El río de las tumbas

Perhaps the first film to deal with La Violencia in any recognisable historical context. This film, shot in black and white, is reminiscent of García Márquez's stories about the small town of Macondo. Set, not on the Caribbean coast, but in the region of Huila in Colombia, it tells of a village's literal and symbolic awakening to La Violencia as a number of bodies are washed up on the river banks of a small village in the Andes. Of course the authorities fail to get to the bottom of what is going on and life carries on as a big party drones out the sound of gunfire. In Colombian cinema, history repeats itself, first as comedy, second time as catastrophe. Now Colombia's rivers have turned red, but in spite of the arrival of colour film since the time of this film's making, few films have managed to capture the true horror of what is going on.

This movie will keep your eyes open and your head confused. The superb cinematography and the slow and heavy way the film elapses, gives to violence a weird sleepy edge.