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Blood of the Condor Movie Review

Blood of the Condor is a 1969 Bolivian drama film directed by Jorge Sanjines and starring Marcelino Yanahuaya. It’s a propaganda film, but one holding great power.

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“They say that they are only sterilizing women that have a lot of children“

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The film tells the story of an indigenous Bolivian community receiving medical care from the Peace Corps-like United States-backed agency, which is secretly sterilizing local women. It follows the community rebelling against their tormenters. Bolivia doesn’t have the strongest cinema out there, but they can be proud of having this film, which is one of the best and most important anti-American films ever made.

Yes, a film that single-handedly led to the expulsion of the Peace Corps from the country, Blood of the Condor clearly belongs to Third Cinema, a movement that intended to provoke instead of entertain audiences. It clearly succeeded in doing that, which is a testament to its storytelling power. Watching it, I got angry myself as Jorge Sanjines managed to imbue the film with a lot of urgency, immediacy and a call for action that felt very much necessary instead of manipulative.

There is a lot of contention regarding the film’s historical accuracy, in particular in regards to the forced sterilization accusation. But I would contend that given the US’s horrendous foreign policy track record and even the atrocious medical practices performed in their own country (they once gave STDs to black people as a test), it is not too difficult to believe that they would commit such a heinous act.

The film fully works because it depicts their imperialist, racist attitudes highly realistically. This is how the majority of Westerners would act when they would visit any lesser developed country in the Southern Hemisphere, so this constitutes truthful instead of hateful propaganda. That urgent tone and palpable dread and desperation among the villagers was perfectly achieved and it led to such a difficult watch.

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Blood of the Condor is also very well shot in stark black-and-white photography, containing some great angles and compositions. The score, sound and acting performances are strong too. I wished for a longer runtime and stronger character development, though the dialogue is great and so is the film’s very powerful final scene.