Customer Reviews

Rosario Tijeras [Region 2]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed *Rosario Tijeras*. It wasn't a great film but it is worth watching.

The movie opens with Antonio bringing Rosario into an emergency room. Both are covered in blood. While Rosario is taken into surgery, Antonio takes a stroll down memory lane to where he first meets Rosario.

Antonio and his friend, Emilio, meets Rosario at a trendy bar. Emilio and Rosario immediately hooks up. Rosario is a sexy, fascinating and mysterious woman.

Throughout the movie, you're not sure if Rosario is doing assignments for someone else or if she's the head honcho. Antonio later tells her about these rumors he's heard about her. Even Antonio isn't sure. Rosario just laughs it off.

What's interesting about this movie is that the first half, she's in control. However, once her friend/"brother"/mentor/caretaker, JonHefe was killed, she seems to lose control of everything.

Meanwhile, Antonio is in love with Rosario. However, he doesnt' want to come between her and his childhood friend, Emilio. Plus, he feels obligated to look after her after her brother made him promise to do so.

I enjoyed the cinematic scenes throughout the film. However, what I wasn't too crazy about was the stereotypical portrayal of Latinos as gun-toting and revengeful. Ah well, I guess there are small rings of truth in stereotypes.

Overall, good movie. In fact, probably one of the best Latin action films that I've seen in recent years.

First off, the camera work and cinematography is second to none. Even the premise itself is top of the line. Unfortunately, the execution of the story is what hurts this movie. We have flashback, after flashback, in one person's flashback, then somebody else's flashback, that the story gets muddled. Rosario is so hurt by her brother's death for almost half the movie, but the problem is, that her brother is not fleshed out enough, the filmmakers should have given the audience some emotion to connect with Rosario's emotion. There's just not enough about their relationship for the audience to care. But some of the images and camera angles just might be worth checking out this film.

This is a really interesting and beautifully shot film. The acting is suburb and the leading lady (Flora Martinez) as the femme fatale Rosario Tijeras is absolutely stunning. She has a lot of range and depth and hope to see more of her. Although it is very graphic in its sexuality and violence it still is a moving and emotional story. Recommended for film buffs and those enamored of Flora Martinez :)

Late 80s Medellin was the backdrop for "Rosario Tijeras," a film about a love triangle between Rosario (Flora Martinez) and two friends, Emilio (Manolo Cardona) and Antonio (Unax Ugalde). While hanging out at a dance club full of beautiful Colombianas, Emilio spots Rosario -- stunning beyond stunning in a red minidress -- in the middle of the dance floor and forgets everything else. Emilio then makes his move while his buddy Antonio watches. Both of the guys fall for her although at first Rosario seems to prefer the wealthy playboy Emilio, but in the end -- later in the film -- she realizes she truly loves Antonio. Rosario has a secret, though. She's a gun for hire -- who, along with her brother Jonhefe(Rodrigo Oviedo)and his buddy Ferney (Alonso Arias) -- take out contract and revenge hits in the Medellin underworld, which of course was dominated by the cocaine cartel.

Rosario really likes Emilio, but only for sex. For her, he's a diversion from her hard lifestyle. She doesn't tell him anything about her life, although early on she gives him a very graphic "hint" that she's not to be trifled with. On the other hand, as she gets to know Antonio, she tells him everything and invites him into her life. Eventually, after being insulted at dinner by Emilio's wealthy parents, she lets go of Emilio and falls for good-guy Antonio.

In the meantime, by way of flashbacks, we come to understand how Rosario came to be the killer she is. Growing up in a poor barrio, she was sexually abused as a young girl by her stepfather. She got even with him by emasculating him with a big pair of scissors -- thus earning her last name, "Tijeras." Her mother then kicked her out of the house and she ended up with her brother, the only person that she loved -- up to the point she realized she loved Antonio. Thus, she became immersed in her brother's world of drugs, violence and death. Because she was stunningly beautiful, her brother was asked to introduce her to his superiors in the Medellin drug cartel and under the wing of her patron, she became a combination girlfriend/hitwoman. To her, she had no emotional feelings for the guys she was "with," other than it provided her with a more upscale lifestyle than she would have had under normal circumstances. She was able to use her looks to get next to her targets and became a cold killer for her bosses.

One sequence that was really interesting was the wake and funeral for her brother Jonhefe, who was killed on a "job" after forgetting a religious amulet that he always wore when "working." I'm not going to give much more away, so you'll have to see the film to appreciate it.

Flora Martinez gives a great, nuanced performance as Rosario. She gives her character depth and you sympathize with her despite her profession. The fact that she's a beautiful, sensual woman who is totally unashamed of her body doesn't hurt the film at all, either. The supporting cast is very good, although the characters aren't nearly as developed as Rosario. That wasn't a real big drawback to the film, though. As stated in a previous review, this isn't an action film, even though there is occasional gunplay, which is to be expected. It doesn't dominate the film, however. There's quite a bit of sex in the film, but it's in context of the story itself and the cultural milieu so it's not at all out of place.

Overall, this is an excellent film with solid acting from the cast, great locations and photography and a good story line based on the book by Jorge Franco Ramos. Not to be cliche, but this film, like so many other top notch movies coming out of Latin America these days has a gritty realism that is authentic. It has subtitles if you need them, but if you're a native speaker or learning Spanish, it's much better to not use the subtitles and listen to the vernacular instead.

The only minus that I can give the film are the flashbacks on top of flashbacks which get to be confusing if you're not paying close attention. You watch the film several times and then you figure it all out. Thus, four stars (plus) for this one overall and that ain't bad.

Hace dos años leí el libro por Jorge Franco e inmediatamente ése se hizo uno de mis libros preferidos. Me emocioné al saber que iban a hacer una película basada en la novela y recién esta noche la veo. Qué película más fuerte! Siguió bastante fielmente al libro, aunque hubo escenas en la pantalla grande que no recordé en el libro, como cuando salen a rumbear para hacerle un último homenaje a Johnefe pero bueno! También confieso que fue más fácil de seguir la novela que la película. La historia tiene muchos enredos así que en las páginas, pude seguirlos sin problemas. Una crítica decía que la segunda parte no estaba tan bien dirigida que la primera. Puede ser. Pero queda claro que Flora Martínez actuó re-bien. Ella hizo vivir un personaje sumamente complejo (el de la mismísima Rosario Tijeras). Lo mismo me pasó en la película que en la novela - aun sabiendo lo mala que es Rosario, no pude evitar de "enamorarme" de ella también, pues es muy seductora. También Unax Ugalde actuó muy bien como Antonio, el mejor amigo de Rosario. No voy a revelar qué pasa, pero es una historia que tiene muchas sorpresas. ¡Andá a ver a Rosario Tijeras si podés! (Y vas a escuchar el voseo porque no se habla de tú sino de vos en Medellín, Colombia!)

Good film with a gorgeous girl and good actors. Shows the kind of life that poor colombians involved with drug dealers have to suffer. I'll probably watch it again.

With a keen sense of direction, Emilio Maillé takes us into a realistic and no-nonsense journey into the depths of mid eighties Medellin were one thing and only one thing rules: Cocaine.
Great direction of photography and wonderful performances by Flora Martinez and Unax Ugalde.
A must see film.

This was a great movie. A great story line and amazing performances and lets be honest, the gratuitous Flora Martinez nudity doesn't hurt either. The only complaint I have has less to do with the movie and more with the marketing. They sell it like it's a shoot-em-up action movie but in reality it's a drama. There is some gun play in the movie but it's actually very little and there aren't any extended action scenes. The violence is basically used to accentuate certain parts of the story, but this is definitely not an action film.

Loved this movie for the creative way used to introduce the characters and the story along with the action sequences.
this movie is not for children, since there are many scenes of nudity that are not proper for underage audiences. Violent, but pleasing. This movie has its own place in Latino movie goers in theirs must-to-watch list.

Found this film to portrait Colombia as violent, not like I remember it. there has always been violence, only not as in your face like this films shows. I'll give it one thumb up