Cartel Land (2015) User Reviews

Vigilantism

[peefyn · 8/10 · 3 October 2015]

This documentary is about Mexico and cartels, but it is also about vigilantism in general. Is it OK to take the law into your own hands? Does this freedom corrupt? The documentary explores two (related) instances of vigilantism, and it does so in a critical, but nuanced way. It reflects upon the motives of the people involved, and their situation. This exploration is what really makes this documentary great. It throws some light on the situation in Mexico in a way that is both thrilling and heartbreaking - but by focusing on the acts of the vigilantes, the documentary becomes timeless.

The people behind this went to great lengths to get some really(!) impressive footage. How they convinced people involved to let them film all of this is beyond me.

A warning though: There were some scenes here where I had to look away because of the images shown.

powerful doc

[ferguson-6 · 7/10 · 17 April 2015]

Greetings again from the darkness - from the Dallas International Film Festival. Even in this digital age where information exists from all sides of a conflict … often with corresponding video, the general public somehow remains complacent to issues that don't directly and obviously affect their lifestyle. Skilled documentarian Matthew Heineman ignores the rhetoric of political speeches and plops the war against drug cartels right into our lap.

This is a different approach to a topic with which we are all at least somewhat familiar. The involved parties include the affected communities (in Mexico and Arizona), the governments and affiliated agencies (DEA, Border Patrol), the ever-expanding vigilante groups of citizens (Arizona Border Recon, AutoDefensas), and of course the cartels (focus on Knights Templar).

Intimacy is the key here, as Mr. Heineman takes us inside these groups with an up-close look at leaders. Especially fascinating is Dr. Mireles who is the face of the AutoDefensas – a group he pledges will protect communities from the cartels, who clearly have no regard for human life. The film doesn't shy away from the expected issues: citizen pushback, greed, abuse of power, and corruption. As AutoDefensas teams with the Mexican government to create the Rural Defense Force, we can't help but wonder if the rumors of differing goals are at play in the drug battles. Citizens want safety, but what is it that the government wants? Is the goal drug-free streets or is it a cut of the action.

Learning how desperate the vigilantes are to protect their homes, turf and way of life, we are left with little doubt of their mission. It's everyone else that we must keep questioning and holding accountable. This is not an easy documentary to watch, but it's necessary if you have previously lost interest as the next politician proclaims he will continue "the war on drugs".

Questionable Point of View

[laweat · 7/10 · 13 July 2015]

This moving and compelling documentary paints a vivid picture of the tragic situation involving the cartels, police, military, government, and citizens of Mexico. This story is too little known north of the border, and that's why this documentary is important and should be seen. The director's bravery in obtaining some amazing footage is to be commended.

However, in my opinion the filmmaker has made a serious and even offensive misstep in trying to create a parallel between the vigilantes of the Autodefensas and the vigilantes of the Arizona Border Recon. Quoting from the doc's website, the premise is that these groups "vie to bring their own brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed."

It's abundantly clear that in Mexico, to put it as neutrally as possible, institutions (government, police, military) have failed to protect citizens from cartel- sponsored violence. The tragic consequences of this failure are made disturbingly real in the film.

However, the idea that U.S. government, police, and military have failed to protect the citizens of Arizona from cartel-sponsored violence is just absurd. Worse, by comparing a flawed Mexican leader who is apparently sincerely trying to address a horrific situation to a flawed American "leader" who is off on some crackpot right-wing conspiracy theory where the danger is mostly in his head, the film ends up insulting the actual pain and suffering experienced by the people of Mexico. However much the Arizona guy wants to say he's really focusing on the cartel's activity in the Arizona desert (how does that work, again?), his true motive is to stop people from crossing the border because he has an anti-immigration ax to grind. However you feel about immigration, U.S.-based anti- immigrant vigilantism is not analogous to the motives or efforts of the Autodefensas. Comparing the two insults the Mexican people's suffering and the Autodefensas courage, however flawed their leaders and unsuccessful their efforts may be.

If the filmmaker wanted to bring in important information from the U.S. side of the border, he might have tried providing some information about how our government's "War on Drugs" has paralleled the cartel's rise (coincidence?), or the blood that's on our hands because we're the ones buying the drugs.

Instead, he makes a false parallel with a group of anti-immigrant wingnuts. If you want to make a documentary to show that anti- immigrant wingnuts are people too, go ahead, but don't try to compare the Arizona Border Recon to the Autodefensas. That's not an intellectually fascinating parallel, as the filmmaker apparently believes. It's just pretentious and, really, disgusting.

more South, less North

[Quinoa1984 · 7/10 · 26 February 2016]

Although he hasn't made the technical "best" documentary of the year), it's hard to see a documentary filmmaker who stuck his neck out more, literally, than Matthew Heienman to make Cartel Land (maybe Joshua Oppenheimer, in his way, put himself in danger to make his Indonesia docs, but he wasn't caught up in anything like this). He puts himself into some incredibly dangerous scenes, and from what I could tell it's not at all the case of him trying to get some extra dramatics or tension where there is none. On the contrary he follows the Mexican group the Autodefensas (at times when they are in the midst of shoot-outs and enemy fire) in their rise to become a major presence in Michoacan, Mexico, as well as how they became corrupted by the very forces they are/were up against.

So points automatically have to go to the director for that, and he clearly is passionate about this issue - and as the wisest choice he doesn't put himself into it in the slightest (very much the objective, here and there more like a war cine-journalist when with his camera on the streets and roads and interrogation rooms). But I do wish that he had stuck to the story of the Doctor Meirelles and his group, as he and the world that he's in is just more captivating and stronger as a story of a rise and fall than that of the American who is supposed to be the 'counter-point' or other side example.

His story, as a man who has split off from society (in part due to the 2008 economic collapse, among other issues), and formed a small would be (?) militia patrolling parts of the Mexican border for immigrants, could be compelling. But it's not even so much that the contrast or point-counter-point of him and the Doctor might not have some interest (I think the point ultimately is one guy really is fighting for his life and for others, and the other is more about rounding up illegal immigrants where, for some reason, border patrol doesn't seem to be around), it's more a flaw of filmmaking. I think that if Heineman had kept it all down as a story of the Autodefensas, he would have a full movie to tell, and indeed the two places - on the US/Mexico border and Michoacan, which is over a thousand miles away to the south - are so far apart that they don't have much relation to one another exactly. Of course the cartels are a problem in one spot as much as the other, yet on a simple film editing level, it throws off the balance.

This could have been two documentaries, perhaps, again to bring up Oppenheimer, as compliments to one another. It's a shame that it doesn't work much better, since there's a lot of potent, incendiary stuff here. When Cartel Land works best, it all but indicts a country for not doing far more than it should, or what the president or government claims to do (again, this is the documentary, I'd have to read up more to know if the filmmaker doesn't show more sides to what the police or other military forces may or may be doing for the Autodefensas to rise up in the first place), and that corruption and crime becomes just a fact of life. It displays another form of terrorism that seems not as apparent as, say, Islamic fundamentalism but is no less a threat to the people where it takes place, though oddly enough what the film shows is the danger of vigilantism as well.

"Cartel Land" does things that few documentary filmmakers would even think of doing.

[CleveMan66 · 9/10 · 19 July 2015]

Deep in the desert, where no legitimate government rules, a terrorist organization operates freely. Established governments fear them. They're well-financed, violent and ruthless. They control large swaths of land, including some cities and towns, causing local residents to live in fear. The members of this organization think nothing of murdering their enemies or killing just to make a point. They murder men, women and children, and even celebrate those deaths. They often decapitate their victims and sometimes use the internet to publicize videos and photos of their brutality. They even evoke the name of their god to justify their actions.

I'm not talking about the Middle East or ISIS. I'm talking about Mexican drug cartels.

The documentary "Cartel Land" (R, 1:38) shows everything I just described and more, but focuses mainly on vigilante groups who fight the cartels – on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. The film's title refers to areas of Mexico – and areas of the United States as well. U.S. Marine veteran Tim "Nailer" Foley leads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon whose volunteer members carry semi-automatic rifles and patrol Arizona's Altar Valley ("Cocaine Alley") for any sign of drug traffickers operating on the U.S. side of the border. Meanwhile, Jose Mireles leads the Autodefensas, whose members carry similar weapons in their quest to root out members of the ruthless drug cartel which operates in the area around the western Mexican state of Michoacán. Both of these vigilante groups operate outside of their government's good graces but both governments refrain from direct action against the groups, even seeming to work with them on some level.

The film alternates between following both groups as they struggle to turn back the advancing tide of cartels operating in their areas and also deal with manpower and leadership issues and with the friction between them and their respective governments. The story of these two vigilante groups is bookended by scenes shot during methamphetamine production by cartel affiliates at a remote outdoor location in Mexico. With their faces covered, this small group of men goes about their business unfettered and they even talk to the camera. At one point, their leader admits that what they're doing is wrong, but doesn't seem to care. He says that they'll continue cooking meth "as long as God allows it". Similarly, the leaders of both Arizona Border Recon and the Autodefensas justify their actions, even as some of their methods resemble those of the cartels.

"Cartel Land" does things that I've never seen before in any documentary and does others better than I've ever seen them done. I've rarely praised either of these in other documentaries, but the cinematography and the score are both magnificent. Even more impressive than how it was shot is where it was shot. Besides gaining practically unprecedented access to that secret meth lab, director Matthew Heineman embeds with these vigilante groups, following them on their missions and getting up close and personal with some of the action in some obviously dangerous situations. (The film won the directing and cinematography awards in its category at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.) The editing is also extremely impressive. The film contains more surprising reveals and vital story developments than in many traditional movie thrillers. Besides Heineman's obvious talents (and guts), it probably didn't hurt that one of the doc's executive producers is Kathryn Bigelow, Oscar-winning director of "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty". Bigelow and Heineman's film is quite simply one of the best documentaries I have ever seen and only the second one that I have ever given this grade: "A".

Intriguing on one hand, but on the other hand ...

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 2 February 2016]

The Mexican side of this documentary is more than intriguing. What people go through is incredible. The patrol they created to fight against crime is something that most people probably stand behind and support too. The Arizona patrol on the other hand? A whole different beast (quite literally, especially considering the views they express and because it's not the same situation as across the border).

Having said that, and if you are able to judge on your own and not take some things that are being said as more than they are: there is a real tension that builds up and even concerns families, bullying and trying to bring order where order is not wanted by the government (at least the current government in Mexico that is). And that's the thing: While the documentary takes a stance against drug and criminality, it almost embraces racism on the other hand ... either stay neutral or really make a good point

Riveting, and revolting, looks at the Mexican cartels

[paul-allaer · 9/10 · 21 September 2015]

"Carte Land" (2015 release; 100 min.) is a documentary that examines what is happening in the Mexican state of Michoacán, in south-west Mexico (about 1,000 miles from the US border), and in a separate story, we also take a look at what some people are doing at the Arizona border with Mexico. As the documentary opens, we see Mexican guys cooling up meth somewhere in Michoacán. Comments one: "We know we do harm, but we come from poverty". Then we get to know a woman, who lost 13 (!) family members, all brutally murdered by the cartel when their employer (owner of a lime orchard) couldn't pay the cartel, so they shot his employees as revenge. Then we get to know Dr. Mireles, a Michoacán-based physician who is sick and tired of the violence, and realizing that the official authorities will not/cannot do anything, he decides to start the Autodefensas, a grass roots movement to claim back the streets and towns of Michoacán.

Couple of comments: first, this is another documentary from producer-director Matthew Heineman, and with this latest, he hits the bull's eye. The situation in the Mexican state of Michoacán is so bad that people are outright desperate for relief, ANY relief. There is an astonishing scene that plays out in the city of Apo, where the Autodefensas capture several cartel members. Then the Mexican Army comes sweeping in, and tries to disarm the Autodefensas (yes! not the cartel). The town's population quickly gathers and essentially howls the Army back out of town. Jaw-dropping. There are other such scenes in this riveting, and revolting, documentary. With revolting, I refer of course to the deplorable situation the Mexican people find themselves in, left to their own devices with the state or federal authorities pretty much absent. Beware, on several occasions there is shocking forage or pictures, and this documentary is most certainly not for the faint of heart. Second, the 'parallel' story of the Arizona Border Recon, with veterans taking it on themselves to patrol the border to keep migrants out, falls utterly short and frankly looks a bit silly as compared to the stuff we see happening in Michoacán. It would've made the documentary even better by simply focusing on what is happening on the ground in Mexico. But even with that unnecessary side story, "Cartel Land" is an unforgettable documentary.

"Cartel Land" made quite a splash at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and when out of the blue this showed up at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, I couldn't believe my luck and went to see it right away. The matinée screening where I saw this at was a private affair, as in: I literally was the only person in the theater. That is a darn shame, as "Cartel Land" makes for compelling, if at times uncomfortable, viewing. If you get an opportunity to check this out and draw your own conclusions, be it at the theater, on Amazon Instant Video, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, do not miss it! "Cartel Land" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Thrilling, depressive, informative, and balanced look at a complex issue which ultimately comes down to the inevitable corruption that comes with power (SPOILERS)

[bob the moo · 14 January 2016]

I watched Sicario recently, which was an enjoyable thriller which used the war against the cartels as its backdrop, and the complexity of the 'war' as one of its plot threads. That film did impact, but Cartel Land managed to raise my heart rate and come over just as tense while also being a documentary. Instead of looking at the cartels or the military or the government, the film focuses on vigilante action on both sides of the border – albeit the majority of the time is spent to the south. The film does a good job of bringing us inside the two different vigilante groups, letting us support what they are trying to do, while also letting us see that perhaps not everyone has the most moral of motives (for instance speaking as a liberal, I think it put a human face on those in the US patrolling the border, but then hard to swallow one of them declaring that the US should be for only one race).

The film follows this path of getting close to the groups, and the majority of the meat is in the Mexican story. In telling the story it is compelling stuff because what is undeniable is that these are people who have been failed. We already know the sickening stories, and all of these are in the mind when we hear more, and see some very graphic images of those who were made examples of by the cartels. In riding with these groups the film gets some dramatic and intense moment of drama and tension, but more importantly what it gets is a picture of citizens trying to figure out things themselves in the absence of anyone else reliable – only for these efforts to fall to the same fate.

The loss of way and the corruption of good intentions is apparent, and it is dramatic to find yourself riding with this citizens group that you support, but then suddenly we appear to be picking up people with very thin reasons and basically torturing them. It shows this and other aspects of the group sliding away from their goals and ideals when they were small – and ultimately ends up with a depressing but inevitable conclusion to the film. In the meantime though the realities of this place are also shown, and we do have harrowing images and stories throughout – although to be honest the site of a young girl terrified ahead of her father's abduction tells a story in itself. The US side of the story is interesting but mostly it is linked to the Mexican story by virtue of being some steps behind tat group, and thus a cautionary tale in that regard.

A powerful film overall, and one that works best by the way it speaks of the problems with those with the power to try to address some of this, and does so by focusing on those starting out with none.

docu or film?

[m-oosterheerd · 7/10 · 15 September 2016]

Editors note:

Almost always people comment on films on this website in quite a good way. So I never felt the urge to write/contribute something....

The film:

First of all I never wrote a review on this website before. And to be honest i don't think this will count as a review. Actually it was never my intention to write a review but more so to ask a critical question... Is this still a documentary? The quality of the images, the story and of the film in general are mind blowing! It gets you thinking and shows you the good, the bad and the ugly (pun intended).The story itself and the people involved are real, but in my opinion this is a reenactment! Staged, beautifully done but staged... The subject and the way they showed it is compelling, brutal at times, and it will get you thinking but I can't lose the feeling i watched a movie/film and not a documentary... Which is either brilliant or bad... Help me out, your thoughts pls.

When the state fails

[paul2001sw-1 · 9/10 · 1 December 2015]

Are vigilantes reluctant heroes taking up arms to defend their communities? Or men of violence looking for a cause in which to fight? Can a band of local activists protect the people against a corrupt government? Or is an self-appointed institution always doomed, by its very nature, to be guilty of the same crimes it is founded to eliminate? Where does the greatest threat to a popular movement come from - the personal failings of a charismatic leader who can satisfy, but only for a moment, the people's desire for a saviour, or in the slime-ball sellouts who would replace him? These questions are deftly posed by 'Cartel Land', a documentary about the drug trade that focuses on the odd right-wing Minutemen of southern Arizona, who seem to feel it necessary to patrol the Mexican border for reasons unapparent, and the Atodefensas of central Mexico, a self-defence force fighting the drug cartels out of a self-evident desire for mere survival but which might possibly be just a new cartel in the making. The only certain conclusion from Matthew Heiman's bleak, compelling film is that the war on drugs is a war that can only be lost.

Intimate, if tunnel-visioned, look at 2 characters on opposite sides of the war against cartels

[blakekhodges · 6/10 · 13 July 2015]

Saw this at the screening with Kathryn Bigelow and director Matthew Heineman at the Arclight Hollywood. Generally impressive documentary that primarily follows two fascinating central characters: "Nailer," a man leading a vigilante group attempting to stop drug trafficking on the Arizona border, and 'El Doctor,' the charismatic leader of an anti-cartel militia in Michoacan, Mexico. The power of the film lies in how intimately it tracks these two characters. You get a first-hand look at what it's like being on the front line on the wars in "Cartel Land." The filmmaker bravely places himself next to our central characters even as bullets fly by. The weakness of the film, in my opinion, is that we never really get a sense of the larger situation of the Mexican drug cartels. The documentary assumes that you'll read about them elsewhere, and instead focuses on the immediate experience of the main characters. While this serves as an engaging and immediate narrative, it provides for a bit of a tunnel-visioned experience to the broader picture on the war on drugs. Heineman argued that his intention with the film was simply to tell these personal stories, but in my opinion it suffers with the lack of information about the cartels themselves to give these powerful personal stories their context.

Brilliant! 8/10

[leonblackwood · 8/10 · 20 December 2015]

Review: What a brilliant documentary! It really did seem like it was a feature film because it's full of action and intense drama. The director, Matthew Heineman, was lucky to gain the trust of Dr. José Mireles and Tim "Nailer" Foley, to go behind the scenes and film the gruesome problems in the Mexican state of Michoacan and the Arizona border, which is used by the drug cartels to bring drugs into America. Both stories involve heavy corruption, kidnap, horrifying murder, rape and black mail. Matthew put together enough material to tell the terrifying story about the drug cartels who will kill anybody who step in there way. Tim is an ex veteran who suffered abuse from his father and left home at the early age of 15. After working in various jobs and losing his house due to the credit crunch, he started to work alongside immigrants, who worked illegally and didn't pay any taxes. He then decided to use his savings to put together an elite force called the Arizona Border Recon in Arizona's Altar Valley, to stop the drug cartels from bringing there drugs into America and to stop the war causing any problems across the border. His small force use heavy artillery and patrol during day and night to protect his home and infiltrate the cartels various methods of trafficking drugs. As there isn't any laws to protect them, they basically take matters into there own hands and risk there life's for there country and to make sure that things don't get out of hand. While Tim is battling against the cartels, who are using the newest technology to communicate, Dr. José Mireles is also battling against the cartels but his war is to protect Michoacan and to gain control of the various towns which have many violent gang members, called the Knight Templars, who are causing havoc in there communities. After giving speeches in the various towns, he manages to put together a force called the Autodefensas, who use heavy artillery and group together in numbers to get the perpetrators out of the many villages. He successfully cleans up many of the small towns and he becomes highly respected around Michoacan. He then ends up in a plane crash, which paralysed a side of his face and seriously damages his back, so he takes time out from the Autodefensas and goes into hiding because he doesn't know if the crash was a hit from the cartels. On the anniversary of the Autodefensas, José comes out of hiding and takes back control of his elite force but everything has got out of control and a lot of the Autodefensas are using there powers to do bad things. As they haven't got the right to have guns and apply force around Michoacan, the government step in and build there own force, which pushes José out of control. All of his fellow workers join the government force because they are allowed to use guns by law and Jose's life becomes in danger because he has broken so many laws when he was in control. When they eventually catch up with José, they put him in a Federal Centre for Social Re-adaptation in Hermosillo, Sonora. Although he still gains support from the villagers, he has basically become a political prisoner who is kept behind bars to silence him and take full control of his elite force. It has all the makings for a brilliant film but as this is a documentary about true events, I found it thrilling and quite emotional, especially when you hear what some of the community went through. The story that was told by the lady who watched her husband being burnt to death, was awful and it really shows how far these cartels are willing to go, to bring fear into people's life's. There also are some intense shoot-outs which must have been extremely scary for the director, who was in the heart of the action. Anyway, this movie definitely gave a graphic insight into a world which I totally didn't know existed and right from the beginning, when the members of the cartels are cooking the "Meth", I was glued to the TV until the end. Great!

Round-Up: This brilliant documentary was put together by Matthew Heineman who brought you Overcoming The Storm, which is about several residents returning to there homes in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, Our Time, which is about 4 youths who travel across America to ask there peers serious questions about life in America today and Escape Fire: The Fight Of Rescue American Healthcare, which uncovers the U.S. Healthcare systems true design. I personally would watch Matthew's other documentaries because he really did get to the heart of the problem with this movie and put his life on the line, to the point were he didn't put on his bullet proof vest during one of the shoot-outs because he wanted to catch all of the action on camera. The movie did make me investigate what really did happen to José, who is still in prison but I did find it a bit weird that no one looked into the camera during the scenes in the various villages and the shoot-outs. That did make me question if the documentary was real but when I watched the bonus material on the DVD, I realised that these events really did happen. The cartels value for life did shock me and I can't imagine how it must be to live your life in fear, 24 hours a day. I think you can tell that I really enjoyed this film and I hope that it gets the recognition that it deserves.

Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $1.1million

I recommend this movie to people who are into their documentary/action/drama movies about a physician in Michoacan, Mexico, who leads a citizen uprising against the drug cartel that has wreaked havoc on the region for years. 8/10

Vigilantes

[JoeBagz · 7/10 · 15 June 2016]

No spoilers. The film 'Cartel Land' is a documentary whose title is I think a little misleading. The subject matter focuses exclusively on 2 civilian militias, the Arizona Border Recon in the US and the Autodefensas in Mexico. The film is essentially a running dialog with Tim Foley and Dr. Jose Mireles the individuals who formed the militias in their respective countries recorded over a period of a year or two. The filmmaker did not question or drive the conversation in any particular direction while on camera. The intent seemingly was to provide a platform for the individuals to share their stories and pitch their case in support of organized civilian militias to oppose the activities and threat of Mexican drug cartels in the face of government complacency. The filmmaker bounces back and forth between the US and Mexico with far more time spent in the latter.

It is interesting that the purpose and tactics of the militias are very different. The mission of the Arizona Border Recon is to stop anyone crossing illegally into the US, regardless of their purpose or nationality. Where as the Autodefensas were, at least initially, organized to directly engage the Knights Templar drug cartel's campaign of mass murder and random terror.

There are no interviews with government officials from either country. All footage is of the militias either on the US border searching for persons crossing into Arizona or all over southern Mexico in the streets battling the cartels. There are no interviews with members of any cartels excluding 5 minutes at the beginning and end of the film with a group of men cooking meth at night somewhere out in the desert. There are no statistics provided on anything, the filmmaker not trying to prove or dispute anything.

My impressions based on the film.

Civilian militia is not an effective tool to combat drug cartel activities on either side of the border.

If you embarrass the Mexican government too often or defy it publicly you'll end up in prison or dead.

Building a wall across the US/Mexico border is totally and utterly absurd.

End the war on drugs, put the cartels out of the drug business. In the US put the allocated funds into substance abuse and treatment programs instead of sustaining the prison industrial complex and the mass incarceration of minorities.

A film that I would highly recommend with subject matter regarding Mexican drug cartels and US efforts to combat them is an excellent fictional thriller 'Sicario'.

Stunning footage with a misguided narrative

[smerdyakov-died-trolling · 5/10 · 26 November 2018]

I've been following the story of Michiacan's Autodefensas almost from the moment they began popping up in the news. This is is a bad documentary.

Good first, the footage is really amazing. It's one thing to do interviews and capture some funerals, bloody sceneries, etc. It's another to capture several firefights. Props to the crew for their courage.

That's about it. I've heard the director during an interview say something along the lines of "By the end I realized there weren't any good people in this battle". And it's completely understandable how the viewer can arrive at that conclusion just from watching the doc.

The reality is so much more complex than the director portrays and I don't know if he's simple minded or if it's done in bad faith to create a more shocking story. The rise of the autodefensas is fundamentally a story of a government that did a terrible job of defending its citizens against organized crime. In their desperation to rid their cities of cartel activity some municipalities in Michoacán gave their support to a rival cartel which displaces the original, splits in two, and after the smoke clears stations itself in these municipalities as the Caballeros Templarios cartel. They charged quotas on all exchanges and properties, controlled the markets and supply, charged kids to go to school, killed people over police reports... Cornered by their desperation and tactical misfires, civilians took up arms. Farmers, teachers, lemon pickers, doctors. People who were completely untrained in combat. Those were the autodefensas, and their sole purpose was to remove the Templarios. Some municipalities made awful choices. Others like Hipólito Mora's La Ruana are as heroic a modern day tale as you'll find. Their eventual crumbling, lapses of judgment, anger, paranoia, disorder, corruption, should not come as a surprise.

The documentary offers a very shallow skimming of this context. It promises to do a fair take of this initially, and only the filmmakers could answer why they decided to ultimately share a narrative of what they see as monstrosities committed on all sides, as if there were a moral equivalence between the cartels and the autodefensas. This is insultingly simplistic. I'll end with a shoutout to the comically misguided juxtaposition they tried to pull between the border vigilantes fighting a near nonexistent problem and the autodefensas.

Not really a story

[ersbel · 18 August 2017]

This is not really a story. Just a collage of emotional footage. There is no reason. The the structure is not very clear anyway. To make things worse, the producers are doing their best of white washing the racist gangs North of the border. The ridicule of the wall is missed. The fact that the State is building up all this situation on both sides of the border is ignored. As they gloss over the fact that the worst gangs are State owned: a vast assortment of police and military forces. And the blame is put on the dirt poor peasants trying to make a living or simply trying to survive. And why are all these people so violent? I mean people far away from the traffic areas are quite peaceful while being almost identical genetically with these people. Who cares? The devil. After all all seem to be high on religion and low on education.

And all that and many other previous wars simply for some old white men to draw a colored line on a map. But that is way over the head of the producers. Long live yellow journalism!

Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch

Shines a light on Mexico's problems

[eddie_baggins · 6/10 · 6 July 2016]

If anyone was ever under any doubt that the country of Mexico is one seriously messed up place then showing them Cartel Land would be a good way to prove a point as Matthew Heineman's unflinching documentary looking at the land bordering the United States is a telling piece of documentary filmmaking that offers us a glimpse of life in the war torn streets of the drug fuelled land.

Nominated at this year's Oscar ceremony in the best documentary feature film category and co-produced by Oscar nominated filmmaker Kathryn Bigalow, Cartel Land offers a ride ranging look the world of cartels and corruption that runs rife through Mexico by giving us access to the cartels themselves, those trying to defend their country in the form of the well intentioned Autodefensa and also American citizens who patrol their towns borders as vigilantes trying their best to discourage the drug and people smuggling cartels from using their land as an easy access point to the land of freedom.

Juggling all these different components is no easy task and director Heineman does struggle at time for fluidity in his tale that can at times jar the viewer's interest. Cartel Land also finds difficulties in giving us a centralized figure to be our lead through this violent, chaotic and confusing landscape even though Mexican local and the vigilante leader of the Autodefensa José Manuel 'El Doctor' Mireles is an intriguing and multilayered persona.

Cartel Land is at its most powerful when it brings the audience into the thick of the action and chaos that inhabits the daily lives of many Mexicans caught up in the illegal activity that runs rampant around them and whether its horrific stories of cartel atrocities (the film is not for the faint of heart), real life shootouts or Breaking Bad like meth cook ups, Cartel Land isn't afraid to show it how it is and paints a horrific picture of everyday life in a country that has lost its sense of purpose.

With its roots planted in the midst of terrifying situations, Cartel Land is often powerful viewing that is hampered by a clouded sense of direction. For a no holds barred look at life on the front of line of drug cartel fuelled life however, Cartel Land will make for shocking and eye opening viewing for many who would rather forget that the land so close to America is well and truly a day to day warzone.

3 Papa Smurf's out of 5

Excellent Documentary! This documentary

[nlytnd_1 · 10/10 · 29 July 2017]

There are many reviews on here that are ridiculous and simply based in idiocrasy! There are actually people docking the documentary because it films a U.S. vigilante/border patrol guy from an observational perspective, who these reviewers disagree with, therefore they dock this documentary for it, whereas otherwise they claim to have enjoyed it. It just so happens that I disagree with the guy as well (or at the very least recognize what the dude is doing accomplishes nothing). This documentary does nothing to persuade the viewer to the vigilante border guy's view, rather it observes the guy telling his story. Then you get to see for yourself what this guy is doing based on his actual actions (no bias propaganda). Actually, every action that we watch the guy carry out is of him stopping some poor scared people trying to get over the border. At no point does it attempt to convince us that these scared people are cartel members or that he should be stopping these people. If anything one is more likely to disagree with the guy after seeing what he is doing for yourself. These people who are disgruntled over the observation of someone they disagree with genuinely have a serious mental disorder. Whether you agree or disagree with the guy, it's interesting to hear what his perspective is and watch exactly what he is doing. Rather than taking his or someone else's word for it. The guy convinces himself that he is doing something against the cartels even though there is nothing we see to support the guys claim... so why can't these nutball reviewers differentiate? It's simple, they have a mental disorder. Anyways, that wasn't the theme of the documentary, it's vigilantism. Two different kinds of vigilantism, but they both correlate in that they are people taking it upon themselves to act in areas where the government refuses too. However the story over the Mexican border is where this documentary excels. You should understand after seeing this, Government/Cartels are in bed together if not one of the same thing. This applies to everywhere in the world. A different word for it is used everywhere, in Mexico they're called cartels.

So yes, I think this documentary captured a bunch of amazing stuff and tried to come up with a way to work both stories into the documentary. As a result, should I rate this doc a 6 or a 7 because both stories felt loosely tied to me, even though it captures what was and is going on in Mexico (and everywhere in the world I believe) unlike anything ever has before and both stories are very entertaining. In my opinion, this is the best reference that I have ever seen demonstrated before as to a pattern that continues to go on, over and over and over again throughout history. In Mexico you have the Cartels, In Russia you have the KGB, in the US we've had a bunch of ravenous groups over the years in which the government pretends to be against, but at the end of the day they do absolutely nothing to stop them and come to find out they are in bed together. So, surprise people the government (gov. is just a generic expression, but you could say the state, the CIA or the powers that be which control gov.), are the real manufacturers of these drugs (there are several instances over the years where this has been declassified information (particularly the CIA). Even though we see in this documentary, the newly united government are the ones out making the drugs (so whether the state/gov are the actual manufacturers, they are always at the very least the ghost manufacturers and get paid/kickbacks the same either way) and these horrendous gangs/cartels are the ones selling their product. This documentary demonstrates the Mexican government/military does nothing to stop the cartels and in fact come to the cartels aid. Then they show what happens to the liberation groups that wake up and fight back, they eventually get infiltrated/ convinced/paid off by the government to step aside and/or join forces and then you're right back to square one. Like that Papa Smurf clown. I'm curious if the guy was an infiltrator from the start or if he was bought off. One thing for certain is; he allowed some audience members running some cointelpro tactics to overpower him in a speech. In that instance, I believe they essentially had a handful or more of rehearsed and planned criticisms to bounces off one another in tandem, which can easily and effectively bring an entire audience who would otherwise be in support of the speakers cause, against the speaker and the cause. This stuff is taught in CIA/FBI training and I'm sure in many other gov organizations around the world. Another way is just through media control and what not, they convince the people through propaganda or whatever the "horrible" things that the people/liberation group are doing. In this instance, I feel certain that the crowd criticism was a planned cointelpro tactic 100% without any shadow of a doubt.

Anyways, this information has been known by some people for years, but this is probably the first time that I've ever seen someone in the thick of it actually capturing it on film as it was happening… they actually captured the entire process from start to finish… It's amazing! This documentary (the Mexico part) is an essential demonstration of something that people really need to be aware of.

Powerful Subject Matter Hampered by Lack of Focus

[evanston_dad · 7/10 · 8 March 2016]

A documentary about drug trafficking set on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border.

In Mexico, a group of citizens unite to form a militia in order to combat the murderous drug cartels that terrorize their towns. In America, a group of "patriots" organize a vigilante platoon to patrol the desert and turn any illegal immigrants over to the proper authorities. In both cases, the motivation is the same: each group feels that it must take matters into its own hands since they can't rely on any system of organized legal procedures to do it for them. In Mexico, the law enforcement is corrupt and frequently working with the cartels; in the American wilderness, it's non-existent.

"Cartel Land" suffers from this split perspective after a while. It's as if the filmmakers didn't get enough footage of the American vigilante group but couldn't bring themselves to excise it altogether. As a result, it feels underdeveloped and takes away attention from what's going on in Mexico, which is gripping enough without having to share screen time. One thing the Mexican situation makes clear is that civilian militias don't work; they do for a time while everyone's intentions are noble, but sooner or later they fall prey to opportunists, in-fighting, and violence. The townspeople support the militia for a time, until the militiamen start randomly invading houses and beating up people they even slightly suspect may be involved in drug activity. This may be intended as a warning to the Americans in this film and others like them that taking the law into your own hands is the stuff of action movies, not real life. Perhaps that's why the American-set part of the film was left in even when it doesn't completely gel with the rest of the movie.

Parts of this film are fascinating if depressing, but overall the effect of the film is blunted by this lack of focus on the part of the filmmakers.

Grade: B

the only way to "win" the so-called War on Drugs is to decriminalize drugs

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 30 December 2020]

Matthew Heineman's Academy Award-nominated "Cartel Land" is one of the most harrowing documentaries that you'll ever see. It focuses mainly on a community in Michoacán that formed a vigilante group to fight the drug gangs, since the corrupt government was no good at protecting them from the gangs. The other focus is a vigilante group in Arizona that sets out to stop the cartels from entering the US. It took some real guts to get this on screen (to say nothing of the danger that they likely faced in filming it).

It just goes to show that the so-called War on Drugs is a failure at best. Not only is Mexico nearly a failed state, but the mass arrests for drug possession in the United States have devastated entire communities. Meanwhile, Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2000, and drug usage fell there.

The point is that there's no way to win such a war, least of all for the people in rural Mexico. They bear the brunt of the brutality, whether from cartels or from their own government. We must end this war.

In an update since the documentary's release, José Mireles died of COVID last month.

What happend to the Autodefensa movement

[yellowtail_tuna · 7/10 · 28 June 2020]

This is a documentary film that follows Autodefensa, the Mexican vigilante movement to fight the violence of the drug cartel. The leader Dr. Mireles has charisma to gain support, and the group seems to be achieving success. But then the group itself begins to corrupt.

The atrocity of the cartel, called Knights Templar, is chilling, especially their killing of children. So when Mireles stands up against them and people gather around him, he is no doubt a hero. They fear retaliation, and it does happen to Mireles. But more fundamental problem emerges from inside the movement.

Since it is not legitimate for them to carry weapons, nothing legally distinguish them from criminal organizations. And their reputation among the people becomes divisive. Some members openly become as violent as the cartels.

One thing I really don't understand by watching this film is what exactly the police or the goverment thought of the situation. Maybe they just didn't have sufficient power to deal with it.

There is a scene at the very beginning of the film, where drug cooks are working in a remote grove at night. A man is talking. "We know we do harm with all the drugs that go there. But what are we going to do? We come from poverty. If we were doing well, we would be like you. Traveling the world or doing good clean jobs like you guys." This words remain in my mind throughout the film like an echo. I don't know what exactly the problem is. But whatever it is, I know it is very ingrained in the society.

I don't think the U.S. part is really relevant. Yes, they have a situation in common with Autodefensa where they have become vigilantes because of unreliable police. But their contexts are quite different. I believe it was necessary only to attract the U.S. audience. (And now I, not being American, fully understand why Trump appealed to the voters by the promise to build the Wall.)

Get armed or get raped, is that the question?

[mtjoeng · 10/10 · 3 October 2015]

Cartel Land (2015) conquered Sundance for best documentary and director. Contrasting the peoples 'Autodefensas' militia in their Mexico Michoacán region, battle the Knights Templar drug cartel versus the upset white Arizona Border Recon 'vigilantes' patrolling the Arizona border.

Ignore the handful of reviews by viewers of this documentary or the dozens by professional film critiquers. This documentary is of unbiased quality, it shows the naked - and rather bipolar - actuality.

The present topicality is what seems to be a struggle between a distrusted, corrupt and bought Mexican government trying to reign in the power of the Mexican self-defense militias and arresting their leaders for possessing unregistered weaponries.

'When we captured criminals we turned them over to the federal authorities. But the authorities set them free with their guns and armor. And they started shooting and massacring us 24 hours later.' But then, needing funding for their upkeep, the now regulated 'Autodefensas' with a new leader started protecting their own meth cookers 'we can't help it because inevitably everyone here has gone corrupted'.

So a new cycle of drugs manufacture and protection has started in the Michoacán region, minus the rape, kidnappings and murder. A handful of volunteers joined the Arizona Border Recon.

A daring and unflinching expose of a brutal world, even if it covers a lot of old ground

[wellthatswhatithinkanyway · 7/10 · 16 September 2015]

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

On the United States/Mexico Border, the Knights Templar drugs cartel plies its trade with ruthless determination, and terrorizes the residents of the villages and towns where it operates. In this lawless little corner of the world, where the police, army and government are as corrupt as, and in league with, the villains, it has fallen on some local people to stand up and make a difference. Lead by a charismatic, mature local physician, the Autodefensas are an army with no legal sanction, but the support of the people who know the cause they are fighting, but gradually they are infiltrated by undesirables who set them on a path of corruption. Meanwhile, a separate group of American fighters, with uncomfortable views towards their Mexican neighbours, operate their own little army.

The 'cartel' phenomenon has been used many-a-times as a backdrop for your average action adventure, or crime thriller, but this is as close as you'll have come, probably ever, to getting up close and personal, and seeing what could be described as like a real life action film, with men in military fatigues spouting automatic weapons and prowling the outskirts of the desert in search of their prey, not to mention seeing men in car chases zooming in on those they are hunting. In this sense, Cartel Land takes the docu-drama concept and turns it on its head, delivering something quite unique. That said, on the expose front, it covers a lot of old ground that you would have already seen in any Ross Kemp/Channel 4 programme on telly, with some of the drug traffickers themselves appearing on camera only briefly, but just delivering the usual platitudes of how they live in poverty, and the real villains are those at the top.

What's never been seen before, is the frustration of those living in the midst of the violence and corruption, and their resignation to having to come together and form their own group to tackle the criminals, and eventually the disillusionment and regret when even they appear to turn into something bad. You really get the impression of a group of people who depend on each other, and have only each other to lean on in this world. But their situation is already quite well known, and they get a lot more screen time than the surprising emergence of some American protagonists, although their xenophobia and racism makes them a little tough to warm to.

By the end, it's lost it's narrative and sense of pace a little, but despite some faults, it's still an eye opening and daring work that deserves to be observed. ***

Like a drug, this documentary is also intensely highly addicting. A must watch

[ironhorse_iv · 8/10 · 14 February 2017]

Nominated for Best Documentary at the 88th Academy Awards. 2015's 'Cartel Land', is gripping. Why, because it dares to go, somewhere, where other documentaries fail to do. It goes to the frontline of the War on Drugs, outside the protection of the corrupt government, especially with vigilante groups fighting Mexican drug cartels, showing us, how brutal and violence, life can be for some, living in South of the Border. Directed by Matthew Heineman, while the movie doesn't explore, all of the fights against the cartels in Mexico. It focus on one of the most brutal gangs with Knights Templar Cartel fighting against the citizen forces of Michoacán, a Mexican state. While, most of the movie is in Spanish in places where people barely heard of, it's still a gritty well-thought story that will cross over to the majority of English speaking-America audiences, as drug trafficking has become a major problem for both countries for many years, now. Without spoiling 'Cartel Land' too much, I have to say, while the story of Autodefensas (Self-Defender Force) was very compelling, with all the raids and gun-fights sequences. Even the clashes with the Mexican government is worth the watch on its own; but I do have to say, the other story with Tim "Nailer" Foley and the Arizona Border Recon was not. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind, having border patrols, but their story really lack any excitement. It's borderline, boring, most of the time. It made for some really bad pacing issues, when they cut away from the intense story in Mexico to the one in Arizona. I really didn't like it. For a place that supposed to be 'the Wild West', most of the time, the group just watch television, eat BBQ and go on, nature walks, dressed up as Army Rangers, harassing illegal immigrants, just looking to get away from poverty, rather than seeking out the cartel that making these people's lives, horrible. I also don't like, how cocky and badass, they think they are. They don't know, how lucky, they are, compare to the people living in Michoacán, where gunfights on the streets, and people getting their heads cut off is a common occurrence. Their quiet little town, might be near the border, but it's still far away from 'Cartel Land' as it gets. The idea that U.S. government have failed to protect the citizens of the border towns from Mexican gang violence is just absurd. It's safer, here, than it is, in Mexico, five times over. Also, for a group that says, that they're not racists. The interview speech about fences says, otherwise. Also, based on what this documentary is presenting, I don't think the leader of Arizona Border Recon is doing this, as a righteous cause, like he says it is. Instead, it felt like he was doing this, for selfish, cocky reasons, looking for scapegoat outlet for his past drug abuse and father issues. He seem insane and a psycho. Its things like this that made the Arizona Border Recon parts, cringe-worthy. Don't get me wrong, the leaders of Autodefensas were equally as unethical as the Arizona Border Recon, but they felt more necessary roughs in the edge, because, how they truly do live in a hellhole. So, to see them, order murders, breaking and entertaining, beating and torturing their capturers. It felt less, shocking, because how truly, war-like the failed nation has become. While, the movie doesn't show, much of the Autodefensas flaws at first. Overtime, they became just as dark as the criminals, they sworn to fight against. Because of this, I don't believe that Dr. José Manuel Mireles Valverde and the second in command who doesn't want, his real-life name out, Papa Pituno, aka Papa Smurf are just not the heroes, the film first portrayal them to be. Seeing Dr. Mireles cheat on his marriage, do nothing to stop the corruption, and abandoned the cause, basically show, how easily, human beings in this nation can lose their way. The lack of concern for human life is staggering and it shows. It's f-up, as much as the corruption. The twist toward the end, shows that. It's bitter & depressing. Overall: While, some of the footage can be extremely graphic that can make some viewers sick. I do have to give mad props for the filmmakers of this film has taken great personal risks to get the footage to US audiences, as it brings great insight on how violence, life is, over there. In the end, this is one powerful documentary that everybody need to see.

Who are the bad guys?

[valleyjohn · 6/10 · 30 October 2015]

MY RATING 6 out of 10. This is an eye opening documentary which follows groups of vigilante's who are so fed up with Mexican drug cartels they have decided to do something about it. The problem is that the lines are blurred as to who the criminals are and on what side they are on. Watching this film you cant hep but think Mexico is buggered. There seems to be no order and the country is entirely corrupt. If i was a Mexican it would totally depress me. There are some very gruesome scenes of what happened to some of the Cartel members and their victims and it's not for the faint hearted but don't let that put you off what is a fascinating look into another world.

Liberal Hollywood propaganda

[kmckaig-432-513211 · 3/10 · 13 December 2018]

This is NOT a documentary. It's liberal Hollywood garbage that is trying to hide under the ruse of a legitimate documentary. It's all staged folks, watch it again and take a closer look. Whatever your views on immigration and border security, don't let this lame film influence you.