Review – Operation E

[The Spanish Film Festival is showing around Australia, check out the website for local times. Operation E is showing in Adelaide on Saturday 15th June and Friday 21st June.]

Operation E (Operación E) tells the true story of a family caught between government and guerrilla forces in modern day Columbia, focusing on the plight of individuals displaced by the conflict. Luis Tosar plays José Crisanto, a coca farmer trying to scrape a living for his family in the guerrilla-occupied jungle, whom the local forces charge with the care of an unknown infant. This forces his family into conflict as it must negotiate the demands of the militant leadership against the interference of the government’s unsympathetic social services.

It’s a touching story. José’s motivation is only to care for his family, even as doing so puts them into further hardship, and the strength of the film lies in the sincere connection to the family it creates. This is largely due to some very solid performances and the factual nature of the screenplay, which only heightens the emotion. There is a strong desire for the family’s well being as they face ever increasing hardship at the hands of unsympathetic and often brutal authorities.

The filmmaker Miguel Courtois achieves much with what would be a very small budget, which only limits a few scenes in their scope. The film provides a wonderful snap shot into many different parts of Columbian life, contrasting the hardships of the jungle with the various forms of city life.

The screenplay suffers from the usually drawbacks that can be expected from a film that is based on a true story. In order to fit in all the important events, the plot tends to meander somewhat for lack of a solid structure. But the pacing does pick up toward the end as the family’s actions bloom into something that has the potential to change the direction of the country. In the aim of carrying the message of the film, the family can come across as a little too sympathetic, and the authorities too harsh. You also get the feeling that the filmmakers were trying to drum up the suspense, at times unsuccessfully, but what issues the film does have can largely be forgiven for what was an amazing and often surprising true story.

Ultimately, it is at its heart a very human story focussing on family, and how it is the small people who often move the cogs of great change, and how unforgiving that machinery is to those who get caught up in it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tJssXGtjCz8&w=400]