Sicario

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Jon Bernthal, Victor Garber

Running Time: 121 Mins

Country: UK

Have you ever sat inside the cosy cinema armchair, snuggled up in your warm jacket, and wondered how your heart could even skip a beat like it was doing at that exact moment? Biting your nails as the action gets agonizingly slow, the character’s pulses echoing in your own ears and the music just prolonging the lovely agony as you have no idea what is going to happen next? Well, I do hope you know what I am talking about, because that is how I felt during the screening of Sicario.

It is hard to make a serious blockbuster movie. The genre of drama and thrillers is a tired one, well developed over the last few decades, and for better or worse, one that grew both in myths and legends. One that also sometimes ends up a ready-made parody material. However, with the emergence of titles such as City of God (2002), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) and Public Enemies (2009), some hope has been breathed into the hearts of film-fans. Sicario is one of such films, without a doubt. Even though, at first, the topic may seem clichéd. Gangs versus the police force. Good guys versus evil organized crime. But do not let yourself be deluded into thinking that you have seen such a story before. Rather than a linear story arch, you follow emotions and moods in this piece, concentrate on yourself more than the thoughts or actions of the characters.

Image: LGUK Publicity

The film takes many unexpected turns, constantly provoking the question: how else could the story have happened, if not the way portrayed by Denis Villeneuve? The performances of Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin are marvellous. They complement each other perfectly: the demonic, and yet surprisingly gentle Alejandro; the righteous whistle-blower Kate, and Matt who can at first be best described as the king of douchebags. Del Toro dominates every scene he is featured in, be it sleeping in a plane, walking or staring people down.  However, the film is not only about him. It is the chemistry between del Toro’s and Blunt’s characters that fuels the film and makes you demand more. I would be definitely satisfied if they shot a sequel to Sicario, featuring only the two of them.

a well-made piece of contemporary, political cinema

Their characters are set on opposite ends of the conflict, one that tears at the heart of every person at some point in their life: do ends justify the means? Is morality relative? What is left of our beliefs in an unlawful land? It is the sexual tension, the unspoken things, the rules’ bending that give life to their portrayals. Sicario features an old film trope of an older, more experienced character initiating a younger one into their future role, showing how things are really done. Like Pacino and Farrell in The Recruit (2003), Fishburne and Reeves in Matrix (1999), Alejandro initiates Kate into a world she never realised existed and which she is not ready to face alone. He is however, not a mentor but rather a force which tears apart Kate’s view of what is right and wrong. She will be left picking up the pieces but how? This is rather left to the viewer’s imagination. Therefore, I would not take the story at face value, at least not all of its aspects.

Image: LGUK Publicity

The narrative may feel a bit stretched the longer you think about all the shootouts and drawn out, nerve-racking scenes set to a minimalist score. The panoramic cinematography, shot by Roger Deakins (predominantly known from his work on films by the Coen brothers) brings the viewer into an atmospheric, sometimes suffocating world of close-ups, vivid colours and details, such as a grimace or one move of the eye, which can set the mood for a whole scene: like in the cowboy bar or when the cartel boss realizes the tables have been turned on him.

Overall, I very much recommend everybody to see Sicario. It is a well-made piece of contemporary, political cinema, a breath of fresh air – as well as a small beacon of hope in its interesting portrayal of a woman and her navigation of the underbelly of American government and its morals.