Sunday 21 April 2013

Miss Bala (4 Stars)

This is the first Mexican film I've ever watched. Are they all this good? I felt tempted at first to give it a higher rating, but downgraded it at the last moment due to some confusion with the plot.

Laura Guerrero is a young woman from a poor Mexican family. She thinks she can achieve fame and fortune by entering a beauty contest. Together with her friend Suzu she auditions and is allowed to take part. Suzu tells Laura that women only have a chance of winning if they sleep with the right people, so in the evening they go to a party with DEA officers. (This was my first point of confusion. I thought the DEA is an American organisation. Are the DEA officers American agents working in Mexico, or members of an equivalent Mexican organisation?) Shortly after Laura arrives there is an attack by a gang called La Estrella, and most of the officers are killed. Laura gains the attention of the gang's leader, Lino Valdez.

The next day she meets Lino again, and he forces her to work for him, parking a car containing dead bodies in front of the American embassy. She keeps trying to escape Lino, but he always catches her and makes her carry out more jobs for him. He rigs the beauty contest to make her the winner, so she can meet Mexico's leader,  General Duarte.

My questions about the plot, which maybe someone can answer for me:

Why is Laura flown in a private plane when she visits the USA (San Diego)? Is it a normal airfield or a gang controlled area?

Who is Kike? How does he find her to steal her phone?

What happens in the general's palace? Are the general and Lino working together?

The more I think about the film, the more things there are that I don't understand. Nevertheless, the atmosphere and the fast paced action made me enjoy it.

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