text丨Sipac
Last year, Alfonso Caron Mexican nostalgic movie "Rome" became popular at the Oscars, which made many movie fans interested in this unfamiliar country for the first time.
"The New Yorker" critic Richard Brody wrote a film review at that time, saying that "some voices were erased in the movie", pointing out that the Caron movie is too narcissistic, does not really show the history of Mexico, and suppresses his true political claims. Once the articles such as
, which had anti-mainstream arguments were published, they were protested by many Mexican movie fans. Many people left messages on Brody's Twitter saying that he did not understand Mexican history, nor did he understand the blood and tears of Mexico's struggle for democracy for decades. Brody's counterattack is that if a movie needs to understand history to watch it, it itself is a failure.
A year later, looking at this debate, the views of both sides are also right and wrong, but one thing is certain, behind "Rome", there are too many sufferings, pains and struggles in the country of Mexico, which cannot be carried by a movie. What we need is a more direct and bolder statement, and Netflix's series "Drug Lord: Mexico" has done this. From this perspective, it is even slightly better than " Breaking Bad ", which is regarded by many as the leader of drug dramas.
In "Rome", we see the "phenomenon" in Caron's eyes, while "Drug Lord" does not shyly try to explore the essential issues of Mexican history. It can be said that what Karon didn't tell you is in this drama.
"Rome"
"Drug Lord: Mexico" is a spin-off of Netflix's hit series "Drug Lord" and is also an orthodox sequel to its legacy.
"Drug Lord: Mexico" Season 2
"Rome" tells the story of the suffering of ordinary people in Mexico in the 1970s. "Drug Lord: Mexico" advances history for ten years, describing the entire process of Mexico's largest drug lord in the 1980s, nicknamed "Skinny", Miguel Felix, nicknamed "Skinny", from rise to destruction, and uses this to bring out the whole political and social picture of the entire Mexico, and fully record that turbulent era.
episodes will be given the subtitles "This drama is adapted from real history..." at the beginning of each episode, and this is indeed the case. Every big shot, important DEA agent, Mexican officials and police appearing in the play, mostly use their real names, and their deeds are almost the same as those shown in the play.
series continues the usual plot + interspersed commentary + real historical data fragments in the "Drug Lord" series. With Scorsese's filming "Good Guy", the entire Mexico drug network spreads out from multiple angles, showing every person who is in control. It is them who together form the history of Mexico's troubled times.
The previous drama that can tell the rules of operation of an industry and even the entire society in detail may be HBO's "First Wire".
"First Season 1
"Drug Lord" series has always adopted the two hero narrative strategy of two protagonists, one police and one gangster. In the last season, DEA agent Chico, played by Michael Pena, explores the truth behind the Mexican drug trafficking network and finds Miguel's true identity.
"Drug Lords: Mexico" Season 1
On the other side, Miguel lobbied all the bigwigs from an ordinary policeman, from growing marijuana, to helping Colombian drug lords smuggle heroin, and then unified the major squares in Mexico and became the king of drug lords. In the end, the two met and Chico was tortured to death by Miguel. Miguel also laid hidden dangers because of Chiko's death.
Before the season started, Netflix's promotional strategy adopted "revenge" as its selling point. As we all know, Chico, as a DEA agent who has truly existed in history, his death changed the US drug-anti-drug strategy. The US government began a "Legendary Operation" to accurately retaliate against the Mexican drug network and avenge Chico regardless of costs and means. This also made the drug lords who later dared not attack American agents again. But if you think this season will be a revenge drama, you're very wrong.
"Drug Lords: Mexico" Season 2
Walter, played by Scott McNari , replaced Chico's position and became the other pole of the two heroes. In fact, McNally appeared in the middle of last season with a voice, serving as a narrator throughout the whole process, interpreting various inside stories about Mexico, and appeared in the last shot of the last episode, expressing his desire to avenge Chico and lay the foundation for his superiority with the whole season. This season, he also took on the dual tasks of narration and starring.
However, the "Legend Operation" team led by Watt could not let go in Mexico and could not achieve real cold-blooded revenge. They still adhere to justice and law in everything, as if Ned Stark's rebirth in Game of Thrones and could only become a pawn controlled by other players.
He punished some soldiers who were directly involved, but he was unable to get close to the real truth. As one of the two heroes, Wat is obviously less important than Chico. It is just one of Miguel's many troubles, and it has not even posed a substantial threat to it.
holds power, and Miguel, who is at the top, has become the real male lead with justification. If Miguel, who showed his grand blueprints everywhere in the last season, was a salesman for the Mexican dream. This season, he tried to integrate the resources he had at hand to become Caesar of the drug lord empire.
Just like Caesar, Miguel is the chosen spokesperson in this "Game of Thrones". His appearance gives protection and interests to all parties and brings different groups together. But just like Caesar's final outcome, when Miguel's ambitions increase but cannot protect the interests of all parties, what awaits him is the knife behind him.
Miguel is wrong every step. After killing Chico, the American forces represented by Wat advanced layer by layer to find evidence that could defeat him. The corners of the squares under him were obedient on the surface, but they were secretly looking for a way out. Colombian drug supplier Cali Group continues to put pressure on him. In addition, the election is approaching, and the dictatorial government he is dependent on may collapse at any time.
episodes start from a drug lord and form many story lines. This allows the audience to see the whole leopard from Miguel's perspective and join this evil black hole in Mexican history.
Miguel's last five years in power were the darkest five years in Mexican history. Through Miguel's story, the series shows the cruel moment when the dawn flashed in the pan and finally hope was extinguished between 1985 and 1989. The 1985 mexican city earthquake caused the illusion of Mexico's power to collapse and the economy was regressing. The people who yearned for freedom took to the streets and voted for their own votes. The Mexican people once saw the "dawn" in an instant, but the light also quickly dissipated.
In the 1988 general election, the dictator actually forced himself to stifle public opinion and manipulate the election by adding a non-existent "zero" to the final result. In the play, the Defense Minister uses technical failures to delay, and Miguel uses gangsters to modify votes.
In reality, everyone knows that this is the darkest election in Mexico's history, but no one has the courage and evidence to accuse their sins. The autocracy of the revolutionary party has gone from the dark 1970s in "Rome" to the more desperate 1980s in "Drug Lords". It was not until 2000 that the Revolutionary Institutional Party failed in the election for the first time. Their dictatorship period lasted for 71 years.
Miguel was both a witness and a participant, and in the end, he became a victim. Four months after the new president came to power, he was betrayed by several major horns he cultivated. His Guadalajara group was split into four major families. In 1989, four months after the president took office, he was imprisoned, becoming a "political achievement" of the victory of the drug war.
In the two key scenes of the play, the director chose to silence some people's names. Because in this more than 40-year drug war, the United States did not win, nor did it have enough evidence to identify the murderers behind the scenes.
In fact, the names of these high-ranking Mexican officials can be found everywhere on the Internet and were all people who were at a high position in the Mexican government at that time.Instead of using pseudonyms, the series chose to use a sudden "silent" to show the presence of the power black hole (which is also respect for Carlo Munoz Porter, the scene selection assistant who was killed during filming last season). From this perspective, "Drug Lord: Mexico" is the bravest drama at the moment.
At the end, the series tells the truth through the mouths of Walt and Miguel - there is no real winner in the war against drugs.
Water knew that he had not been able to take revenge and was even unwilling to accept medals and certificates. He only participated in the ceremony of proclaiming victory at the end, and the real mastermind behind the killing of Chico was still at large. Miguel predicted the escalation of the future drug war with a surprising monologue.
In fact, in the post-Miguel era when the heroes were vacuumed, 200,000 people have died in the drug war and 30,000 have disappeared. Behind a grand victory, everyone must admit the nihilism of the final result. The beneficiaries are the "non-existent" hands of power, and are names that must be silenced today 30 years later.
At present, Netflix has not announced the renewal of the third season of "Drug Lords: Mexico", but this does not mean that there is no story to film in Mexico's drug war.
As Miguel predicted, next is the war of heroes separatist.
The younger brothers in the play, such as "The King of the Sky" and "The Dwarf" (his story can be referred to Netflix's other series "The Dwarf"), have gradually become the new kings in the next few decades, until the present. And as stories get closer to today's era, more and more names are silenced.
As an online platform, whether or not to continue to touch these "forbidden zones" depends on how brave Netflix is.
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