23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, very worth seeing, May 2, 2005
This review is from: Paloma De Papel (DVD)
This is an excellent film. It is probably the first Peruvian film to portray Andean peasants as the main protagonists. Paloma de Papel, that focuses on a peasant village's association with and fight against Peru's notorious terrorist organization and Partido Comunista del Peru-SL, best known as The Shining Path, is a perfect complement to Francisco Lombardi's classic La Boca del Lobo (The Lion's Den, 1988). Whereas in Lombardi's film the militaries were both the main protagonists and the main perpetrators of the abuses against the peasants, in Paloma de Papel peasants take the lead while the Shining Path is the main executioner. However, far from falling into clichéd interpretations that would pit "bad terrorists" against "good peasants", director Fabrizio Aguilar manages to show the humanity and vulnerability of both. He shows moreover how peasants, far from merely being caught in the cross fire, could deliberately take sides. Paloma de Papel constitutes an intelligent and sensitive portrayal of a complex topic: peasants' ultimate fight against the Shining Path insurgency that shook Peru between 1980 and 1999 and which ultimately claimed 70,000 lives, most of them poor and illiterate Andean peasants. This film is likely to stir debates and may be misunderstood by those who have romanticized Latin American Marxist guerrillas or still think that armed solutions to social problems are morally and politically justified. A very human film. Excellent performances by both adults and children. Shot in a village in the Andean department of Ancash. Amazing landscapes.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing film, a glimpse of life 1st world folks don't get to see...., December 25, 2005
This review is from: Paloma De Papel (DVD)
palomar de papel is an amazingly, touching story about a young boy, his deep relationship w/ his nurturing mama, and the realities of life in the U.S. exploited countries of Latin America.
This movie is endearing because it shows the humanities of all sides. I LOVE that it shows glimpses of the humble, yet loving and beautiful life of so-called "common" peasants of the Andean Peru. The sweet relationships that this little boy, Juan, develops w/ the members of his town, and the mischievious and funny ways he and his little friends find to entertain themselves in their mountainside, non-industrialized lives.
The abduction of Juan by the Shining Path is gripping, and to be honest--AWFUL to watch. I hated the hardships they this little boy endured, but i appreciate the fact that it's real and this film shows the realness from all sides.
The film depicts the communists as, on one hand seeking reasonable demands--end to poverty and exploitation, freedom and self determinatino. It also reflects the hard realities that most people reading this review may never have to face--like, it's easy to say "oh, i'd never do this or that", but, when you've watched your entire homes burned down, mothers father killed, etc., people's perspective about what their options often change.
Therefore, the shinig path characters are depicted as making some pretty inhumane mistakes, but I think by the end you may feel that possibly, they are just struggling to find answers to the same questions millions are also facing, though clearly -_how_ they are going about (i.e. armed, guerrilla warfare gonig up against women and children, the very people they supposedly were fighting for) it did not prove beneficial to either side.
It's tough, and hard to watch, but excellent film, excellent acting and production, and very sweet message given at the final scene. This would also be excellent to view from an anthropological and/or sociological perspective.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
EXCELLEnt movie worth seeing, July 14, 2006
This review is from: Paloma De Papel (DVD)
PAloma de papel is a very hearttouching story about the lives of poor andean peruvian ppl. It is a story form a child's point of view about terrorism and its many consequences. At the end of the movie i cried the hardest i have ever cried in my life no joke. Amovie that as intense as it is, is a family movie and teahces kids the danger of terrorism adn how many ppl get into it for neccesity.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
