Cartel Land

The engrossing new documentary, "Cartel Land," proves that director Matthew Heineman was willing to risk his life for his art as well as to capture some semblance of truth in the murky moral wasteland where drug cartels make the rules, government seems to aide and abet them and those who do not obey them are murdered -- usually in the most gruesome fashion. Decapitation and dismemberment seem to be cartel favorites.

Anyone who has seen "The Godfather," "Goodfellas" or "The Sopranos" knows how the mafia behaves. The drug cartel enforcers are no different, terrorizing their own country, demanding payment for protection (against whom?) while they practice drug smuggling and human smuggling.

And those who believe that these horrific crimes only exist in Oliver Stone movies ("Savages" was actually a terrific depiction of the insanity of these lunatics) or on episodes of "Breaking Bad," think again.

Heineman sets out to show how two modern-day vigilante groups decided to fight the cartels. In the Mexican state of Michoac�n, over 1000 miles from the border, a revolutionary group known as Autodefensas were formed by a brave small town doctor, Jose Mireles. The goal: to rid towns of these parasites.

Meanwhile, stateside, a paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon that began as a border control militia has also begun fighting the cartel.

The notion that 'power corrupts' is a terrifying yet urgent theme that runs roughshod through "Cartel Land." The film does a dandy job of showing how heroes become villains and why nothing ever seems to change. Everyone is corruptible.

Heineman's access to both groups is remarkable as he and his camera find themselves right smack in the midst of shootouts, terrible beatings and interrogations as well as the vilest discoveries of decapitated heads.

As the doc proceeds, it becomes obvious that the Mexican government refuses to do anything to pursue the cartels. Quite the contrary, there is a good argument made in the movie that the higher ups, including the president of Mexico, are part of the problem. "There is no government. The government is off and working with the criminals."

The filmmaker shows us the Mexican "good guys" taking back the towns (the movement began in 2013), assuming they were going to die anyway, "We decided the best way to die was to die fighting."
As they successfully leave each area, they inform the citizens that it is now up to them to keep the place cartel-free.

Strangely (not), the government releases each cartel member the vigilantes catch, with their weapons, ready to fight again.

The confused politics begins to confound when the vigilantes allow themselves to be brainwashed by officials and become the monsters they were fighting all along, after a divide and conquer tactic is used by the regime. It's a sad, cutting and devastating comment on history, past current and future.

I was fascinated by how Heineman presented each complication and chose to truly blur the lines of good and evil. Even his shooting of speeches, where the subjects were obviously playing to the camera, had an objective feel to it. And I kept worrying for the safety of the director and crew.

My one criticism of "Cartel Land" is that the Arizona portion of the doc is nowhere near as interesting as the Mexican scenes. I understand why they're there and I appreciated some insight into what is usually dismissed as right-wing military fringe, but I kept waiting for the piece to cut back to Mexico.

"Cartel Land" is disturbing, pressing and provoking. Heineman answers questions with more questions. Perhaps the filmmaker and his crew are the true heroes.