RoweReviews
  • Viewing Log / Reviews
  • Search
  • Ramblings
  • Contact Me

Heli (2013) - Amat Escalante

2/24/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Heli, a young Mexican teenager, lives with his father, his son, his young wife, and his 12-year-old sister, Estella, in a small two-bedroom home.  Working at the Hiro plant, Heli and his family make a modest living in a region run by the drug cartels.  When 17-year-old police cadet Beto falls in love with Estella, the two concoct a plan to run away together, setting off a cataclysmic event that plunges Heli and his entire family into the brutal and merciless hands of the drug cartel.  Amat Escalante's Heli is an incredibly unnerving experience that should not be seen by the faint of heart.  Escalante paints an alarming portrait of modern Mexico where the drug cartels reign but no matter how bleak, Heli never feels like empty provocation.  Escalante argues that the system itself is broken and I really loved his choice of having many of the adults be secondary characters, capturing how Heli and Estella are forced to grow up far too fast, never having the opportunity to simply be children, something many of us take for granted. 
Heli has sequences of raw power that are impressive and unforgettable but even with all the despair Escalante's film is somewhat a story of resilience.  Don't get me wrong, this film has nothing close to a happy ending by traditional standards but even after the characters of Heli are mentally and physically beaten they still find themselves together as a family.  Amat Escalante's Heli is a brutal, bleak journey into modern Mexico which features sequences of raw power that I won't ever forget. 


Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Love of all things cinema brought me here.  

    Archives

    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Viewing Log / Reviews
  • Search
  • Ramblings
  • Contact Me