Thugs and Drugs All Over the World

This week I took a series of cinematic trips around the globe to examine different conflicts between drug dealers and cops. Each has its own distinct flavor, and watching them in close succession worked well in providing different insights to the aesthetic and thematic choices when dealing with a similar jumping-off point.


The Raid: Redemption (2011)
Director: Gareth Evans
I usually try to avoid hyperbole, but when I heard that this Indonesian import might be one of the best action movies since Die Hard I figured it was a gotta-see-for-myself situation. And I must say I was not disappointed. The setup is a police raid on a dilapidated apartment building that is occupied (almost?) entirely by the dregs of society, your everyday Mos Eisley of drug dealers, murderers, thieves, mother stabbers and father rapers. They are ruled over like a fiefdom by the shadowy druglord Tama, who lives in the penthouse complete with a bank of monitors where he can watch the unfolding action and encourage his minions to battle the intruding forces. The police are met with fierce resistance as they attempt to ascend up the tower, level by level, in an insane attempt to carry out the mission. The result plays out a bit like Bruce Lee's Game of Death, (or the old Kung Fu video game, if you prefer. Great, I just spent 30 minutes playing that. Okay, back to biz.) There are also smacks of Assault on Precinct 13 and Attack the Block thrown in for good measure. 



Okay, it's not Die Hard in that it's missing the smart-assed leading man. In this case were supposed to care about Rama (Iko Uwais) but it's short on character development, though it tries for a few points by showing us Rama's wife at home all preggers. We're really just here for the fist-bloodied action and monsoon of bullets. There are a few convoluted twists and turns where the "good guys" might not be exactly that, making me feel less guilty when I found myself rooting for the "bad guys." Was especially wowed by Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian), the #1 henchman, whose lack of size is more than made up for by his ferocity. The action gets into gory territory, illiciting more than a few winces and utterances of "Oh Damn!" from yours truly. I don't recall an action movie that made me do that so much since a couple scenes in Fist of Legend. Writer/director Gareth Evans has delivered a winner that sends everybody through the ringer, including the audience. A really nasty pure action kick in the cabeza. In limited theaters now, if you can find it go go go. There is already word of a sequel to which I say "yay" and a Hollywood remake to which I say "yuck."


Elite Squad (2007)
Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within (2010)
Director: José Padilha
Next I jetted on over to Rio and the pair of acclaimed Elite Squad movies that captured the attention of Brazil and now, justifiably, the world. There are obvious comparisons to be made to the brilliant, brilliant City of God, and there is a link in writer Bráulio Mantovani, but director José Padilha brings a less flashy, grittier vision. The ES films shine a similar sort of light on the various plights of Rio through the eyes and voice of Roberto Nascimiento (Wagner Moura), a Captain in an elite paramilitary unit Special Police Operation Batallion (abreved as BOPE). Their insignia and call to arms is "Caldera!" ("Skull!"), and they are tasked with SWAT-type missions, mostly involving cleaning up the drug trade. Nascimiento is in the position of a "gettin' too old for this shit" Brazilian version of Rama with a lot more meat to him: the please-find-yourself-a-replacement-and-get-a-desk-job-so-you-can-come-home-safe wife at home with baby on the way.The other main character is André Matias (André Ramiro), an idealistic BOPE recruit/law student. The ebb and flow of the relationship between the two men and how they handle the ever-changing landscape of crime and politics infuses the films with a varying perspective and real thrust. Corruption exists at every level and the necessary symbiosis of the major players makes for complex issue-tackling.

The first ES has more action with intense training scenes that best Full Metal Jacket - that is not hyperbole, it's truth. The second ES (The Enemy Within) is a little more fixated on politics with just a few action scenes sprinkled in. I know some people saw the second first, but if you can help it I would definitely recommend watching them in order. You'll get sucked in by the action in the first and the backstory in the second will make a lot more sense. and you'll have more emotional investment. I felt touches of a lesser Godfather as it progressed through part 2. Okay that's a bit of hyperbole, but Moura channels the best of Pacino throughout, a performance that grows on you as the character grows.


One of the big impressions I get from all 3 of these films is that there could be a Modern Warfare spinoff dealing with paramilitary forces, with enough action, corruption, and double crossing to engage a prolonged, twisted storyline. Imagine a cross between Modern Warfare and "The Wire," set in police stations, prisons and favellas of Rio. That would be pretty kick ass, no? End digression, I soon intend to go back to the beginning of what Padilha calls a sort of trilogy, his documentary Bus 174.


Pusher (1996)
Director: Nicholas Winding Refn

Additionally, I dug Pusher, which turns things around and focuses on the drug dealer side of things as a man's life descends into spiral of hell after a deal goes bad. It's the worst case scenario of empty promises, threats and violence as he ferrets into every possible corner of Copenhagen to beg, borrow, or steal enough money to pay off his debt. Kim Bodina is great as Frank, but every scene with Zlatko Buric as Milo the druglord is a tense drolling classic. Will be checking part 2 of Nicholas Winding Refn's trilogy tonight.




The Raid: Redemption: 87 purely action points. 
Elite Squad: 79 & 83 individually, 88 as a whole. I know that makes little sense, but I'm making a point. The sum is better than the individual parts.
Pusher: 78