Maidgethma
Wonderfully offbeat film!
Senteur
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
FirstWitch
A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Cassandra
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Chaman1990
El Infierno is probably one of the best Mexican movies i've watched in a long time, it has lots of shocking scenes but they seem to be less shocking because of the comedy context. Anyway, the film depicts a terrifying reality in Mexico, and furthermore the director did also made focus on the international aspects of the situation, so it's also a critic not only to the corruption in Mexico but the international corruption.On the other hand, actors are OK, they're not outstanding, but they did a great job to be a film from a country that doesn't have a strong film industry, the only bad thing in the movie is probably that the plot doesn't get to develop very well, so it gets kinda messy at the end. And i think it shows more a question rather than an answer to the problem.
jfverlon
I am a Mexican citizen in my forties and avid film viewer. After watching "El infierno" ("Hell" in its original title), I am left with mixed feelings. On the one side, I was depressed to see some of the worst of Mexican reality on screen. On the other I think this is a *good* movie. Another reviewer pointed out that some scenes of this film are worth being taught in film schools. I agree. The director, Luis Estrada, chose his locations well and camera work is impeccable. Casting is spot-on and performances are good, especially Ernesto Gómez Cruz, as a ridiculously unbelievable Drug Lord, with good supporting performances throughout. Estrada has obviously studied contemporary masters and it shows: If you look closely you'll see the legacy of Leone, Tarantino or Scorsese here. A final warning: if you are a native Spanish speaker, but not a Mexican, you may feel lost watching this: Mexican slang and swearing are ubiquitous, and I am afraid some of the (dark) humor may not be understood or get lost in translation. However, don't let that stop you from watching this intense, violent, but ultimately interesting film.
insomniac_rod
As many of you may know, México is celebrating 200 years of Independence, and 100 years of Revolution.Nothing has really changed. "Hell" displays perfectly the truth about Mexican society and the hypocrisy of local authorities, church, and most of all, federal government.To be honest, the movie parodies the reality about Presidente Felipe Calderon's war against organized crime. It tells you everything about it. Like how local authorities are bribed by criminals in order to let them "work", how police commits crimes, and how drug traffickers "manage" their business.The story is sad but true. El Benny (portrayed brilliantly by Damian Alcazar) just wanted to work in a decent manner but trouble and necessity made him turn into crime.The Director does a great job. The movie looks grainy (like in "Traffic" or "La Ley de Herodes") thanks to a great cinematography. The soundtrack is made up of the infamous narcocorridos. Decent editing and art direction. Perfect display of the northern zones of the country that limit with the USA borderline.Incisive and witty dialogs, plenty of humor, good violence (in the likes of Robert Rodriguez); and endearing characters. There's a lot to dig from this movie.Each character in the movie displays a specific situation about Mexican society. For instance, the Reyes brothers dispute the zone in order to distribute the most drugs and dirty business. El Cochiloco (brilliantly played by Cosio and by far the most likable character) is a man who knows what poverty is. Suddenly, he becomes rich and wealthy but at a high cost...The rest of the characters are mostly ignorant and their desire is to be a drug lord. Sadly, that's how things are in actuality.Watch this black comedy in order to understand the repercussion of the war against drugs.
cephalocereus
"El Infierno" is a satirical approach to the actual social situation of Mexico. This movie was released few days before of The Bicentennial Independence Day celebration. That fact gives a plus to this movie because it shows in a "funny" way how brutal the reality in this country is. Director Estrada wants to show that there is nothing to celebrate in a Nobody's land, where the law is made for those to have the money to corrupt a whole system. "El Infierno" shows not only a harsh present, but also a hopeless future. The main topic of this movie is, of course, drug-trafficking; but, in this case, is only a pretext to show that drug-trafficking is not the problem itself, because it is only the consequence of a very long "tradition" of arrangements between mafia and government. The most characters in this movie were very well performed. I said the most characters, because Maria Rojo's performance was not so good as the other actors. This movie is easy to see and although it contains brutal violence it will be never so brutal as the headlines at the daily news.
