this movie was the same about narco vs. government vs. people, but this is just like a small slice of a very big cake full of this kind of stories.

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