Sicario by Denis Villeneuve (2015)
A new entry in this series dedicated to films that deal with criminal enterprises.
An FBI agent is on a special mission in a border zone between the United States and Mexico. She’s there to combat the drug trade run by the Mexican cartel, part of a task force led by an extremely ambiguous leader and a dangerous, impenetrable Colombian mercenary.
“The word sicario originally referred to the Zealots of Jerusalem, assassins dedicated to defending their land from Roman invaders. In Mexico, sicario means killer.”
Borderline
At first glance, it looks like just a tunnel, a secret passage used by the cartel to smuggle drugs into another territory. But for young, idealistic agent Kate, that borderline is much more than just a physical crossing.
It means questioning all of her moral convictions, the distinction between right and wrong, good guys and bad guys. Everything becomes disturbingly thin and almost invisible when it’s about bringing out the leader of a criminal cartel.
The methods used are brutal and far from what official protocol dictates. The limits of legality are often crossed in pursuit of the end goal, and Kate finds herself just a pawn in a system infinitely larger than herself.
Thinking about the horror these criminals cause daily, which she’s experienced firsthand, offers little solace. There’s something even more unbearable, something she’s forced to live with during the mission, that will forever change her perception of justice.
Thoughts
Villeneuve knows his way around a camera. The opening sequence alone—from the raid on the house to the macabre discovery of bodies hidden inside the walls and the mines scattered everywhere—is worth the price of admission.
And it’s only the prologue.
The camera is equally comfortable in tight, claustrophobic spaces as it is in open landscapes. In the more tense, action-driven scenes, the director seems inspired by Michael Mann’s cinema.
Emily Blunt acts the whole time with no makeup, wide-eyed, and she’s absolutely perfect in portraying the disbelief and disillusionment her character experiences. Josh Brolin is completely at ease moving through a corrupt world, operating on the edge of legality, while Benicio del Toro plays a role seemingly tailor-made for him: the silent, mysterious, and dark Alejandro.
A great film.
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