This documentary shows the lives of three young Colombians living in a hillside suburb of Medellin called La Sierra.
This film follows Edison, Cielo and Jesus.
Edison is a lothario who leads a paramilitary gang who has six children from six different women.
Cielo is a teenaged widow whose boyfriend is a jailed paramilitary member and who considers prostitution to get by.
And Jesus is a young man with a hand missing because of a grenade-making mishap. He has a morbid fascination with death and likes to do drugs, apparently mostly cocaine.

“La Sierra” strips away the detached observation of typical documentaries and allows its subjects the time they need to express themselves, their deepest desires and fears.
This nihilism on the part of Jesus is one of the film’s more disturbing aspects.
And, despite the fact that the documentary is about civil war in Colombia, this film is not political. It stays true to the idea of revealing the humanity involved.
La Sierra is a location beset by government forces, leftist rebels and paramilitary groups.
The audience does not see much of the first two and that’s okay. The film does not pretend to tell the story from all angles – it settles on life in La Sierra and shows the very human side of conflict.
One surprising thing to come from the documentary is a sense of hope in the people’s hearts, despite what has happened to them and their friends and families.
“La Sierra” is available on DVD.

Murphy can be reached at: lojano@comcast.net

This documentary doesn’t quite live up to its name.
Filmed entirely in black and white, it combines photographs and films to tell the story of revolutionary Che Guevara.
At little less than an hour, “Che Guevara: Where You’d Never Imagine Him” covers the high points of Guevara’s life as a rebel.
Director Manuel Perez shows how Guevara changed from a middle class medical student in Buenos Aires largely because of a trip he took by motorcycle all around the continent of South America.
He also delves into Guevara’s time helping Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution.
Itching for a fight, Guevara leaves Cuba for a stint in Africa helping another revolution.
Perez barely touches on the rebel’s time in Bolivia where he is eventually captured and killed.

The reason why “Che Guevara: Where You’d Never Imagine Him” falls short is because it does not cover much new ground. It is, however, an excellent primer to learn about the life of Guevara.
Perez makes no bones about which side he is on: he insists on showing Castro as a liberator and not a dictator even though he could be considered both.
This film includes interview with Guevara’s family and friends and utilizes letters he wrote home during his travels.
It is also a love letter, an homage to Guevara who remains an iconic image globally for those who believe in his ideals of justice and equality.
“Che Guevara: Where You’d Never Imagine Him” is available on DVD.

Murphy can be reached at lojano@comcast.net

This film is, at times, difficult to watch.
Producer/director Michael Verhoeven employs the use of graphic images of atrocities that make one squirm or want to turn away.
It is this liberal use of disaster pornography that drives home the idea of how Jews were treated by the Nazis in World War II.
The central question of the movie is this: to what degree were the common German soldiers culpable in the genocide?
Verhoeven, while apparently on the side of historians who say they were at least as guilty as their superiors, allows time for those who claim they were innocent.
A fact brought up by one of the historians is that there were little or no ramifications for those who refused to participate in mass killings.
But Verhoeven never gets a definite answer which makes this film compelling.
Is it possible that the average German soldier, perhaps a model citizen and family man, was capable of committing such crimes against humanity?

"The Unknown Soldier" starts off with interviews of people attending an exhibit in Munich in 1997 that set out to show the culpability of those in the lower ranks as well as the higher-ups.
Verhoeven takes the time to listen to all sides and allows his subjects to speak with passion.
The result: a cross-section of modern German thought about the role of German soldiers, from those who believe in their total innocence to those ashamed for taking part in the brutality.
Viewers beware: unrated, this film shows shocking images of cruelty.
"The Unknown Soldier" is available on DVD.

Murphy can be reached at lojano@comcast.net

This documentary is brutal.
It depicts the torture that took place in places like Bagram, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by US forces.
It starts with telling the story of an Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar who was mistaken for a terrorist and who died from the severe beating he took while in custody.

The now-famous photos of prisoners being humiliated, tortured and terrified are also shown.
This film pulls no punches and the scenes it shows are more than disturbing , they are shocking.
Interviews with some of the torturers (some of whom faced disciplinary action) is interspersed with clips of US Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
It shows that the torture of suspected terrorists was permitted with a wink and a nod from higher ups.
"Taxi to the Dark Side" also reveals that a small number of those captured were actually caught by US forces. Many of them have been turned over to the US by locals, which is reminiscent of the McCarthy era in the US where people named names in order to ruin others.
The film also shows the different methods of torture employed.

Director Alex Gibney reveals a death certificate from a doctor who ruled the death of a detainee as a homicide. He shows how normally decent people can become evil if given the green light.
For those who believe the US does not torture, think again.
"Taxi to the Dark Side" is now available on DVD.

Murphy can be reached at: lojano@comcast.net

This film, which tracks the journey of revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara through South America, is a subtle examination of revelation.
The story begins in 1952 when Guevara and a friend set off on a beaten up motorcycle to see the continent.
The pair leave from their native Buenos Aires, Argentina and set a course for Venezuela.

They experience some adventures and many hard times along the way.
They make a good pair, like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, and are able to charm their way into getting food and lodging.
A long stretch of the film deals with Guevara and his friend staying at a leper colony in Peru. They are welcomed because of their medical background.
The scenery in the movie is breathtaking, especially Machu Picchu in Peru.
The movie does a wonderful job of showing the poverty and injustice, especially in the Andean countries, faced by native Americans and mestizos.
The viewer sees Guevara's reaction as it slowly dawns on him that there is much suffering in the world. He slowly becomes radicalized or more sensitive (depending on your viewpoint) and follows his conscience.

"The Motorcycle Diaries" shows a young Guevara seven years before the Cuban revolution, which made him famous. It also reveals the honest, stubborn and compassionate man that he was.
It is a testament to the skill of director Walter Salles who does a fantastic job of showing how seeing the world can change a person's world view.
"The Motorcycle Diaries" is available on DVD.

Sean can be reached at: lojano@comcast.net