Our Lady of the Assassins (2000)
"La virgen de los sicarios" (original title)

The tempestuous love story between Fernando, an older man who has recently returned to his crime-ridden drug capitol hometown of Medellin, Colombia and the gun-happy 16-year-old assassin ... See full summary »

Director:

Barbet Schroeder

Writers:

Fernando Vallejo (novel), Fernando Vallejo (screenplay)

Stars:

Germán Jaramillo, Anderson Ballesteros, Juan David Restrepo

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Germán Jaramillo	...	Fernando
Anderson Ballesteros	...	Alexis
Juan David Restrepo	...	Wilmar
Manuel Busquets	...	Alfonso
Wilmar Agudelo	...	Child Sniffing Glue
Juan Carlos Álvarez	...	4x4 Thief
Jairo Alzate	...	Taxi Driver Santa Domingo
Zulma Arango	...	Waitress
José Luis Bedoya	...	Taxi Sabaneta 1
Cenobia Cano	...	Alexis's Mother
Eduardo Carvajal	...	Taxi Driver Clinic
Olga Lucía Collazos	...	Pregnant Woman
Jorge A. Correa	...	Dead Man
Phanor Delgado	...	Taxi Driver with Machete
Albeiro Lopera	...	Punk

Storyline

The tempestuous love story between Fernando, an older man who has recently returned to his crime-ridden drug capitol hometown of Medellin, Colombia and the gun-happy 16-year-old assassin Alexis, who murders all too easily. When Alexis himself is fatally gunned down, grief-stricken Fernando hunts for his young lover's killer in the Medellin slums, but instead encounters Wilmar, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Alexis.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | medellin colombia | drugs | love | viper's nest | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language, sexuality and drug content

Details

Country:

Spain France Colombia

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

20 September 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

Our Lady of the Assassins

Filming Locations:

Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$56,069 (USA) (7 September 2001)

Gross:

$525,029 (USA) (19 April 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Les Films du Losange, Proyecto Tucan

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Fernando: Glory is a statue that gets shit on by birds.

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Soundtracks

"Ilustre"
Written by La Pestilencia
Performed by La Pestilencia

User Reviews

Forcing the audience to question the value of life

Our Lady Of Assassins showed at the Brisbane International Film Festival. It left me initially distraught and other members of the audience obviously felt the same. After a bit of thought, I realised that it was indeed a powerful and beautifully created way of presenting the desperate nature of life in Medellin. The main character, who was born and raised in the town, remembers how potentially violent it was even 40 years earlier, yet seems to be shocked by how much it has decayed. It is strange that he is also quite complicit in inciting violence, while seeming to be just looking for love.

The film forces the audience to question the day to day value of life and just how much violence we can allow ourselves to tolerate. But in Medellin the solution is certainly not in the hands of just one person.

A great trio of films showing the broad story of the cocaine phenomena would be "Our Lady Of Assassins", Ted Demme's "Blow" and "Traffic".