Sicario Film 2015

[Octavis Uberstine]

Sicariois a 2015 American action thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve, written by Taylor Sheridan and starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin. The film follows a principled FBI special agent who is enlisted by a government task force to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal Mexican drug cartel. Sicario was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It began a limited release in the United States on September 18, 2015, followed by a nationwide release on October 2, 2015.

Sicario received praise for its cast performances, action sequences, writing, direction, musical score and cinematography. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Editing at the 88th Academy Awards. It also earned BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Music.[4][5] Its sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, directed by Stefano Sollima, was released on June 29, 2018. A third film, titled Sicario: Capos, is in development.

In Chandler, Arizona, FBI Special Agents Kate Macer and Reggie Wayne lead a raid on a Sonora Cartel safe house, where they discover dozens of decaying corpses hidden in the walls. Outside, an explosive booby trap kills two police officers. Following the raid, Kate is recommended for and joins a Joint Task Force overseen by CIA Officer Matt Graver and the secretive Alejandro Gillick, a Colombian ex-prosecutor turned CIA-trained assassin. Their mission is to flush out and apprehend Sonora lieutenant Manuel Daz, currently operating and hiding in the United States.

The task force raids a bank used to launder Daz's money. After finding financial evidence, Kate and Reggie want to start a legal case against Daz but are ordered to stand down to avoid jeopardizing the operation. At a bar, Reggie introduces Kate to Ted, a Phoenix Police officer. Kate and Ted become intimate at her apartment, but she realizes Ted is working with the cartel. In the ensuing struggle, Ted begins to strangle Kate before Alejandro appears and subdues him. Alejandro and Matt brutally beat Ted to coerce him into revealing the names of other officers working for Daz.

After the team learns that Daz has been recalled to Mexico, they prepare to raid the tunnel near Nogales. Matt reveals to Kate and Reggie that their involvement is a technical necessity as the CIA is not allowed to operate alone within US borders. An angered Reggie tells Kate they should leave, but she insists on staying to learn about the mission's true purpose. As a gunfight with the cartel begins, Kate follows Alejandro into Mexico. She sees him abduct Silvio, a corrupt Sonora police officer working as one of Daz's drug mules. Kate attempts to arrest Alejandro, but he shoots her twice in her Kevlar vest to subdue her, angrily telling her to never point a gun at him again, before driving away with Silvio at gunpoint. On the U.S. side of the border, Kate confronts Matt, who explains the mission is part of a broader operation to revert the various drug cartels back to a single Colombian-run business that the U.S. can more easily control and work with. Alejandro, who previously worked for the Medelln Cartel, was hired to assassinate Alarcn, the man responsible for ordering the murder of Alejandro's wife and daughter when he was a prosecutor in Jurez. Alejandro kills Silvio after he stops Daz's vehicle and forces Daz to drive to Alarcn's estate. On arrival, he quickly kills Daz and Alarcn's guards; finding the family seated to dinner, he vengefully kills Alarcn's wife and two sons first, and then kills Alarcn.

The next day, Alejandro appears in Kate's apartment and forces her at gunpoint to sign a statement attesting that the entire operation was legal. As he leaves, she aims her pistol at him and Alejandro turns to face her, but she cannot bring herself to pull the trigger. In Nogales, Silvio's widow watches her son's soccer game, which is briefly interrupted by the sound of distant gang machine-guns.

In December 2013, it was announced that Denis Villeneuve would direct a Mexican border drama, Sicario, from a screenplay by Taylor Sheridan.[6] It is the first installment in Sheridan's neo-western trilogy exploring crime on "the modern-day American frontier".[7] Black Label Media financed and co-produced with Thunder Road Pictures.[8] Basil Iwanyk produced the film along with Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, and Thad Luckinbill.[8]

Emily Blunt became involved with the film in April 2014,[9][10] shortly followed by Benicio del Toro.[10] Jon Bernthal and Josh Brolin joined the film in May, and cinematographer Roger Deakins was also hired.[11][12][13] Daniel Kaluuya, Maximiliano Hernndez, and Jeffrey Donovan were then cast,[14][15][16] and Jhann Jhannsson was hired to compose the film's musical score in August 2014.[17]

Jhann Jhannsson was selected to write and compose the score for the film, making Sicario his second collaboration with director Denis Villeneuve after having worked together on Prisoners which was released in 2013.[21]

In May 2014, Lionsgate acquired the U.S. rights to the film, while Lionsgate International handled the foreign sales[22] with Disney's Buena Vista International distributing the movie in Russia as the first film in an output deal with Lionsgate.[23] On February 23, 2015, Lionsgate set the film for a limited release in the United States on September 18, 2015, and a wide release on October 2, 2015.[24] The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2015.[25][26] It was then selected to be shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2015.[27][28]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised the acting of Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin. He stated that although her character Kate Macer was implausible, Emily Blunt "brazens out any possible absurdity with great acting focus and front".[37] Chris Ryan of Grantland compared Sicario with the 1979 film Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola, noting an analogy between the former's themes with respect to the Mexican Drug War and the latter's with respect to the Vietnam War. He also stated that the characters Alejandro Gillick and Matt Graver in Sicario resemble those of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz and Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore, respectively, from Apocalypse Now.[38]

Mark Kermode said, "What makes this work is that Emily Blunt is terrific, and Benicio del Toro has this eye-catching appearance as a riddle and an enigma... and that the film is very, very well directed."[39]

Before the film's release, the mayor of Ciudad Jurez, Enrique Serrano Escobar, urged citizens to boycott it,[4] believing the film presented a false and negative image of the city. He said the violence depicted in the film was accurate until about 2010, and that the city had since made progress in restoring peace.[5]

Director Denis Villeneuve said the film was indeed conceived at the height of the violence in Jurez in 2010.[4] According to Sebastian Rotella, an American foreign correspondent and investigative journalist, Sicario examines many aspects of the U.S. war on drugs against, most generally, drug cartels in Mexico, Central, and South America.[41] He noted that the illegal drug trafficking situation in Mexico has remained largely stagnant in the two decades prior to the film's release and that the film asserts that the American War on Drugs is "turning us into the very monsters we are trying to defeat."[41] Rotella asserted that progress has been made in Mexico, and expressed qualms over the depiction of the film's extralegal "black ops campaign", relative to his experience that most U.S. operations resulted in the legal arrest and prosecution of drug lords.[41]

Lionsgate commissioned a sequel centering on del Toro's character, subtitled Soldado.[42] The project was overseen by writer Taylor Sheridan.[43] In April 2016, producers Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill said del Toro and Brolin would return.[44] In June 2016, Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima was hired to direct, with Villeneuve no longer available due to scheduling conflicts.[42][45] Principal photography began on November 8, 2016 in New Mexico.[46] Sicario: Day of the Soldado was released in the United States on June 29, 2018 to generally positive reviews.[47]

The third film, titled Sicario: Capos, was announced prior to release of the second film,[48] and in February 2021, producer Molly Smith said it was still in development.[49] GQ magazine renewed rumours of the start of casting and storyline development in 2023 and there has been speculation again in 2024.[50]

Ultimately, the feeling coming out of Sicario is empty. Yes, it is expertly filmed and acted. Along the way, audiences are treated to solid performances, including by supporting actors, Daniel Kaluuya, Maximiliano Hernndez, Jeffrey Donovan, and Jon Bernthal. Director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins capture the beauty and desolation of the natural landscape that stands in sharp contrast to the bustling cities and towns along the border.

The craftsmanship, however, does not negate the sense that the journey audiences follow through these arid scenes may simply lead to a dead end. The film does little to challenge stereotypes about this region; in fact, it steeps itself in violence, not as means to educate viewers, but rather to set the scene for the next bloody action sequence. Given the politics of perception around the U.S.-Mexico border, Sicario is counterproductive. The film does not adequately address the question it implicitly poses to the audience: how, if ever, can a resolution be reached to the social problems that affect the border when only violence begets violence?

Nice review Mike! I just got around to viewing this film as well and agree with your assessment of the film. The film reminded me of a John Wayne-styled western. Agreed, the cinematography is at times arresting, but the lack of context and immorality surrounding the contemporary US-Mex Drug War and US drug policy is virtually nonexistent. Only in fleeting moments is US culpability even suggested.

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