Hell

This movie shows the reality of corruption, church and drug traffic but don't make it sound like everyone in Mexico is a slave to this. What the director did was focus on some drug trafficker and what he moves up his cartel's ladder but Mexico is just like all of the countries in the world, there are opportunities for everyone who really looks for them and the people in general are not dehumanized they are scared by what they see in the news and what they see in papers which is only the bad news. In all the time I've been here I have only heard s h i t in the news and what people say they heard. Sure the economic crisis hurt the people but that's everywhere not just in Mexico. This is a good movie but don't be a victim and say it's a sad reality, instead do something about it, demand the government what you want because in the end the people have the power to do anything.

"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.

Estrada's "El infierno" is a must see movie. Estrada has come back again in force from La "Ley de Herodes" (Herod's Law). In that movie, Estrada made a well depicted view of Mexican society in the late 1990s and we couldn't get worse back then. How wrong we were: It has. The satire portrayed in El Infierno shows how we are really at the gates of hell in a civil war that nobody wants to see or acknowledge. The movie has spectacular shots of the San Luis Potosi Desert that serve as a framework to develop all the memorable characters in the film, like Damian Alcázar Benny that transforms itself from a naive character to a ruthless hit man; or Joaquín Cosío (Cochiloco) both salvage and family man. Even with the pessimistic mood and end message of the film, it is commendable that has been partially financed by public funds and that is having a well-deserved attendance in commercial theaters. Highly recommended.

Many of my acquaintances refused to watch this film, accusing it of trying to justify the life of a drug dealer or of being just another violent movie-something they might already be tired of seeing.

But I didn't see it that way. In El infierno, I found a film with a very deliberate pace (Luis Estrada has truly refined his craft) that delves into a world of violence which, sadly, is part of everyday life for many Mexicans. Like many others, I started the film laughing, but ended it almost trembling.

The humor-something that could easily be criticized given the subject matter-is actually what makes the world Estrada portrays bearable. Through simplicity and realism, he exposes situations that are far more complex than they seem, where everyone plays their part.

Hand in hand with Damián Alcázar, Luis Estrada delivers a third film we never thought possible in Mexico-one that calls things by their name and forces us to reflect on what we've become, and what we might still become.

I assure you that this movie's legacy will still be talked about in decades to come. Certainly, the sole fact that this movie came to be speaks wonders of how great cinema can be made in Mexico, together with its box-office companion, "Hidalgo".

There is a little something for everyone: emotional dilemmas, intellectual reflection, and scenes so well composed that they're worthy of being shown in film schools. For the general public, the tasteful black comedy, the strong symbolic images, as well as the numerous occasions it gives for yelling "burn!!" (or "pedradas", in Spanish) will be the most memorable.

The ideas behind the making of this movie are definitely genius, but it still should be taken with a grain of salt. It is a very simplified view of the lower levels of the narco industry, as it only portrays the case of how a small rural town, with typical small-town values and small-town conservatism, is affected. The movie has been warmly received by the Mexican public, who after only seeing the consequences of this battle against narco forces, have no idea of what this narco business really is about, and crave any type of inside scoop they can get their hands on.

This movie presents what feels like great insight in an easily digestible way.