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

Director:

Barbet Schroeder

Writers:

Fernando Vallejo (novel)
Fernando Vallejo (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The tempestuous love story between Fernando, an older man who has recently returned to his crime-ridden drug capitol hometown of Medellin...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Medellin Colombia | Drugs | Love | Viper's Nest

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

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
Wilson Lopez	...	Taxi Driver Sabaneta 2
Alexander Molina	...	Alexis's Brother
Aníbal Moncada	...	Don Anibal
Jaime Osorio Gómez	...	Forensic Pathologist (as Jaime Osorio)
Carlos Ordóñez	...	Old gay man
Teyler Pérez	...	4x4 Youth
Edwin Porras	...	Bad Guy #1
Gustavo Restrepo	...	La Plaga (The Pest)
John Mario Restrepo	...	Bad Guy #2
Juan Tejada	...	Alexis's Brother
Carlos A. Danita	...	Parcero (Partner)
Nicolas Franco	...	Hired Assassin
Héctor Galan	...	Tango Singer
Rubí Henao	...	Beggar
John Jaramillo	...	Child Beggar
Juan Fdo. León	...	Hired Assassin
Carlos Zapata	...	Motel Receptionist
Serafín Zapata	...	Clown
Martha Libia Zuluaga	...	Dead Punk Witness
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
César Gaviria	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Barbet Schroeder	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Barbet Schroeder

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Fernando Vallejo		novel "La virgen de los sicarios"
Fernando Vallejo		screenplay

Produced by
Margaret Ménégoz	....	producer
Jaime Osorio Gómez	....	co-producer (as Jaime Osorio)
Barbet Schroeder	....	producer

Original Music by
Jorge Arriagada

Cinematography by
Rodrigo Lalinde

Film Editing by
Elsa Vásquez

Casting by
Margarita Flórez
Marlin Franco
Ana Isabel Velásquez

Production Design by
Mónica Marulanda

Set Decoration by
Mónica Marulanda

Costume Design by
Mónica Marulanda

Makeup Department
Mónica Arcila	....	assistant makeup artist
Flore Marina Sandoval	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Federico Durán	....	production manager
Adriana González	....	assistant production manager
Peter McEvoy	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jaime Escallón	....	fourth assistant director
Hervé Ruet	....	assistant director
Jorge Valencia	....	assistant director
Freddy Vélez	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jesús Orlando Peña	....	props

Sound Department
Edwin Angulo	....	sound assistant
Fanchon Brulé	....	dialogue editor
Jean Goudier	....	sound editor
Dominique Hennequin	....	sound mixer
Jean-Paul Hurier	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jean-Pierre Lelong	....	sound effects editor
Mario Melchiorri	....	sound effects editor (as Mario Melchiori)
César Salazar	....	sound
Jean-Alexandre Villemer	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Miguel Ángel Guzmán	....	special effects
Libar Neira	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Thomas Duval	....	visual effects supervisor
Xavier Fourmond	....	digital compositor
Olivier Poujaud	....	digital compositor
Antoine Simkine	....	visual effects executive producer: Duboi

Stunts
Juan Carlos García	....	stunts
Germán González	....	stunts
Ernesto Jiménez	....	stunts
Frank Marín	....	stunts
Mauricio Puentes	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Óscar Bernal	....	camera operator
Olmedo Cardozo	....	assistant camera
Eduardo Carvajal	....	still photographer
Elkin Díaz	....	assistant camera
Frank Alejandro Franco	....	electrician
Armando García	....	gaffer
Sergio Gazzera	....	Steadicam operator
Jean-Yves Le Poulain	....	camera operator
Miguel Ángel López	....	assistant camera
Edi Sanchez	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
María Inés Abad	....	costumer
Mercedes Calcedo	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Carlos Bernal	....	assistant editor
Erick Morris	....	assistant editor
Mélanie Mourey	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Olivia Saenz	....	music supervisor

Other crew
José Vicente Coronado	....	production administrator
Nathalie Nghet	....	production administrator
Lina Rengifo	....	production assistant
Luz Marina Restrepo	....	production assistant
Jairo Valencia	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Canal+
• Les Films du Losange
• Proyecto Tucan
• Tornasol Films
• Vértigo Films

Distributors

• BIM Distribuzione (Italy)
• Les Films du Losange
• Momentum Pictures (2000) (UK) (all media)
• Odeon (Greece)
• Paramount Classics (2001) (USA) (subtitled)
• Primer Plano Film Group (Argentina)
• Vértigo Films (Spain)

Other Companies

• Fletcher Chicago  camera equipment provided by
• Golpe de Gracia  stunt and fight coordination

Also Known As:

"La virgen de los sicarios" - Spain (original title)

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Spain | France | Colombia

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | France:-12 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | Australia:MA (cable rating)

Filming Locations:

Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia

Company:

Canal+

Quotes:

Fernando:Everyone's rotten. The world is run by crooks. Look at our despicable President: "A decision that will benefit all Colombians!" Ha.
Alexis:If you want, I'll shoot him. I mean it.
Fernando:That's just a waste of bullets.

Soundtrack:

El Campeon

9/10

This is one of those movies that you're wary about, because the criticisms are so obvious. Yet I think this is something close to a minor masterpiece. This is quite rich material -- very literary, in a way -- and the invoking of Catholicism (and, for me, Genet) through the title is apt, for the way it delves into accepted perversions. At first I was wondering what the much-discussed shocking aspect of the film was, thinking perhaps it was the (would-be) sensuousness of this Latin boy-lover (the shared drink is not something you'd get in common fare), but it seems like it's more the violence that people react (or object) to. While it didn't upset me, I think the violence is interesting in two ways: one, the digital video makes the dispassionate killings have little impact, because it makes the film seem somewhat amateurish (with aid of the acting), like a genre film made on a shoestring budget; and two, the film as a whole is anti-dramatic -- for instance, when the revelation occurs, in a dramatized film it would be devastating: the truth of your lover revealed, and the swirl of emotions it creates; here, nothing -- so there is no cathartic violence (as in "The Godfather," for example), and it isn't lush. But it isn't brutal, either -- you don't get your nose rubbed in it, and I cherished that generosity to the audience.

The digital also helps keep the film grounded -- the only really attention-grabbing aspects of the film, as cinema, are the opening and closing framing of very beautiful music, and one nice over-the-wall camera move. It's like a cleverer "Man Bites Dog," in the sense that this *doesn't* draw attention to itself, that there is no winking or overt displays of cleverness. The film as a whole is subtle (at one point it feels like magic realism, even though we are told, I guess, that it's not), even though individual scenes are not (that the euthanizing of the dog is the only killing that has feeling is very heavy-handed). It's also incredibly easy to watch, and I think that must be due in part because the digital -- clear, crisp, and clean, with a smooth lucidity -- helps you seep into the film quicker, without any fuss. Indeed, without any film atmosphere at all. 9/10