The violence that roiled Colombia for well over half a century—fueled by the drug trade as well as political conflict, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people—has understandably left deep scars on the population, which was further reflected in the unexpected failure of a referendum to ratify a peace agreement between the government and FARC (people’s army guerillas) in 2016. Filmmaker Manuel Correa’s documentary look at Colombia’s attempts to overcome the legacy of war, focusing on efforts to effect reconciliation by treating all those who have been touched by the violence—both victims and perpetrators—as survivors deserving of a degree of sympathy as well as medical treatment. Much of the film is devoted to specialists in various fields, including historians, who argue against an absolutist reading of the past, which—they assert—would not accurately reflect the varying perspectives of different people. Ex-soldiers, for example, say they were mere pawns in the control of corrupt politicians, so not really responsible for the horrors, while victims and family members visit prisons to offer forgiveness to inmates, and psychologists offer treatment for PTSD to both. Correa does not endorse these relativistic methods of trying to restore a semblance of national unity in Colombia; rather, his film seems designed to prompt debate about whether justice is being sacrificed to a dream of sociopolitical harmony. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
The Shape of Now
(2018) 72 min. In Spanish w/English subtitles. DVD: $24.95. IndiePix (avail. from most distributors). Volume 34, Issue 4
The Shape of Now
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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