With the expectation of watching a crime action movie full of gunfights and explosions, I opened "Slayer on the Frontier", with a simple and rude name and a cast with visible acting skills, I thought it would be a pleasant viewing experience. When I thought that the film was still paving the way, looking at the progress bar, it was already halfway through, WTF? I heard that this film and "Assassin Nie Yinniang" are competing for a certain European film award? Well, of course it won't be a cool movie.
The plot of the movie is very simple. It is still the same way of holding a lute and half covering his face. The agent played by Brolin confuses the heroine and the audience with one lie after another. When the plot is generally clear, he will completely show off. The U.S. authorities represented by Brolin want to establish order among the various forces of drug dealers on the U.S.-Mexico border. To this end, they will do whatever they can, using border killers who have a personal grudge against the drug lords to kill their targets, thereby establishing a new order. Brolin's tool to justify the action. The heroine goes from a sense of justice to finally succumbing to violence. Such a simple story, plus great cinematography and soundtrack, and a gloomy, slow war on the drug order begins.
There is no doubt that "violent law enforcement" runs through the whole film, because it is far away from the rivers and lakes, far from the temple. On the chaotic US-Mexico border, there is no legal order, only a temporary order established through violence. The American law enforcement officers who came to Mexico to escort the prisoners established a temporary order by themselves with the guns in their hands, so the thugs died directly in front of the people. However, the violent order at this time still has the legitimacy of "they get off, we will get off again". When it comes to the use of brutality in the interrogation of Gilmour and "The Punisher" (I forgot his character's name), the brutality of this order of violence becomes more apparent, with no procedure or even legitimacy, only unscrupulous means to achieve ends. From the order to "fire at will" in the tunnel, to the "Dredd"-like execution of the drug dealers by the Border Killer, the order of violence was officially established.
Brolin's Laughing Tiger agent, from the so-called task force leader, to the final mastermind behind everything. Everyone else can be his pawn, the killer has a grudge against the drug lord~ok, you are my gun, and the addition of the heroine can prove the legitimacy of the action~ok, you are a big seal that can be stamped for me, even if it is Where's the hitchhiker of that black partner, like when he collected the Infinity Stones... sorry, it's a play. What he represents is the attitude of the US authorities towards the chaotic state of the US-Mexico border: I cannot eliminate you, then I will establish my own violent order, and you must obey the rules.
The killer, played by Benicio, is titularly the Sicario mentioned in the title. Like the wolf in his own mouth at the end of the film, he is very clear about his goals and cooperates with the US authorities to avenge himself. Before his true identity is revealed, he is really like an expert consultant who will doze off at any time. In Mexico, he has a very stable grasp of the situation and is very considerate of the heroine. No one would have thought that this was actually a hungry wolf. But when the prey appears, no one can stop him. If Brolin is a violent intimidator, he means a violent executor.
The order of violence is maintained only by silence. There are silent few people, the heroine preached procedure and justice from the beginning, then went to the wrong tunnel to stage personal heroism, and finally succumbed to the killer's gun and played her own role. Even if the pistol was finally in her hand and the muzzle was pointed at the killer, she did not choose to pull the trigger. Those who choose to remain silent under the violent order are ultimately obedient. Of course, the saddest thing is that the silent majority, the Mexican police officer who helped the drug dealers for the family, was also the victim of the establishment of this new order, and the wife started her daily life with her son, who has yet to endure the loss of his father. , the sound of gunshots heard on the football field, every ordinary citizen has no fear, but continues to be the silent majority.
On this plain, Brolin is the shepherd in charge of the sheep. He holds the blood dripping meat in one hand, attracting the hungry wolf the killer at any time, and the shepherd dog, the heroine, in the other hand. The seemingly vicious drug dealers are these "little sheep".
In the end, I have to sigh that, at the height of the temple, violence creates chaos, and at the distance of rivers and lakes, violence establishes order.
Villeneuve's movies, I have only seen "Prisoner" before, his movies are slow-paced and gloomy, and they are very popular. I don't know much about the soundtrack and photography, but under Deakins' lens, I saw a hint of grimness in the scorching land of Mexico. Here, I have to put on a pretentious face: this is the grimness of human nature!
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