One of my stated goals at the outset of this project was to watch recent(ish) films (preferably within the last decade or so.) I didn’t want to turn this into a “world cinema’s greatest hits” as that would be easy, predictable and not enlightening for myself or anyone else. On the other hand, I didn’t just want to dig up a bunch of unwatchable crap simply because it was obscure or unknown. As I chronicle my film watching with this blog, I’m hoping readers will find something they wouldn’t have otherwise. I have to give a tip of the hat to a blog I stumbled across that’s simply called Foreign Films. It’s been a great resource for me and has helped steer this project greatly in its early stages. It was on that website that I found out about Miss Bala.
Miss Bala, is the story of Laura, the daughter of a clothing merchant who decides to enter her state’s beauty contest in hopes of winning in order to better her life and her family’s in the process. She’s somewhat flippant about the whole endeavor though and doesn’t come across as an obsessive, entitled beauty pageant contestant. Her natural beauty, indifference and happy-go-lucky attitude towards the pageant make her instantly likeable and sympathetic.
After getting accepted into the pageant, she meets her friend in a nightclub later that evening and this is when all hell breaks loose. A cartel invades the club and kills several people (including federal agents.) Laura was hiding in the bathroom, but they notice her as they’re escaping from the rapidly approaching police. Her witnessing this incident is ultimately what gets her sucked into helping them in some of their endeavors (against her will it must be added.) She’s put between the proverbial rock and a hard place in that she’s breaking the law if she participates, but she’s been told her brother and father will be killed if she doesn’t. Reluctantly, she goes along with it to protect her family. If the premise sounds far-fetched, it isn’t. The film is loosely based on a 2008 story where a pageant queen was arrested with members of a cartel.
It’s a powerful film with some brutal violence, but definitely worth watching. Stephanie Sigman is incredible as Laura and I will be checking out her other projects in the future.
TRAILER: Miss Bala
This film had so many great movie posters that I wanted to include a few more beside the image at the top of the post:
Cinema of the World 