“Birds Of Passage”– Movie Review

This week at The Film Society Of Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of the new Colombian drama, “Birds Of Passage” (aka “Pájaros de verano”).

Synopsis

When the drug wars in Colombia heat up in the 1970’s, an entrepreneurial man seeks his fortune in this business – but will his ambition be his undoing?

Story

In the late 1960’s, Raphayet (José Acosta) sees a world around him where easy money can be made by selling marijuana – especially to Americans, who seem to have an extraordinary amount of disposable income.  To this end, he visits an old acquaintance, Aníbal (Juan Bautista Martínez), who is known to grow a huge crop of weed; he offers to help him distribute the product so that they can both earn a substantial living.  They eventually come to a mutually acceptable arrangement; Raphayet agrees to buy from Aníbal a certain amount of the crop regularly, which he will in turn sell for profit. 

Over time, however, Raphayet finds that other people are making his business difficult to run and are going out of their way to create problems for him.  One such person is his old friend Moisés (Jhon Narváez), whom Raphayet hired to assist him in his business.  Unfortunately, it turns out that Moisés is out of control and becomes too much of a risk.  When Aníbal threatens to terminate his business dealings with Raphayet because of Moisés’ behavior, Raphayet is forced to eliminate the problem.  However, since he took his time dealing with the situation, Raphayet has damaged his relationship with Aníbal. 

After renegotiating their business deal in a way that is more favorable to Anibal, he and Raphayet continue their arrangement, although it is considerably more uneasy by this time.  Across the years, Raphayet attains an unimaginable level of success and his family wants for nothing.  But Leonídas (Greider Meza), an in-law who becomes part of his crew, grows into being another headache, just like Moisés was; this time, however, he disrespects Aníbal’s daughter.  By now, Aníbal loses faith in Raphayet’s ability to manage his people.  Can this be repaired or will the two be destined for war?     

Review

If you like the Netflix show “Narcos”, or the movie “Scarface” (the Al Pacino version) or even just the El Chapo trial, then you might enjoy “Birds Of Passage”.  There is plenty of action and violence for those who find that kind of thing entertaining. Having said that, however, it’s a bit slowly paced in parts, especially in the beginning; eventually, it picks up.  While it never gets to a point of being fast-paced, it definitely has more of a feel of forward momentum. Unfortunately, the slow pace early on could cause some folks to bail out of the story and make it hard – if not impossible – to get them back. 

Based on true incidents from the 1960’s to the 1980’s in Colombia, “Birds of Passage” is certainly an ambitious undertaking.  While it is an interesting concept, it’s something of a challenge for the audience to root for any of the major characters since they are all directly or indirectly involved in the illegal activity of drug dealing.  True, in this case it’s only marijuana, but still, it was considered an illegal activity at the time. There are different, nuanced levels of villainy here, so whom you root for (if anyone) may be up for grabs. None of the characters are truly innocent; everyone has dirty hands.

Curiously, this level of complexity makes the story even more interesting.  In this immoral world, morality is relative. What might be considered immoral in decent society may be thought of as acceptable in this framework.  There is also the matter of different tribal customs and what is considered “honorable”. Who is murdered or stolen from may be quite tolerable, depending on whom the victim was or the circumstances in which the deed took place.  If you are unfamiliar with these societies, the concept may be hard to grasp – but on the upside, “Birds Of Paradise” certainly takes the viewer into an entirely unfamiliar world.