Reflection

1. The scene that got to me the most would be the beginning of the documentary, because it made me feel sad that this is an everyday thing for people who not only live in Mexico but also for those of other countries. I felt like I could relate in the sense that I felt bad for them. The director did a good job in making his audience feel empathy right away. It caught my attention which is usually how someone wins over an audience. I could make a connection because I know people who’s families have been affected by the Cartel. I was also upset towards the end of the film where Dr. Mireles ended up cheating on his wife and he let his role in leadership get the best of him. I also disliked how his “followers” ended up turning on him and joined the police, I get why they did it but I feel like it contradicted everything they were initially fighting to stop.

2. There were a couple of things that surprised me, for starters, how Mathew interviewed people who were involved with the Cartel and how they openly spoke about why they became involved. Another thing that surprised me was the fact that people are so scared and yet tired of being pushed around that many men joined Jose Míreles. I feel like it surprised me because now a days many people are afraid to stick up against someone who is causing society harm for example, many people feel like protesting or marching won’t change anything. It’s an idea as small as that, which leaves me surprised that Dr. Mireles was able to form such a big group. Lastly, I was surprised at how close Mathew was able to film some scenes. I feel he showed his audience some of the dangers we all talk about but don’t truly know in an extrodordinary film.

3. I don’t think I have any questions... I feel if anything  the film helped show me the real dangers happening in other countries. It worries and the same time saddens me that there’s people out there with no remorse and prefer money over morals.

4.  I would probably research more into the Cartel and how, why they started in the first place even though I think I might already know (for obvious reasons). I think I would like to also look into other big drug lords. Another topic I’m curious about but probably won’t find out would be the amount of people who work for the government but are secretly working for people like the Cartel. Lastly, if any, I’d watch interviews by people who have been involved with drug Lorda and tell their stories.

My summary vs. The New York Times

After watching my documentary (Cartel Land) and writing my summary I read a review written by Manohla Dargis from The New York Times.  In his review he went over mostly everything I included in my summary although the way he wrote it seemed much shorter and with a sort of informal style of writing. It wasn't improper writing but it felt like review was a friend explaining what he/she just saw. It felt  biased because he mentioned his own feelings on how the director, Mathew Heinemann did such a great job and what parts he liked the most in the film. Compared to my summary I tried not including any feelings both good or bad. I feel like I tried to make my summary a formal as possible. You can feel the difference after reading both.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/movies/review-in-cartel-land-documentary-vigilantes-wage-drug-wars.html