Sometimes the best way to get attention for a specific issue is to show the cold hard facts. An Inconvenient Truth or The Act of Killing are good examples of that. Both documentaries made people think about a subject and cause either discussion or change. Narco Cultura also follows that path and decides to show the impact of the drugs trade and the effects of the battle between Mexican drug cartels on the small Mexican town of Juarez. It is located close to the border with the U.S. The police and other people in Juarez live a dangerous life and run the risk of being killed, but across the border the life of the drug dealers in celebrated and glorified in the form of songs, the narcocorridos.
Narco Cultura shows the work of the local police in all its unpleasant detail. Lifeless and sometimes maimed bodies are shown, torture videos the police gets sent appear. It is the reality the force and the people of the town have to deal with day-to-day. Since 2006 over 4500 people have been murdered (which makes it the most dangerous city of the world according to this documentary). It has resulted in many shops closing because they don’t want to pay “protection money” and streets which are often deserted. El Paso, which is not far from Juarez meanwhile is one of the safest towns in the U.S. There is a stark contrast and when one of the police officers heads there he talks about what that does to him. He can walk around there without worrying and find peace, but he would not want to live there as he lives for his work and would miss Juarez.
It is in America where the Mexican drug life is glorified in musical form. Several bands sing about the assassinations and some artists readily admit that they write special songs on request of Mexican drug dealers and get paid well for it. On the other side of the border these songs sometimes can be heard on police scanners indicating to the police that another murder has been committed. Despite the violence in the music (which you could easily compare to gangster rap) it has quickly become a popular music genre. Director Shaul Schwarz spends quite some time with the bands and show how the two world, of a brutal reality and that of musical expression influence each other.
The musicians often don’t have any real experience of living in Mexico and do their research for new songs by watching Youtube movies, special sites which show crime scenes and even executions. How far they are removed from that world becomes clear when one of the musicians goes on a trip to Juarez, something he has always dreamt of. Of course he only sees the beautiful side of living there and is impressed by the graves of criminals which look like villas. The grim reality is something he does not experience. The reality is that police officers can’t do much else but work. When at home they sleep and eat and keep social contacts to a minimum as they run the risk of putting those people in danger. Because of its unflinching approach Narco Cultura is a documentary that impresses and is one you will not be able to forget any time soon. I’m afraid though that changing the situation will be extremely difficult.
