As the experience of watching this movie passed by, I found myself in a difficult place about my feelings.
As a Colombian, I usually would usually feel scared or even repulsed if I encountered someone like our protagonists walking on the streets. "Neas", "indigentes"; the kind of people my mother would tell me to run away from if I ever saw them. I would feel disgusted by their way of speaking, their ignorance, the words they use, their violent, mindless behaviour.
Nonetheless, only a heartless monster wouldn't feel compelled by the journey our protagonists face in this movie.
What most impacts me about Colombian cinema is that it shows me a reality I'm trying to scape, a reality I totally hate seeing.
But I can't, and I shouldn't. There are people, right now and right here in my city. God, it's so important, so difficult and painful to face this reality and realise the people I despise are beings even more human than I'll ever be, with worries more tragic than mine and feelings even deeper than my own.
This is what art is about: not about escaping our reality, but about seeing the beauty in it.
