Our Lady of the Assassins... violence versus violence

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I had trepidations putting on that disc last night. My wife has extreme sensitivity to gratuitous violence, and as the warning appeared saying something about Extreme Violence, I thought "Here goes another quiet evening!" I was getting prepared to heated arguments and flying dishes.
Let me get to the bottom of this. There is plenty of violence in this film. It is both overt and underground, something you feel like the minor shocks before the earthquake. You feel its presence, even if you don't see it, the whole atmosphere is charged and when it comes, there is no surprise.
And it is not just the fact the director tried to make it look almost matter-of-factly. There was something else there, and as I was watching my wife being absorbed I knew the difference was real.
The violence was not gratuitous. And the director was not enjoying it, was not savoring every horrible moment for the sake of it.
And then I thought of Tarantino, as perhaps the most shining example of that "other" school.
When we talk about bottomless obsession with blood gore and violence for the obsession sake, the insatiable junkie thirst, his name comes to mind naturally.
While being a talented artist and director, he is also a sick man. And that sickness is revolting, especially considering it is so popular today.
Tin here had spoken a lot about violence, and watching the Our Lady it becomes more clear in my mind he too means Tarantino kind of brutality, not the one which is integral part of the storytelling.
Our Lady is not a perfect film. It has many faults, but it certainly avoids the common pitfalls when dealing with a very difficult subject.
The word "gratuitous" has been overused, but it is films like this one that let us see good reason for that.

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Topic - Our Lady of the Assassins... violence versus violence - Victor Khomenko 07:53:06 03/15/07 (4)

I didn't find lots to fault in this film and I'm surprised you did: Barbet - tinear 13:57:42 03/15/07 (3)

Re: I didn't find lots to fault in this film and I'm surprised you did: Barbet - Victor Khomenko 14:31:29 03/15/07 (2)

Colombia is one of the world's most beautiful countries and Medellin - tinear 15:30:26 03/15/07 (1)

That came through very clear in the film - Victor Khomenko 15:45:52 03/15/07 (0)

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