What separates Sin Nombre from other films is the same quality that prevents the film from becoming great: the use of symbolism. The film is replete with metaphors. Twin storylines which become intertwined when Hondurans attempting to illegally immigrate to the United States become entangled with members of a Mexican crime family. The refugees travel by train through Mexico, surreptiously dodging deportation by the border police as they move northwards. Some Mexicans welcome them and provide assistance, tossing fruits to the migrants; others curse them and throw stones. A family – a father, his brother, and his daughter – strive …
Gomorrah
This Italian film with English subtitles relies on the contrast between innocent youth and the guilty actions of the members of the Camorra crime syndicate in the region of Campania to make its dramatic point. The insidious organization, supposedly larger than the Cosa Nostra, recruits young people to fill its ranks, which deplete rapidly due to an enormous number of homicides. Two teenaged friends realize that they must become mortal enemies because one of them joined a separatist faction. Two dim-witted young men go from playing Scarface to stealing weapons. A grocery delivery boy uses his position to trick a …
Freakonomics
Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt interesting book for the guy who likes to generate “controversial” discussions at parties. So sumo wrestlers cheat, drug dealers live with their parents, and real estate agents receive a higher closing price when they sell a house that they own themselves. OK. Steven Levitt delivers his arguments in a light, easy to read, slightly esoteric format. The economics are sound. Basically the pretence is that every individual is interested in maximising their utility. OK. The most contentious chapter concerns Levitt’s belief that the decline of the crime rate in the late 1990s was caused by …
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