Birds of Passage (2018)
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Birds of Passage Movie Review
Birds of Passage is a 2018 Colombian epic crime film directed by Ciro Guerra and starring Carmina Martinez. It’s one of the best crime films I’ve seen in quite a while.
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“He killed the messenger“
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The film chronicles one Wayuu family during the 60s and 70s through their rise and fall. First and foremost, by featuring these Native American people, the film instantly became very authentic and even fascinating. It never glorifies them nor does it portray them negatively, but as human beings with flaws and strengths which was great. And simply the attention to detail is remarkable and I feel that I genuinely know the Wayuu people now and all of their major ways.
Yes, this movie is reminiscent to the films like ‘The Godfather’ in its portrayal of families, but it’s so much better than that overrated bore as it’s firstly much more engaging and secondly much more impactful emotionally speaking. The film very realistically showcased the rise to power through illegal drug trade and specifically the feuding between two families and how it can grow to the extremes very quickly. It’s a sophisticated and highly grounded in reality film.
Carmina Martinez as Ursula is an absolute revelation. She killed it in this great role and was consistently believable and stealing the show in every single of her scenes, thus leading to one of the finest female performances of 2018. Ursula is an amazing character and witnessing such a powerful woman was wonderful as she was the master behind the scenes for sure. The film gives such a strong portrayal of matriarchy and the importance of it.
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Rapayet is also great and I really loved how at first he was the protagonist, but then Ursula became the most important character for the remainder of the film. That was a terrific, atypical choice that paid off. He’s very memorable and Jose Acosta was so good in the role. I found all of the other members of both families respectable too and in particular the group family dynamic was portrayed stupendously in this flick.
Birds of Passage has its pacing issues as it’s much slower at first, but I loved the beginning nonetheless as it remarkably well showcased the minute details of the Wayuu people and I came to care for them individually which was important for its devastating second half.
The film is weird in a way that it feels longer than it is, but not because it’s boring as it’s certainly not, but because it’s so epic in its quality and spanning decades that it felt like a genuine epic of two feuding families with a spectacular feel to it. The tone is great, the direction is very good and I found the score absolutely terrific, very fitting to its imagery and also with an epic quality to it.
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Birds of Passage fittingly also has many birds in it and I found their role in the story as some sort of sign wonderful and the same goes for that glorious grasshopper. Colombia is a highly biodiverse country and here it was showcased beautifully thanks to a great incorporation of the animals in the story itself and absolutely terrific cinematography with many inspired shots and takes. I did find the story somewhat standard in some beats, but the authenticity in its setting and characters elevated the material as did the decision to not show the violence on-screen.
Birds of Passage is an epic crime saga that differentiates itself from other genre films thanks to its high authenticity factor in its setting and characters. The cinematography and score are superb, the performances and characters are excellent and the attention to detail and incorporation of animal symbolism is striking. It’s one of the best films of the year and also one of the greatest crime films that I have ever seen.
