hddu10-819-37458 This subject matter on life in rural Mexico (which could also have been many other places in Central America) typically attracts a very niche audience; either you are interested in it as a traveler, anthropologist, activist or someone with ties to the region. The film is very bleak and while a couple of people do actually smile, you can count the instances on your hand. Men with Guns really seeks to drive home the "Man's Inhumanity to Man" theme, using various character examples to encapsulate horror-stories anyone who is familiar with the region has heard. My biggest critique here is I couldn't get over Federico Luppi's Argentine accent; is he incapable of doing a Mexican accent? If so, why did the director cast him in a story about Mexico? It really threw me off.

moore2772 Men with Guns is one of the finest films of the genre. It has legs- really stays with you, for years. The priest's story alone is brilliant filmmaking. I've been a great fan of John Sayles' work for many years, but I think this is both his most original and generally best work. The shame is that no one seems to have seen this film. I saw it 3X in theatres and there were never more than 5 people in the audience. MWG doesn't appeal to the short- attention-spaned sex-and-violence cravers. The history of 30 years of terrible civil war as close as Guatemala is something our children remain ignorant about. This incredible film puts that war into unique perspective. Sayles didn't seem to care if too many people saw it or not- subtitles alone guarantee a fringe audience confined to a few art houses. The film is not perfect- editing could be a little better; but what a story! The opening and closing scenes really work for me. I hope everyone reading these comments will go out and rent Men with Guns ASAP. Sayles at his best.

tiabmaps Dreamlike, mythological, multilayered and almost mystical on the one hand, and on the other hand, vividly conveying the reality of Guatemala in the 1980s (which is what the film's story is mostly based on, though it draws in part from the present-day situation in Mexico's southernmost state of Chiapas, where it was mostly filmed; I think that the Indian language we were hearing was Tzotzil Maya). This film is as understated as its blunt, simple title (by the way, all violence happens offscreen). And yet it is so multilayered that I am still trying to absorb its many levels. It is a "road movie," and it is a profound spiritual odyssey for the main character; it is a suspenseful and unpredictable thriller full of unexpected twists, and it is mythic... in fact, we gradually come to realize that the entire story is being told, like a traditional myth, by a Mayan mother to her little girl. A beautiful example of the Latin American "magical realism" style. This film gets an unhesitating score of 10 from me... in fact, I think I may consider this film among my lifetime top ten movies.

rc223 How many directors would follow up their biggest commercial hit with a political fable with subtitles? An aging doctor travels into the mountains in an unspecified Latin American country and finds that local politics can be murderous. He picks up various passengers on the way: a faithless priest, a guilt-stricken deserter and a world-wise orphan. A political road movie with both chilling and humerous asides, the mechanics and politics are both familiar but the mixture is fresh. Another fine addition to Sayles' increasingly eclectic CV: 8/10.