Monos
2019
Directed by Alejandro Landes
Continuing our trend of upsetting movies, we now take on Monos, which tells the story of a group of teenaged soldiers who hold a white woman hostage in Colombia. I think "child soldiers" is the center square of my misery bingo card.
A group of armed teenagers, identified only by their noms de guerre, are tasked with watching over a prisoner of war, referred to as Doctora. The group is referred to as Monos, but it is never really clear what guerrilla group they belong to. There are constant conflicts within the group, and Doctora tries to do everything she can to escape.
The cinematography of this movie was beautiful and the score was effective in creating a distinctive mood. The plot didn't have much direction, but I think that was the point. These children are completely cut off from the world and only have each other. Strangely, that doesn't seem to bond them so much, as they seem willing to throw each other under the bus at every turn.
I didn't find any of the characters particularly compelling, but that was probably because they were very hard to relate to. I think it definitely became more interesting towards the end. So an unusual movie, but not one I would want to revisit again.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Loosely based on Lord of the Flies and Heart of Darkness.
The actor who plays Messenger was a real soldier of the FARC from the age of 11 to 24.
Yes! Lord of the Flies.. certainly ...
ReplyDeleteI cannot say I liked it, one of those film that one should not 'like', but I thought it was good..
As you say, lack of plot, I agree, is part of the point .. Non of the characters know what the plot is, what they are doing there, what they stand for, which side they are on, what they want.. We, the audience, are not told or indicated if these are the good guys or the baddies... Which is fair, as I doubt they really know.
A stinging critique of SOME 'liberation' movements that have become just a bunch of people hanging out going nowhere but wanting to believe that they believe in something..