Cartel Land (2015)
-Watched at the SIE Film Center in Denver-
A striking documentary about vigilante on both sides of the border trying to protect their citizens from the Mexican drug cartel. On one side we have sexy Mexican Dr. Mireles who has started the rebellion group the Autodefensas who go around Mexico with guns and gear rounding up and sometimes killing dangerous members of the cartel. Then in Arizona is Tim Foley who heads the Arizona Border Recon, a very unofficial group of mostly racist white Americans that don’t want Mexicans jumping the border. Thankfully Tim himself mostly just doesn’t want the drug war to seep over into America any further than it already has, but he can’t say the same about the rest of his group’s intentions.
The opening scene is a beautiful eerie flashlight-lit scene of the cartel themselves cooking meth outside in the cloak of darkness. They tell us that if they didn’t do it, someone else would because the demand is so high. They say they have their own families to take care of. Part of me almost wants to just agree with that way of thinking, but I think only because it’s easier that way.
The filmmaker then follows Tim Foley and Dr. Mireles and their groups as they enter some crazy intense shootouts and confrontations. He also captures candid moments and interviews displaying both of their weaknesses. This second element adds a strange twist to the film, where it is no longer just about the dangers of cartel situation, but the imperfection of man.
This film had so many intense and still beautifully captured moments where I found my palms pressed to my cheeks. When they capture a man named “Chaneque”it is one of the most intense scenes in a documentary I’ve ever seen. We listen to a talking heads interview with one of his victims and we know that several of the vigilantes have horrific associations with this man as well. You are watching at the edge of your seat and don’t know if you’re about to watch someone get executed or what. It is the definition of gripping. I was waiting for the tears and screams from the other men, and boy did they deliver. “You killed my Uncle!” one man yells in his face.
Usually documentaries are so focused on capturing the overall story that they lose sight of the small humanist moments happening right in front of them. This filmmaker was brilliant at focusing on individual people and anticipating characters’ movements and significance. For example, at a Mexican rally where Dr. Mireles is speaking, a young pretty girl is singled out in the crowd. In the next scene, she’s riding in the backseat of his car as he tells her how “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you.” While from a shooting and editing standpoint this was a great scene, it tore down the hero so bad a la Bill Clinton. I got really upset at the scene and it actually ruined part of the movie for me. Sure sure, kill your heroes, I get it, but come on! While the faults of the white man had been revealed as well, I was hurt that Dr. Mireles was such a brave man standing up for his family and friends and community, yet couldn’t stay loyal to the most important person in his life-his wife. His loyalty to others’ safety nearly killed him, yet he couldn’t fight for his wife’s happiness. To me, that irony was soul-crushing.
More importantly than me getting my feelings hurt, is the fact that comparing these two groups side by side seems a bit silly at times. The Americans are not literally fighting for their lives, or to protect their women from getting raped. They are just trying to protect their “freedom” and “American ways”, whatever that even means. It’s true that these groups have the same end goal-to eradicate the cartel, but the American group is essentially laughable, while the Autodefensas are fighting to literally save their people. Really though, this film is absolutely beautiful and powerful and you should watch it!