La sierra (2005) User Reviews

Real muth$@#%!n G's

[dwb82 · 9/10 · 4 November 2005]

I was lucky enough to see this movie at my college theater on the big screen. I must warn that I am a bit bias due to my addiction of the documentary / docudrama genera in general. I have always enjoyed true stories more than fictitious ones. With the releases of "City of God" and "Bus 174" recently, my eyes and mind have been opened to the extreme violence that has been fueled by poverty and gaining perpetual motion in many South American cities since the seventies. La Sierra focuses on a bloody civil conflict, in the surrounding hills of Medellin, Columbia, that has confiscated over 35,000 lives in the past decade. The war is waged between left-wing guerrillas against the government and illegal right-wing paramilitary. When I say guerrilla you may picture an unshaven jungle worn drug lord with a profiteering savage mentality. In all reality they are mostly frightened teenagers, armed with fully and semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, grenades, revolvers, and 9mm's with 30 round clips, wearing Nike-Air hats and Umbro shorts fighting for neighborhood territory in a war in a society that few understand. I grew up listening to gangsta rap and the whole thug life concept. Outside of Hollywood and the American prison system anyone who says their life is a product of this poison (e.g. studio gangsters) deserves to be slapped and exiled. The sheer lack of opportunity is the reason many psychologists believe South American children are growing up on the streets and murdering each other simply to attract attention. I almost feel that North Americans should be mandated to watch movies like this; since our luxurious lifestyle is essentially the reason why our brothers and sisters south of us have so little and are forced to sell their forests, resources, and bodies to survive.

Great Informative Movie

[carlosrivera-49349 · 9/10 · 5 July 2015]

This documentary gives a good review about the real life experienced by individuals in one of Colombia's neighborhoods that were once shunned by the government. It is great to watch this film to help understand how life use to be for a much greater portion of the population in Colombia. After watching the documentary, you can get a little inkling of an idea what it was like to be in Colombia during its much more troubled decades of the 80s and 90s when drug lords pretty much ran the country and death was a much more common occurrence. The film follows the life of some individuals in a satellite neighborhood of Medellin and the way that they are presented helps humanize and demonstrate the actual lives of the individuals in the most troubled parts in Colombia.

Excellent film. And still...

[filmorella · 7/10 · 15 June 2006]

Interesting to see that all Colombians posting comments here say things are not like that in the country. Same for the people who have lived in Colombia. This is a great film, amazingly realistic and well done, but also biased and misleading. It almost seems made for audiences who will be glad to think all that violence is located far, far away... There seems to be no hope for the people in the film, which may lead the spectator to simply say "how horrible" after seeing it, and then sigh in relief, thinking how nice it is that "those people" are killing each other, since they live such terrible lives. Nothing in the film allows for identification with the characters, or for anyone to think that the violence in the Medellin slums is the same as the violence hidden inside anyone of us. It is true that some places have higher murder rates than others, but it is not through this narratives of horror that the world will be able to understand why.

Inspired film making

[ian_hale · 10/10 · 5 July 2005]

This is simply one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. The Way in which the director gained the trust of people living in such dire and dangerous circumstances is as amazing as it is the way he managed to get them to open up about their hopes and dreams for the future and show them in such a humanistic way. By the end the affinity you have for the characters is very strong and you have an understanding of not only them but also what life is like living a life without believing there any possibilities.For me it showed that all people regardless of the surroundings they live in are primarily the same in their basic needs and aspirations and the way the director allows us into these peoples lives is what documentaries are all about.

a very honest and humble show of La Sierra's past

[septimoarte-1 · 10/10 · 9 January 2006]

This documentary is so delicate in it's narrative, that it's impossible not to like it. It's technically well-done and well-structured. Edison, Cielo and Jesús, have had a horrible past between war and the hope of the honest life. Unfortunately, Edison dies due to intern war, between two ghettos of the barrio, which is La Sierra. Martínez y Dalton don't want to show Colombia as a third-wold country trying to demonstrate that is more than war and drug dealing. They want to show Medellin, as a city that overcomes intern conflicts with the guerrilla's people reinsertion to the civil community. Actually, that's what happened the past year. An aunt if mine lived nearby La Sierra, in a barrio called Buenos Aires, and she told me that war is the terrible past of a beautiful and working city, called Medellin. Even if other people thinks that Colombia is drugs, war and prostitution, let me tell you that my country is overcoming it, and my country isn't the only one nation that has these problems. War is worldwide. Excellent documentary, I hope an Academy Award Nomination.

crude but realistic

[giancrestrepo · 10/10 · 27 October 2005]

i'm from Bogotá, Colombia, and sure, i saw this documentary, the true is.. i'm sad, because is a way to see my country in bad way, all the countries in this planet has poverty, vandalism, guns, killings, and all that you saw in "la sierra", my country is so far that that, it's a country with full of good and charming people, who want's to live in peace and hard workers, the documentary is excellent, sure but is not all. I hope some day you can watch the small documentaries of "pirry" or come to know my country and you will see for yourselves that is not all.

thanks

A must watch documentaire about violence fueled by poverty

[demaaijer · 10/10 · 5 May 2006]

Poverty happens all over the world, but senseless violence fuled by poverty you do not see or experience all over the place. I've been to Medellin Colombia on many occasions and I must say that I have never experienced any negativity nor violence while being there. But I have heard the gun battles in the hills surrounding Medellin and often wondered what that was about. After viewing this documentaire I now understand the whole story, and how difficult it is for President Uribe to stamp out violence altogether in Colombia. This is a must see documentaire to understand how poverty, insecurity, and zero opportunities for self development of Colombian youth fuels the violence in the Colombia mountain region called La Sierra.

An awesome production about touching and redeeming stories

[mariomarval-1 · 10/10 · 12 January 2007]

When I saw La Sierra I couldn't believe my eyes. This filmmakers went to Medellín, one of the most violent cities in Latin America, to make a documentary about this very young people who live in the most terrible conditions, and do unimaginable things to the eyes of people who live in the comfort and safety of first-world countries. I am from Caracas, Venezuela, and I understand and see all the problems that this young kids suffer every day. I totally recommend this movie: every single story is touching -Maybe not Hollywood or Europe touching, probably that's why people cannot understand how a 10-year old boy drinks beer or 14 year-old girls have babies. But drugs, underage parenthood or even the bloody war between guerrillas and paramilitaries forces is not what this documentary is really about: it is about redemption and you have to discover it by yourself. The photography, composition, editing and scoring are excellent, even though the hell of problems that the filmmakers,I guess, went through. Is the best documentary about people from Latin American barrios that I ever seen.

Looking at the lives of 3 youths living in Medellin, Colombia.

[lemontwist291 · 4/10 · 1 January 2006]

Medellin is a fabulous place to live, work, and study. I've been there twice, and never did I hear anything about guerrilla activities, paramilitaries taking tourists hostage, or anything of the sort. There are "invisible police," but it is *not* a Big Brother system. There are just enough police so that they are visible in everyday life, but they do not hassle someone without good reasons.

La Sierra is an interesting documentary in that the youths it depicts in the movie essentially become its characters. The directors of the movie carefully carve out plot lines among the daily actions of the inhabitants of La Sierra, and when a "character" dies, there is genuine pathos. It is difficult to imagine, however, that the three youths are all members of the Bloque Metro, a gang that used to terrorize La Sierra before the Colombian government began to restructure the country.

La Sierra is not an accurate depiction of life in Colombia; there are, of course, things to be wary of such as petty crime, but when one considers pickpocketing happens in "modern" cities such as London, New York, or Tokyo, Colombia doesn't seem that different after all. Colombians are eagerly awaiting their chance to show to the world that the once war-torn country is now prospering more than ever.

Sierra Realistic / Sad / True / Life for Many Poor People

[james-2489 · 10/10 · 4 October 2007]

I give this movie and directors a 10 for actually having the guts to hangout in a war zone while these kids battled each other.

In this neighborhood today entire families still struggle to survive on the 1 dollar an hour min wage if they are lucky to have jobs. Single moms share 1 bed with the entire family.

The atmosphere in these poor neighborhoods that suffered so much is still tense because of economic problems, and fear from what happened in the past.

However paranoid this violence has left some in the poorest neighborhoods, the COLOMBIAN PEOPLE THAT LIVE HERE ARE THE FRIENDLIEST IN THE WORLD. It is only a few that created the violence.

Any community in the world trying to live on a salary below 1 dollar an hour will have problems.

I can tell you all as a blond headed gringo, i have been to these neighborhoods, sat at tin shacks on the side of the road drinking beers, and found these people to be the most friendly HARD WORKING people i know. This is 2007 and maybe this is the calm after the storm. 70% of people in Colombia earn the basic 1 buck an hour wage. They are still happy somehow. Remember this movie is about a group of paramilitary, and not the majority of the population. :)

This movie is as much about the paramilitary-gorilla war as it is an accurate view of how millions of people live in poverty in Colombia. However, please remember Medellin has low crime neighborhoods as well.

This is important to understand what is happening in Iraq, as what we are seeing there is very similar.

Medellin and Colombia

[Verdolaga1989 · 10/10 · 5 January 2007]

i want to tell you something i Live in Medellin, in Buenos Aires neighbor, in fact, i can see La Sierra from my house. i have many things to say: everything you saw in the documental was true, everything is like you saw, but don't think all the people are that way, in fact, even the man in the war didn't want to be there, they're just protecting them and their people of the guerrilla. i think is pretty sad the situation, but it's true, all this happens in every city of the world, mostly in the third world countries, it's a way to try to survive when the government forgets about you. Medellin and Colombia are really nice places to live, people is really charming and nice, i can asure you that i liked the documental because it showed a reality that, although it is not like that anymore, was a real problem and a fear cause for years

one more thing, i really sorry about "Pirulo", you know, the kid with the bullets and the bear, i heard he was killed some months ago... that's really sad, probably he was another victim of this no-sense war, just like the old lady in the movie

however, i invited all of you to come to Colombia, and Medellin, and see with your own eyes how is the situation, all the war you saw in the movie is over, and you'll see Colombian people is really kind and amiable

Unflinching, and slightly repetitious.

[shizz_27 · 4/10 · 25 May 2005]

One of those Thank-God-I-don't-live-there documentaries. This one tells of two warring factions in Colombia, guerrillas and paramilitaries, and the surrounding peoples of Medellin.

Guns, drugs and death run rampant. The guys, no older than 22, not in the middle of fighting a war are in jail. The girls – not women, girls – always react the same way when one of them is killed, with tears and screaming. You scratch your head; what did they expect, really? I don't know what's more disturbing: the nightly shoot-outs and civil unrest, or that everybody just seems to passively accept things as are. Or, seeing that boy drinking what is obviously not his first beer, being all of what, 10? If you were to take these any of these young men out of their situation and put them some place where they had the opportunity to do more, be more, how many would choose not to stay?

Based on this documentary, all, I'm afraid.

Medellin, Colombia is NOT "La Sierra."

[medellintraveler · 30 August 2007]

If I let this movie deter me from travelling to Medellin, Colombia I never would have discovered such and incredible magical city in transformation. Yes the movie depicts the violence in a specific neighborhood in Medellin but the truth is that everyone I met in Colombia is doing there part to change the history of violence and especially its reputation around the world. The reality is you could probably shoot a similar documentary in the gang-infested neighborhoods in LA, California. Learn more about Medellin, Colombia at www medellintraveler.com If you liked La Sierra check out The City Of God, another interesting movie focusing on young adults and violence.

is not a 100% dark

[luisamendezzz · 27 March 2006]

I'm from Bogota, Colombia and I just wanted to say that beyond cruelty and sadness of this documentary, if you visit Colombia you will find the most humble and thankful people because I know our situation is precarious and it's not one of the safest place in the world but I think we need to see this kind of films to realize that many times we don't appreciate what we have. It's really hard to see how your country fellows live in these conditions and even more to see that you can't do something remarkable for them. The point is that I hate when I hear from foreigners saying bad things about Colombia, all they know is the conflict of drugs and all of that, and I don't blame them but I just wanted to propose you people from all the world, to find out what this country really is.

GRACIAS......LUISA

I am Tired of this

[danielu124 · 5 March 2006]

La sierra is a very good documentary, very well done and believe me the two directors were very very brave to get and live there. but there is just one thing that sicks me a lot and it's that since pablo escobar and since the eighties, every single piece of TV or movies is about drugs, violence, poorness and other bad things.

i was born and i live in medellin and although i'm only 15 years old i can say that the "reality shown in LA SIERRA" ended years ago and it's just a bad side of the city that even tokio or NYC have. so please if anybody is thinking the wrong way about us,colombians, just turn off the DVD cause this is not going to help you, but you should turn the TV and look for i don't know... TELEMUNDO!!