Educational Media Reviews Online

This disturbing documentary portrays the sad reality in which Colombian people live everyday. The first scene is that of a dead body on the street, something quite common in everyday life. The documentary follows the daily activities of some of the leaders of a paramilitary group called Bloque Metro. The members talk about their lives, their feelings, their families and their friends. With quiet, honest and sincere responses about life and death, they have no expectations at all besides survival. Little hope for the future is expressed among them. Several real life violent scenes are shown throughout the entire documentary.

The only disappointing part of this video is that there is no introduction as to what is going on in Colombia. From the film you can not understand why people are killing each other. You are not sure if it is for money, drugs, power, all of the aforementioned, or just plain survival. Even for an experienced and knowledgeable professional who knows the current social and political realities in Colombia, this film poses difficulties in understanding what is really happening. Reading the back of the video case can inform you as to what to expect as well as give you a brief idea of the social situation, but for classroom use, it is best to give an introduction to what is happening in present day Columbia and why there is so much violence.

The picture and sound qualities are good. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. Other films that provide a better perspective on the current situation in Colombia include Rodrigo D No Future or Our Lady of the Assassins, perhaps not the best films, but with clear points of view. La Sierra will support collections on peace and justice studies, human rights, international relations, Latin American studies, political science, and multicultural studies.