narco hitman movie review

Narco Hitman

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David S. Hogan (Carson Empman) Angela DiMarco (Clarissa) D'Angelo Midili (Lance) Darlene Sellers (Alice) DeRon Brigdon (Anton) Richard Carmen (Sergio) Rosalie Miller (Margaret) Tim Forehand (Mayor Amante) Jasmine Wright (Server) Andy Ryan Johnson (Willem)

Joey Johnson

A contract killer takes vengeance against a ruthless drug cartel, resulting in a mysterious puzzle that a small town sheriff must solve in order to stop untold horrors.

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Film Review: NARCO HITMAN (2016)

NARCO HITMAN *** U.S.A. 2016 Dir: Joey Johnson 87 mins

Carson Empman (David S. Hogan) is one of the most successful hitmen around who works for a big drug cartel. He is simply known as ‘The Ghost’ due to no one knowing what he really looks like. When he gets a call to join a group of other hitmen for a big payday, he reluctantly joins the group and ends up falling in love with Clarissa, the female on the team. Once the job is done he soon discovers that he has been betrayed and the woman he loves has been killed. Hiding out in a cabin in the woods he plots his revenge and will aim to take down the cartel whatever the cost. While all this is going on a local sheriff is trying to piece together the dark secrets of the mystery man found dead in the cabin. You would be forgiven in thinking that you are about to watch a poor mans JOHN WICK.  While there is a few similarities,  NARCO HITMAN is less about an ass kicking hitman and more about the journey of how he ended up wanting revenge on the cartel. It is well acted and the chemistry between the actors playing Carson Empman (David S. Hogan) and Clarissa (Angela DiMarco stands out. Even more so when you learn that they are dating each other in real life during the making of this film. There is an intriguing storyline with the sheriff piecing together Carson’s plan as the film unfolds, but you will have to watch the film yourself to find out how it all plays out. Don’t expect alot of bloody fights and bullets flying everywhere as this is more about the mystery of the hitman and his journey. If mystery thrillers are your thing then give this film a watch.

Review by Peter ‘ Witchfinder ‘ Hopkins

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2016 Directed by Joey Johnson

Your Worst Fears Realized

A contract killer takes vengeance against a ruthless drug cartel, resulting in a mysterious puzzle that a small town sheriff must solve in order to stop untold horrors.

David S. Hogan Darlene Sellers D'Angelo Midili Richard Carmen Angela DiMarco

Director Director

Joey Johnson

Writer Writer

Mighty Tripod Productions

Releases by Date

03 jun 2016, releases by country.

87 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Dan_Tebasco ★

Appearantly this film has changed name 3 times, when I watched it it was called Narco Hitman.

I watched the trailer and wasn't blown away by it but looked as if it could offer some decent enough action and I enjoy hitmen movies so I thought why not. But first impressions can be deceiving and a good editor can make a good trailer out of a bad movie with no problems as long as it has some redeemable qualities to it.

And that's the case here, this is a proper snooze-fest. There's barely any action to speak from and the cast is about as wooden as a classic rocking-chair.

Half the film consists of people talking on the phone with…

Review by Markella ★★½ 2

Who the FUCK changed the name and cover art for this film?

Paralytic had a bloody syringe slapped on the poster. It was titled Paralytic, a creepy ass name for a creepy kooky good time show.

If y'all were forced to change your title and cover art to this Inception bullshit by distributors then I'm so very sorry. Shame on them, this movie is fantastic and I hope this doesn't deter anyone from watching.

Review by Ken Rudolph ★½

Carson is a mysterious contract killer (played by David Hogan, dreadfully miscast) who gets involved with the evil Chutro drug cartel in some nefarious plot. It goes wrong; and the cartel boss wants to eliminate Carson. The now hunted killer hatches a plot involving a woman sheriff and a paralytic drug that the cartel manufactures, to avoid the torture and punishment the cartel has in store for him. That's the bare bones of the plot. But this turgid Washington state produced film-noir misfires on every cylinder. The thriller plot is ridiculously inane, the actors are almost all too young and wan to do authentic noir melodrama (only Darlene Sellers as the sheriff is even a smidgen convincing.) And for me,…

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Narco Hitman Reviews

• 1 hr 27 mins
• Watchlist Where to Watch

A sprawling drug cartel gets targeted by a hired killer looking for revenge. The imminent clash threatens to wreak havoc on a small town. Its sheriff must solve a mysterious puzzle if he is to save his town and prevent the unspeakable horrors that approach his home.

• Movie - Narco Hitman - 2016

Narco Hitman  (2016)  Paralytic

• Release Date: 11 May 2016 (US) (more)
• Genre: Thriller (more)

When a notorious contract killer is hired by a drug cartel, the job takes an unexpected turn when he makes a connection with one of the cartel's associates, Clarissa. Shortly thereafter, he learns ...Read more that they killed Clarissa, prompting to unleash hell on the cartel to avenge her.

• Joey Johnson (Director)
• Joey Johnson (Writer)
• David S. Hogan
• Angela DiMarco
• D'Angelo Midili
• Darlene Sellers
• DeRon Brigdon
• Richard Carmen

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• ‏Bnat Lahdid‏

• 2023 - Series - Cartoon

•   (Alice)
• Rosalie Miller
• Tim Forehand
• Jasmine Wright
• Andy Ryan Johnson
• Stefan Hayek

When a notorious contract killer is hired by a drug cartel, the job takes an unexpected turn when he makes a connection with one of the cartel's associates, Clarissa. Shortly ...Read more thereafter, he learns that they killed Clarissa, prompting to unleash hell on the cartel to avenge her.

• Release Date:
• US [ 11 May 2016 ]
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Narco Hitman

About this movie.

Watch Narco Hitman

• 1 hr 27 min
• 4.3   (247)

Narco Hitman is a 2016 action-thriller film, directed by Joey Johnson, starring David S. Hogan, Angela DiMarco, and D'Angelo Midili. The movie revolves around the dark world of drug trafficking and organized crime. The story follows a hitman named Martin Corona (David S. Hogan), who is hired by a drug lord to take out a rival gang. Martin is a ruthless killer, but he also has a conscience, and he starts to question his morals as he begins to see the real-life consequences of his actions. As he becomes more involved with the drug cartel, he begins to witness the harsh realities of the illegal drug trade, including the violence, corruption, and greed that come with it.

Martin initially started working as a hitman to provide for his family, but he soon realizes that there is no end to the violence and danger in this brutal world. His wife, Rosa (Angela DiMarco), is a schoolteacher who is unaware of her husband's profession. As Martin dives deeper into the criminal underworld, he risks not only his own life but also that of his family.

As Martin carries out a series of increasingly dangerous missions, he finds himself drawn to a young woman named Giselle (Montserrat Espadalé), who is an innocent victim of the drug cartel. Martin grows closer to Giselle as he tries to protect her from those who would harm her.

The movie features intense action scenes, shootouts, and car chases, as well as plenty of suspenseful moments that keep the audience on the edge of their seats. The film's gritty, realistic portrayal of the drug trade makes for a powerful viewing experience, as viewers get a glimpse into a world that is often hidden from public view.

The performances in Narco Hitman are strong, with David S. Hogan providing a standout performance as the conflicted hitman Martin. He effectively portrays the character's struggle with his conscience and his desire to protect his loved ones. Angela DiMarco is also excellent as Martin's wife Rosa, who provides a much-needed light in the midst of darkness.

Overall, Narco Hitman is a gripping and intense film that is not for the faint of heart. It offers a stark look at the world of drug trafficking and organized crime and is sure to leave a lasting impression on viewers.

Narco Hitman is a 2018 thriller with a runtime of 1 hour and 27 minutes. It has received mostly poor reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 4.3.

• Genres Thriller Mystery
• Cast David S. Hogan Angela DiMarco D'Angelo Midili
• Director Joey Johnson
• Release Date 2018
• MPAA Rating NR
• Runtime 1 hr 27 min
• Language English
• IMDB Rating 4.3   (247)

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Where to Watch

Rent Hitman on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Hitman features the unfortunate combination of excessive violence, incoherent plot, and inane dialogue.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Xavier Gens

Timothy Olyphant

Dougray Scott

Mike Whittier

Olga Kurylenko

Nika Boronina

Robert Knepper

Yuri Marklov

Ulrich Thomsen

Mikhail Belicoff

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Common sense media reviewers.

Violent, video game-based mayhem. Pass.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The hero is a cold, highly trained assassin; the d

As the title suggests, violence is essentially non

Bare breasts in several scenes, plus visible nippl

Several uses of "f--k," plus various oth

The movie is based on a popular video game. Coca-C

Several characters smoke cigarettes, one man smoke

Parents need to know that this movie is based on a violent video game about a professional assassin; not surprisingly, it includes lots of shooting, fighting, stabbing, falling, blood, and injured or dead bodies. Characters are ruthless and calculating, even the ones who are meant to be the "heroes." The…

Positive Messages

The hero is a cold, highly trained assassin; the damsel in distress is a prostitute; government agents are competitive, angry, and aggressive.

Violence & Scariness

As the title suggests, violence is essentially nonstop, featuring explosions, guns, vehicular collisions, blood, broken glass, flying bodies and limbs, and broken furniture and walls (especially in hotels). Lots of bodies and lots of blood. Some point-of-view shots emulate a first-person shooter game. Weapons include assorted guns (automatics, handguns, vehicle-mounted guns), knives, chains, and an elaborate contraption whereby a victim is tied up in a tub with a gun aimed at him. In flashbacks, children are trained to shoot, fight, and kill.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Bare breasts in several scenes, plus visible nipples underneath a blouse. A female character also shows cleavage and lots of leg and wears very short skirts. She straddles the hero on a bed, but he resists her efforts to seduce him. The villain is flanked by women in skimpy outfits, showing more cleavage and skin. Agent 47 appears in the shower (nothing explicit).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Several uses of "f--k," plus various other profanity, including "s--t," "hell," and "prick."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

The movie is based on a popular video game. Coca-Cola vending machine visible.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Several characters smoke cigarettes, one man smokes a cigar. Some drinking (liquor and wine) in homes and clubs, once from a flask by someone who's visibly drunk. Villain's cohort snorts cocaine off a tray.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this movie is based on a violent video game about a professional assassin; not surprisingly, it includes lots of shooting, fighting, stabbing, falling, blood, and injured or dead bodies. Characters are ruthless and calculating, even the ones who are meant to be the "heroes." The movie's damsel in distress is hyper-sexualized -- there are repeated shots of her breasts (sometimes naked), legs, back, and pouty mouth. Language includes several uses of "f--k," plus other profanity. Explicit cocaine snorting in one scene, plus cigarette smoking and drinking. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (4)
• Kids say (12)

Based on 4 parent reviews

Movies not for kids.

What's the story.

I'd thank you if I wasn't so mad at you. Poor Nika (Olga Kurylenko) is confused by Agent 47 ( Timothy Olyphant ), the titular hero of video game -based HITMAN. She has good reason: He's assigned to kill her, but then he decides to save her. Nika is surely in need of rescue. A barely dressed and heavily made-up prostitute, she's employed and abused by the current Russian president, Mikhail Belicoff (Ulrich Thomsen). Enter Agent 47. Trained from his childhood to be a professional killer by the odious "Organization," 47 suffers flashbacks suffused with hazy fluorescent light in which he and his fellow orphans look pale and worried as they learn to shoot and have bar-code tattoos buzzed into their scalps. As adults, the agents are good mercenaries, their exorbitant fees deposited directly into secret offshore accounts.

Is It Any Good?

Even as 47's interactions with Nika apparently change his routine, the secret agent, like the film and the video game, is all about the violence. Scene after scene (many rendered in slow motion and accompanied by "Ave Maria") shows him shooting, knifing, kicking, and fighting his opponents -- including the big bad Russians (Mikhail's brother is even more debauched) and very dedicated Interpol agent Mike Whittier ( Dougray Scott ). If Mike says it once, he says it four times: He's been chasing 47 for three years, "knows him better than anyone," and still can't keep up with 47's virtuoso scheming.

For all his choreography, 47 remains awkward, especially around Nika. This might have made him sympathetic, but the film doesn't grant him much chance to speak, let alone put down his weapons. Dressed in a suit, his bald pate shiny under the harsh lights of railroad stations and hotel foyers, he tends to stand out, which repeatedly puts him on the run from authorities. True, he's good at what he does. But he also looks awfully tired.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what separates the "good guys" and the "bad guys" in this movie. Are they really that different? Why are some characters more sympathetic than others? How are video game-based characters different from characters developed for other media? What do video game-based movies tend to have in common? How do they usually compare to the games they're based on?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 21, 2007
• On DVD or streaming : March 10, 2008
• Cast : Dougray Scott , Olga Kurylenko , Timothy Olyphant
• Director : Xavier Gens
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Twentieth Century Fox
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 100 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : strong bloody violence, language, and some sexuality/nudity.
• Last updated : September 3, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Netflix just revealed its big new comedy movie that's already a Rotten Tomatoes hit

Richard Linklater is back with a movie about an unusual kind of hitman...

A movie about a hitman is probably not what you expect from Richard Linklater, but that’s just what the director has made, and it’s going down a storm with critics.

Hit Man is not out yet, but the reviews have already marked this one as a “must watch” on our list when it comes to Netflix in June.

The movie is about a hitman, played by Glen Powell, who ends up falling for his client, played by Adria Arjona.

Yep, in classic Linklater fashion, love is still involved.

This isn’t a soft rom com, though. It’s a comedic thriller, and one that has racked-up an impressive 96% freshness rating over at Rotten Tomatoes .

The Daily Beast rues that Hit Man won’t get a wider cinema release, saying “ Hit Man is hot and hilarious, a winning combination amplified by a story that gets knottier at every turn.’

Vox calls Hit Man “an absolute delight” and makes the film sound a flat-out good time. “It’s just fun to watch good old-fashioned comedy in which love, danger, and happy endings are all part of a damn fine evening at the movies,” reads the short review.

The Rogert Ebert website says it’s “a movie that straddles comedy, noir, and even true crime thriller to even become a meta-commentary on the playful form of acting in the first place.”

Hit Man’s current reviews are a little different to the norm, though, as the film has not had any proper release yet.

It was shown at the TIFF and Sundance film festivals, and was only acquired by Netflix following its TIFF screening, in September 2023.

Netflix reportedly paid $20 million for the film. There’s a trailer too:

Fun fact: Hit Man was co-written by star Glen Powell, and he picks up a lot of the adulation from the critics too.

Hit Man is due in cinemas on May 24, and will come to Netflix on Jun 7.

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• Movie Reviews

‘Dusk For A Hitman’ Review – Slow-Burn Drama Delivers High Stakes And Brash Violence

• By Lane Mills
• April 22, 2024
• No Comments

Dusk for a Hitman , right off the bat, appeals to cinema’s collective retro sensibilities and likings… and it sucks you right in. Nothing particularly sticks out about the opening scene, especially for a film with “hitman” in the title. Tasteful orange credits roll over a shot-reverse-shot sequence of two men cruising in an antique down the highway. You’ve got a leather interior, vast, unbothered plains, and a gun. Welcome to the show.

The pace quickly picks up as the first scene falls away and the plot starts to roll. The film follows a hitman (in case you had any doubt) on a deeply personal journey, inherently set on violence and pinned with personal stakes. Lead man Éric Bruneau makes his case in the first few scenes as someone you wouldn’t wanna mess with, but you quickly learn to sympathize with the beating heart below his cold demeanor.

Yet this consistency bolsters the surprises, which are sporadic and always well-placed. The story does tend to crawl as a result of the former, but the latter ensures that you’re never really off the ship. Just when you may start to doze, something kicks things back into high gear, from title cards and needle drops to instantaneous revelations.

It takes a while for the film to fully realize what’s going on, but the idea, at least, is worthy of the build-up. Of course, it’s inherently difficult to watch a careless killer and care about his story of survival, but the work done here to not only draw that line, but to walk it, is respectable.

There are a few moments where some folks will inevitably fall off either side; Dusk for a Hitman doesn’t shy away from being unashamedly graphic in more ways than one. Some of these moments work better than others, but their regularity furthers the uniform nature of the whole thing that much more.

What Dusk for a Hitman does better than most is maintaining an aura (vibe, feeling, aesthetic) that’ll separate it from other films in your memory from here on out. Some of it is due to the superb cinematography and intense gratuity, but some films manage something beyond that; it’s almost as if it’s borne in the production stages and seeps into the film over time, staining it with a specificity only found therein. Dusk for a Hitman is one of those films.

This one could catch a lot of viewers off-guard, so familiarize yourself going in, but don’t temper your expectations. Dusk for a Hitman is going to work for multitudes. It should sway audiences looking for a steeper exploration of the R rating, as well as those partial to slow-burn stories with time to kill. Others, quite fairly, may let their minds wander somewhere throughout the 106-minute runtime. This is a film that, if you’re going to watch it, you have to commit to it.

Dusk for a Hitman delivers on the promises it makes on the surface: this is a well-made, excessively violent film about a troubled and terribly flawed man for hire who has to choose between familial loyalty and simply staying alive. If that sounds like it’s up your alley, it’ll likely be a worthy endeavor.

Dusk for a Hitman is currently available on Digital platforms and On Demand courtesy of Saban Films. 

• GVN Rating 7.5
• User Ratings ( 0 Votes) 0

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Ron Perlman-Starring Revenge Thriller ‘The Gentleman’ Picked Up by Film Factory (EXCLUSIVE)

By Jamie Lang

• Ron Perlman-Starring Revenge Thriller ‘The Gentleman’ Picked Up by Film Factory (EXCLUSIVE) 4 days ago
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Film Factory has picked up rights to Luis Gabriel Beristáin ‘s revenge action thriller “The Gentleman,” a Spain-Mexico co-production starring an international cast led by Golden Globe-winner Ron Pearlman.

Produced by Spanish company Esto También Pasará (“Ferocious Wolf,” “The Boogeyman: The Origin of the Myth”) and Mexican outfit SDB Films (“The Deal”), shooting on “The Gentleman” is already underway in San Sebastián, Spain, and will run for six weeks. The film is scheduled to be released by Universal in Spain in 2025.

Popular on Variety

Esto También Pasará producer Álvaro Ariza says, “I fell in love with the story when I first read the book and immediately thought it deserved to be told on the big screen.”

Perlman leads an impressive and internationally-recognized cast that includes eight-time Ariel Award winner Damián Alcázar (“Narcos”), two-time Goya Award nominee Hovik Keuchkerian (“Money Heist”), Megan Montaner (“30 Coins”), Marco de la O (“El Chapo”), and Dominican Latin Grammy-nominated recording artist Natti Natasha.

“The Gentleman” marks Beristáin’s feature debut. With a rich background as a director of photography and cinematographer, Beristáin has collaborated with renowned filmmakers such as Guillermo del Toro, Derek Marman, David Mamet, and David Ayer. His recent work includes the live-action/CG hybrid “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” set to hit theaters later this year. Previous credits include “Blade 2,” “Black Widow,” “Iron Man,” and the Marvel TV series “Agent Carter.”

Film Factory director Vincente Canales is excited by the film’s prospects and explained, “Without a doubt, it is going to be one of the most interesting titles of Spanish cinema in 2025.”

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Unprecedented wave of narco-violence stuns Argentina city

A prison guard sits in a watchtower at the Pinero jail in Pinero, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. President Javier Milei has called for harsher penalties against drug traffickers and military intervention. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A chain lock reinforces the locked door of a gas station that started closing shop at night after the killing of a worker at a nearby station a few weeks before, in Rosario, Argentina, Monday, April 8, 2024. The order to kill came from inside Ezeiza Prison from gang leaders who hired a 15-year-old hitman to kill gas station worker Bruno Bussanich on March 9. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A mural of soccer player Lionel Messi covers a building in Rosario, Argentina, Monday, April 8, 2024. The birthplace of Messi and revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara morphed about a decade ago into the country’s drug trafficking hub, as regional crackdowns pushed the trade south. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A child rides a bicycle past a mural of Gabriel Ignacio Romero, a resident who was murdered on the sidewalk outside his home the previous year, in Rosario, Argentina, Monday, April 8, 2024. For the past decade, the 1.3 million residents of Rosario have watched warily as presidents and their promises come and go. What endures, they say, is violence. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Police officer Georgina Wilke drives her patrol car in Rosario, Argentina, late Monday, April 8, 2024. Agents fanned out across hardscrabble areas, spending hours logging neighborhood activity and setting up checkpoints on major thoroughfares. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

People hang out at a park in Rosario, Argentina, Monday, April 8, 2024. The birthplace of Lionel Messi and revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara morphed about a decade ago into the country’s drug trafficking hub, as regional crackdowns pushed the trade south. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A resident who did not want to be identified shows the gun she keeps at her home for self-defense as she poses for a photo in Rosario, Argentina, Monday, April 8, 2024. The homicide rate is five times the national average in Rosario. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A mural of Claudio Ariel Cantero covers a wall alongside a supportive message of him written by his family, in Rosario, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Cantero, known as “El Pajaro,” or The Bird, was the leader of the criminal organization called “Los Monos,” or The Monkeys, and was shot to death at a bowling alley on May 26, 2013 in Santa Fe. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Police patrol the streets of Rosario, Argentina, as a family that collects disposed cardboard to resell pushes their children in a shopping cart, late Monday, April 8, 2024. Agents fanned out across hardscrabble areas, spending hours logging neighborhood activity and setting up checkpoints on major thoroughfares. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Geronima Benitez holds a photograph of her son Victor Emanuel, 17, who was murdered by drug traffickers who were never arrested two years ago, at her home in Rosario, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Benítez said her son’s killer still lives down her street and is not convinced a prison sentence would make a difference. “We, on the outside, live in prison,” she said. “Those inside have everything.” (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Geronima Benitez wipes her eyes as she speaks about her son Victor Emanuel, 17, who was murdered by drug traffickers who were never arrested two years ago, during an interview at her home in Rosario, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Benítez said her son’s killer still lives down her street and is not convinced a prison sentence would make a difference. “We, on the outside, live in prison,” she said. “Those inside have everything.” (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A banner hangs over a bus stop asking for justice regarding the murder of bus driver Cesar Roldan in Rosario, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Prison guards stand behind the entrance to Pinero jail in Pinero, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Authorities have ramped up prison raids, seized thousands of smuggled cellphones and restricted visits. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A police officer stands guard on a street in Rosario, Argentina, Monday, April 8, 2024. President Javier Milei has promised to prosecute gang members as terrorists and change the law to allow the army into crime-ridden streets for the first time since Argentina’s brutal military dictatorship ended in 1983. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

The Pinero jail complex stands in Pinero, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. President Javier Milei’s tough-on-crime message has empowered hardline governor Maximiliano Pullaro’s efforts to clamp down on incarcerated criminal groups, which he said planned 80% of shootings in Rosario last year. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Inmates play soccer at Pinero jail in Pinero, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Authorities have ramped up prison raids, seized thousands of smuggled cellphones and restricted visits. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

An inmate looks out from a window at Pinero jail in Pinero, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Authorities have ramped up prison raids, seized thousands of smuggled cellphones and restricted visits. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Prison guards stand inside the Pinero jail complex in Pinero, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. President Javier Milei has called for harsher penalties against drug traffickers and military intervention. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

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ROSARIO, Argentina (AP) — The order to kill came from inside a federal prison near Argentina’s capital. Unwitting authorities patched a call from drug traffickers tied to one of the country’s most notorious gangs to collaborators on the outside. Hiring a 15-year-old hit man, they sealed the fate of a young father they didn’t even know.

At a service station on March 9 in Rosario, the picturesque hometown of soccer star Lionel Messi, 25-year-old employee Bruno Bussanich was whistling to himself and checking the day’s earnings just before he was shot three times from less than a foot away, surveillance footage shows. The assailant fled without taking a peso.

It was the fourth gang-related fatal shooting in Rosario in almost as many days. Authorities called it an unprecedented rampage in Argentina, which had never witnessed the extremes of drug cartel violence afflicting some other Latin American countries.

A handwritten letter was found near Bussanich’s body, addressed to officials who want to curb the power drug kingpins wield from behind bars. “We don’t want to negotiate anything. We want our rights,” it says. “We will kill more innocent people.”

Shaken residents interviewed by The Associated Press across Rosario described a sense of dread taking hold.

“Every time I go to work, I say goodbye to my father as if it were the last time,” said 21-year-old Celeste Núñez, who also works at a gas station.

The string of killings offer an early test to the security agenda of populist President Javier Milei, who has tethered his political success to saving Argentina’s tanking economy and eradicating narco-trafficking violence.

A police officer stands guard on a street in Rosario, Argentina, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Since taking office Dec. 10, the right-wing leader has promised to prosecute gang members as terrorists and change the law to allow the army into crime-ridden streets for the first time since Argentina’s brutal military dictatorship ended in 1983.

His law-and-order message has empowered the hardline governor of Santa Fe province, which includes Rosario, to clamp down on incarcerated criminal gangs that authorities say orchestrated 80% of shootings last year. Under the orders of Governor Maximiliano Pullaro, police have ramped up prison raids, seized thousands of smuggled cellphones and restricted visits.

“We are facing a group of narco-terrorists desperate to maintain power and impunity,” Milei said after Bussanich was killed, announcing the deployment of federal forces in Rosario. “We will lock them up, isolate them, take back the streets.”

A mural of Claudio Ariel Cantero covers a wall alongside a supportive message of him written by his family, in Rosario, Argentina, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Milei won 56% of the vote in Rosario, where residents praise his focus on a problem largely neglected by his predecessors. But some worry the government’s combative approach traps them in the line of fire.

Gangs started their deadly retaliations just hours after Pullaro’s security minister shared photos showing Argentine prisoners crammed together on the floor, heads pressed against each other’s bare backs — a scene reminiscent of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele’s harsh anti-gang crackdown.

“It’s a war between the state and the drug traffickers,” said Ezequiel, a 30-year-old employee at the gas station where Bussanich was killed. Ezequiel, who gave only his first name for fear of reprisals, said his mother has since begged him to quit. “We’re the ones paying the price.”

Even Milei’s supporters have mixed feelings about the crackdown, including Germán Bussanich, the father of the slain gas station worker.

“They’re putting on a show and we’re facing the consequences,” Bussanich told reporters.

A leafy city 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of Buenos Aires, Rosario is where revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born, Messi first kicked a soccer ball and the Argentine flag was first raised in 1812. But it most recently won notoriety because its homicide numbers are five times the national average.

Tucked into a bend in the Paraná River, Rosario’s port morphed into Argentina’s drug trafficking hub as regional crackdowns pushed the narcotics trade south and criminals started squirreling away cocaine in shipping containers spirited down the river to markets abroad. Although Rosario never suffered the car bombs and police assassinations gripping Mexico , Colombia and most recently Ecuador , the splintering of street gangs has fueled bloodshed.

“It’s not close to the violence in Mexico because we still have the deterrence capacity of the government in Argentina,” said Marcelo Bergman, a social scientist at the National University of Tres de Febrero in Argentina. “But we need to keep an eye on Rosario because the major threats come not so much from big cartels but when these groups proliferate and diversify.”

Drug traffickers keep a tight grip over Rosario’s poor neighborhoods full of young men vulnerable to recruitment. One of them was Víctor Emanuel, a 17-year-old killed two years ago by rival gangsters in an area where street murals pay tribute to slain criminal leaders. No one was arrested.

“My neighbors know who’s responsible,” his mother, Gerónima Benítez, told the AP, her eyes shiny with tears. “I looked for help everywhere, I knocked on the doors of the judiciary, the government. No one answered.”

A fearful existence is all Benítez has ever known. But now, for the first time in Argentina, warring drug traffickers are banding together and terrorizing parts of the city previously considered safe.

Imprisoned gang leaders in Latin America have long run criminal enterprises remotely with the help of corrupt guards. But according to an indictment unveiled last week , incarcerated gang bosses in Argentina have been passing instructions on how to kill random civilians via family visits and video calls.

Court documents say the bosses paid underage hit men up to $450 to target four of the recent victims in Argentina’s third-largest city. The killing of Bussanich, two taxi drivers and a bus driver in less than a week in March, federal prosecutors say, “shattered the peace of an entire society.”

Street emptied. Schools closed. Bus drivers picketed. People were too terrified to leave their homes.

“This violence is on another level,” 20-year-old Rodrigo Dominguez said from an intersection where a dangling banner demanded justice for another bus driver slain there weeks earlier. “You can’t go outside.”

Panic was still palpable in Rosario last week, as police swarmed the streets and normally bustling bars closed early for lack of customers. A diner managed by Messi’s family, a draw for fans, reported quiet nights and less profit. Women in one neighborhood said they carry 22‐caliber pistols. Analía Manso, 37, said she was too scared to send her children to school.

Pope Francis last month said he was praying for his countrymen in Rosario.

Assaults and public threats continue. This month, a sign appeared on a highway overpass warning Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich that gangs would extend their offensive to Buenos Aires if the government doesn’t back down.

Authorities have sought to reassure the public by sending hundreds of federal agents into Rosario. The AP spent a night with police last week as officers patrolled neighborhoods logging suspicious activity and setting up checkpoints.

Georgina Wilke, a 45-year-old Rosario officer in the explosives squad, said she welcomes federal intervention, including the military, to get crime under control. “We’ve been hit very hard,” Wilke said.

Omar Pereira, the provincial secretary of public security, promised the efforts represent a shift from failed tactics of the past.

“There were always pacts, implicit or explicit, between the state and criminals,” Pereira said, describing how authorities long looked the other way. “What’s the idea of this government? There is no pact.”

A child rides a bicycle past a mural of Gabriel Ignacio Romero, a resident who was murdered on the sidewalk outside his home the previous year, in Rosario, Argentina, Monday, April 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

But experts are skeptical a tough-on-crime approach will stop drug traffickers from buying control over Argentina’s police and prisons.

“Unless the government fixes its problems with corruption, the crackdown on prisons is unlikely to have any long-term effect,” said Christopher Newton, an investigator at Colombia-based research organization InSight Crime.

For years, Rosario’s 1.3 million residents have watched warily as presidents and their promises come and go while the violence endures.

“It’s like a cancer that grows and grows,” said Benítez from her home, its windows protected by wrought-iron bars.

“We, on the outside, live in prison,” she said. “Those inside have everything.”

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, san francisco silent film festival highlights unearthed treasures of film history.

For the past twenty-seven years the San Francisco Silent Film Festival has unearthed treasures from the silent film era and presented them with context and curation for audiences of the City by the Bay. Over the decades the festival has grown from presentation only to an organization that helps restore and preserve this fragile art. When I lived in San Francisco during grad school over a decade ago, I was lucky enough to attend many events hosted by SFSS, from their flagship festival back when it was hosted at the historic Castro Theatre to their epic presentation in 2012 of Abel Gance ’s “ Napoleon ” at the Paramount in Oakland, with the late Carl Davis conducting the Oakland Symphony. I was so happy to finally return to this glorious festival, where the lure of shimmering celluloid is somehow more beguiling than a sunny springtime day in San Francisco.  

This year the festival has moved to the equally stunning Palace of Fine Arts, located just a stone’s throw from the Golden Gate Bridge. Over the course of five days, this year’s festival screened over 26 feature films, shorts, and fragments from the early days of cinema. As you take your seats in the auditorium, a curated slideshow shares factoids about each film, archival photos, vintage lobby cards and more, paired with music to set the mood. As the films screen, they are accompanied by soul-stirring scores played live by some of the most talented musicians in the game, and put into context through thoughtful introductions by a cadre of curators, archivists, and historians.  

Opening night began with a sparkling new restoration of the pirate epic “The Black Pirate” starring that dynamic swashbuckler himself, Douglas Fairbanks. The Donald Sosin Ensemble wore cheeky skull and bones-style pirate hats as they played their lively score. After opening remarks from longtime president of the board Robert Byrne, a filmed introduction featured director and board member Alexander Payne explained how the funding for this new restoration came from Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and was carried out by the Museum of Modern Art, The Film Foundation, and the British Film Institute. 

And what a restoration it was! The luminous, other-worldly qualities of two-strip Technicolor have never looked better, especially as used by cinematographer Henry Sharp, who was inspired by the paintings of the Dutch masters. Although some moments were a bit shaky, most of the print had crystal clear clarity to the point that you could see such small details as tattoos on the chest of a pirate or the exquisite texture of the dress worn by Billie Dove’s Princess Isobel. I don’t think Fairbanks has ever had more swag than he does in this role, and watching the impressive sea battles was thrilling, reminding me of Peter Weir ’s maritime masterpiece “Master and Commander”. 

The second day of the festival began in the morning with another great edition of Amazing Tales from the Archives, a free program where archivists and scholars share their work with the public. The BFI National Archive’s Bryony Dixon began the program with a presentation on how director Michael Powell got his unlikely start in the movies as a teenager in the French Riviera. Through a series of letters that he wrote home to his mother in England, Dixon illuminated how the future master filmmaker fell in love with moviemaking from the ground up, first working on “Mare Nostrum” directed by Rex Ingram . You see, Hollywood filmmakers had flocked to the Riviera for the locals, but also because they could legally get sloshed. Later, Powell starred in—and sometimes composed shots for—a series called “Travelaughs,” which was a satirical travelog series. Dixon presented clips from the series, in which Powell plays a character called Cicero Simp, showing the director to be a surprisingly skilled physical comedian.

Author and scholar Denise Khor presented her research on the 1914 film, “ The Oath of the Sword,” which was the first American film to have an all-Japanese cast. The melodrama was made by the Japanese American Film Co. established in 1913 by a conglomerate of businessmen of Japanese descent. Unfortunately, this was their only completed film. After Khor’s insightful presentation, a digital version made from a 35mm print from George Eastman House of the film was screened. While its politics may not have aged well, it’s a rare treat to see such a unique piece of film history preserved and presented over a hundred years after its inception. 

The final presentation of the program was from historian and co-author of “The Dawn of Technicolor” David Pierce , who recently retired from the Library of Congress. Through his illuminated and colorful lecture, Pierce took us on a journey through the productions of the first four feature films made in Technicolor, culminating in the making of “The Black Pirate.” A clip from the fragment “Red Hair” starring Clara Bow was also shared, which was a neat way to tie this program with the festival’s next offer ... 

... two Clara Bow restoration premieres! The first of the double feature was the recently discovered short film “The Pill Pounder,” which was followed by the zippy melodrama “Dancing Mothers.” In his introduction Bow scholar David Stenn explained how the short was just recently discovered in a parking lot sale in Omaha, Nebraska by collector and filmmaker Gary Huggins. One of a series of Charlie Murray comedies made in 1923, the film was directed by Gregory La Cava and featured a vibrant, wild-haired teenaged Bow as the daughter of the titular pill pounder, 20s slang for pharmacist, who would rather play poker with his buddies than run his shop. The print was a truncated version made for mid-century audiences which removed the inter-titles and some of the footage in order to condense its run time. Stenn emphasized that this restoration—done earlier this month by the festival and is absolutely gorgeous—is a work-in-progress and they are determined to find the missing footage. 

Although not top billed in “Dancing Mothers,” the exuberant Bow steals every scene in this melodrama playing a jazz baby nicknamed “Kittens,” who falls for a cad named Jerry Naughton (Conway Tearle) while on steamer trip home across the Atlantic with her father Hugh (Norman Trevor). Neglected by her husband and daughter upon their return, Ethel (Alice Joyce) decides to go out to a speakeasy herself one night. There she meets Hugh and things get dicey when instead of teaching him a lesson, they duo fall in love. Although the film revels in the vices of the era – booze and dancing and bias-cut gowns abound – at its heart it is critical of how overindulgence can lead towards selfishness, not just freedom. 

The day continued with an uproarious screening of “Oh! What a Nurse!,” starring Syd Chaplin, whose singular slapstick talents were often overshadowed by those of his much more famous brother, Charlie. The film also featured a charming turn from Patsy Ruth Miller, whose velvet outfit in the final sequence was nothing short of enviable. In his introduction, AMPAS’ Randy Haberkamp called restoration work “archival detective work,” as groups work together to find the best possible way to restore these films to their original glory. In a second introduction, Pordenone Silent Film Festival Director Jay Weissberg thanks Lobster Films’ Serge Bromberg for the print, and then gave an impassioned history lesson on the history of female impersonation—an art that was extremely lucrative and popular with audiences at the turn-of-the-century—tying that history and this film into the current spate of drag bans across the nation. 

The first evening show of the day was Frank Borzage’s “ The Lady ,” starring the incomparable Norma Talmadge. I first saw this film a few years back as part of the online component of Pordenone, but I may as well have never seen it for how much the big screen transformed the experience. Talmadge at one point was a huge star, one of the first actress-celebrities, making her name in women’s pictures—melodramas for working class women who want to see a little glitz, but also want to see someone who has it worse off than they do. In his introduction for the film, David Pierce said, paraphrasing Norma Desmond, that they really did have faces then. And what a face Talmadge had! The film begins with her as Polly Pearl, the aged proprietress of a British pub in Marseille, who recalls her days as a London dance hall girl who fell for a rich man who, naturally, abandoned her—and their child—to the streets. Talmadge plays every emotion—and every age—with a precision and nuance that simply can only be done justice when projected on the big screen. 

“In these harsh times, it’s good to swash a few buckles,” was the message Senior Film Restorer Kathy Rose O’Regan had for the audience as they prepared to buckle up for Frank Lloyd’s 1924 high seas epic,  “The Sea Hawk,”  which was filmed on location on Catalina Island with over a thousand extras and crew members. Only at festivals like SFSFF will you hear an audience cheer at the mention of an actor like Chicago’s own Milton Sills, a matinee idol who died in 1930 at the peak of his stardom. Like Fairbanks, Sills had a commanding physical presence, if not quite as lithe, and he owns every minute of this wonderfully peculiar pirate picture. 

Friday morning began with “The Opportunist,” a Soviet-Ukrainian satire about a small-time black-marketeer, a camel, and the perils of partisanship. In his introduction to the film, scholar Stas Menzelevskyi remarked of the many things the audience could be doing in San Francisco on a beautiful Friday morning, we had chosen the most unorthodox one, and, he hoped, the most rewarding. For my money, he was right. While the satire was aimed specifically at the society of Soviet-Ukraine in 1929, much of its criticisms could be lobbied at any number of bureaucracies, political factions, and profiteers today. 

This film was followed by Allan Dwan’s drama “East Side, West Side,” which was filmed on location around New York at a time when the cityscape of Big Apple was rapidly changing. George O’Brien, probably best known now for his turn in “Sunrise,” stars as a young man named John who is reared on a tugboat that hauls bricks but dreams of building skyscrapers. After a fire renders him alone and homeless, he finds a new home with a family of Jewish immigrants, before making his name as a boxer and ultimately finding fame as a builder. This was another film I had already seen thanks to the Criterion Channel but seeing Dwan’s astonishing use of locations on the big screen felt like taking a time machine back to the New York City of the 1920s. 

Historian, author, and proprietress of Silent London Pamela Hutchinson was on hand to introduce the next film, Julien Duvivier’s “Poil de Carotte” from 1925. I would like to thank her for introducing the phrase, “lavatorial gaslighting” into my vocabulary. Based on Jules Renard’s autobiographical novel of the same that traces the life of a neglected and abused boy in an isolated French village, Duvivier felt so connected with the material that he remade the story as a sound film in 1932. Having now seen both, I see why Duvivier often cited his silent film among his favorites of his own films. His use of double exposures to evoke the boy’s various emotional states is amongst the best I’ve ever seen. Noir fans may be familiar with Duvivier’s film “Panique” from 1946, and while the films don’t have much in common plot-wise, they explore similar themes around the destructive power of gossip. 

The evening began with a riotous screening of Harry A. Pollard’s “Poker Faces,” starring the great Edward Everett Horton and Laura La Plante as a husband and wife whose marital spat leads towards a farce of mistaken identity so convoluted it must be seen to be comprehended. The comedy finds itself comfortably set between slapstick and bedroom farce, while laying the groundwork for the screwball comedies of the 1930s, many of which featured Horton in scene-stealing supporting roles. Pollard is not well remembered today, though I do recommend seeking out his 1924 Reginald Denny comedy “The Reckless Age” and the pre-code comedy “Shipmates” starring Robert Montgomery. The Kansas-born Pollard’s papers are held at Wichita State University, and in his introduction, Jay Weissberg hoped perhaps a scholar out there might take on the task of combing through them. What treasures they may hold remains unknown. 

The evening ended with one of my all-time favorite films, Benjamin Christiansen’s “Häxan,” which was brought to life by a truly haunting score performed live by the Matti Bye Ensemble. The most expensive Scandinavian film at the time, the film traces the history of witchcraft from its pagan roots to the Spanish Inquisition to the psychoanalysts of the 20th century. Filled with lurid imagery of torture, satanic orgies—Christiansen himself plays the Devil—and possessed nuns, this singularly bizarre film remains as beguiling and strange today as it did over a hundred years ago. I rewatch it every year around Halloween. But seeing it on the big screen was a truly transcendent experience. I also loved the introduction by the Danish Film Institute’s Thomas Christiansen, who has been working over the last five years to make every extant Danish silent film available streaming .

When I used to attend the festival in the past there would be lots of people dressed in period duds. Although this wasn’t the case so much this year, I was so pleased when I entered the lobby ahead of the Saturday morning screening of a trio of Laurel and Hardy shorts to see a family in matching “Another Fine Mess” t-shirts and a father and son in matching red fezzes emblazoned with the “Sons of the Desert” logo. Bryony Dixon returned to introduce the three shorts from 1928—“You’re Darn Tootin’,” “Two Tars,” and “The Finishing Touch”—giving a splendid overview of how these two disparate souls from Lancashire, England and Harlem, Georgia created a transatlantic comedy duo for the ages. Described as masters of the “comedy of escalation,” these three shorts could serve as a masterclass in choreographed chaos as the duo manage to destroy an orchestra, several dozen cars, and even an entire house with aplomb. The audience was probably the most mixed in ages of the entire festival, and I must say hearing children howling with laughter at comedy gags that are nearly one-hundred years old must be one of life’s most special treasures.

The tone changed dramatically with the next feature, William Wyler ’s  “Hell’s Heroes,”  an early adaptation of Peter B. Kyne's novel “The Three Godfathers.” Wyler’s daughter and SFSFF board member Judy Wyler Sheldon introduced the film, saying that Wyler felt the many westerns he had made early in his career were his “film school,” and that he often would stay up nights thinking of different ways to film an actor getting on and off a horse. The film centers on three bank robbers—Charles Bickford, Raymond Hatton, and Fred Kohler—who hightail it to the desert with their treasure, only to find a dying woman and her newborn baby. The trio make a promise to bring the baby, whose father was the cashier they murdered, back to the city before Christmas. The film was shot on location in the Mojave, with a wonderfully evocative use of the native Joshua trees.

The film was followed up by Yasujiro Ozu ’s charmer “I Was Born, But ...,” a film I have seen on the big screen three times now but will never balk at the chance to see again. Tatsuo Saitō and Tomio Aoki co-star as a pair of brothers whose father has moved the family out to the suburbs. The two find it a rocky path adjusting to their new life, getting into several kerfuffles with the local boys and slowly realizing their dad may not actually be the “big shot” they thought he was. The film was loosely remade by Ozu many years later as “Good Morning,” with both films featuring Ozu’s trademark mixture of humor tinged with melancholy. 

Another selection I had seen as part of Pordenone online but whose qualities were brought to even more startling life by the magic of the big screen was Karl Grune’s “The Street,” a film that had such an impact on Weimar Era Germany that it spawned a whole genre of “street” films known as Strassenfilm, and whose lasting impact can trace itself all the way to emigres who came to Hollywood and made what we now call Film Noir. Grune believed that cinema should be an art made purely of movement, so there are few inter-titles in the film, just pure visual storytelling. Although the whole film was made on a soundstage, the film effectively evokes the grime and the glittering allure of city nightlife, as we follow an everyman (Eugen Klöpfer) down a path towards temptation that may turn lethal. 

Just when you think the festival is going a little too dark, Buster Keaton comes to save the day. The house was packed for a twofer of “One Week” and “Sherlock, Jr.,” two films I have seen on the big screen many times, and likely will see many times more. Few stars can rival the legacy of the Great Stone Face and his ability to elicit thunderous laughter without fail time and again. Artistic Director Anita Monga read from James Agee ’s 1949 Life Magazine essay “Comedy’s Greatest Era” in her introduction. My favorite bit of the excerpt reads, “With the humor, the craftsmanship and the action there was often, besides, a fine, still and sometimes dreamlike beauty.” I can’t think of a better way to describe the something like “Sherlock, Jr.,” in which Keaton plays a projectionist studying to be a detective who dreams himself into a mystery film. I know that there has been much written about the special effects of how Keaton literally walks into the screen, but I prefer to just think of it as the purest of cinematic magic. 

The final film of the night was “The Joker,” a Danish-German romp with a British leading man (the incredibly hunky Henry Edwards) and filmed on location in Nice. Set during Carnival, Edwards plays a suave highroller who helps a couple of sisters out of a blackmail plot by a shady lawyer (Miles Mander). Thomas Christiansen returned to introduce the film and promised that it would feature enough champagne and paper streamers to last a lifetime. He was not wrong. One sequence in which Edwards and his lady love (Elga Brink) are bound together by what appears to be several miles worth of paper streamers manages to be both silly and incredibly sexy at the same time. 

The final day of the festival began with a discovery title. Alfred Santell’s “The Gorilla” begins as a bit of an old dark house mystery—taking cues from Edgar Allan Poe ’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and maybe even laying a path to “King Kong”—before succumbing to some baser farcical comedy that ultimately stretched the film out way too long for my taste. 

This was followed by the Harold Lloyd classic “The Kid Brother,” co-starring the ethereal Jobyna Ralston, and one of my favorite animal actors:  Jocko the monkey ! The bespectacled Lloyd plays the black sheep in a family full of burly men who falls hard for a girl in a traveling medicine show. When the shady dealers in the show steal the town’s funds, Lloyd gets the chance to prove his worth and get the girl. While Lloyd’s sweet and shy charm doesn’t always work for me, it did here, especially when accompanied by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra’s jovial score. 

The final Scandinavian film of the festival was Victor Sjöström’s “The Phantom Carriage,” another film I will literally see every chance I get on the big screen. Sjöström stars as a down-and-out man whose severe alcoholism has pushed his family away. On New Year’s Eve, he’s greeted by the grim reaper who gives him a chance to turn his life around. Not only does Sjöström give a soul-stirring lead performance, his use of double, triple, and sometimes even quadruple exposures to craft a level of nonlinear storytelling that rivals Nolan’s “ Inception ” in its inventiveness. 

The penultimate film of the festival was G.W. Pabst’s “The Devious Path,” starring Brigitte Helm as the restless wife of a lawyer who finds herself tempted by the pleasure of the Weimar Era nightlife. While both Pabst and Helm are best known for their work on masterpieces like “Pandora’s Box” and “Metropolis” respectively, this film should not be considered a minor work for either. Pabst’s fluid camerawork and knack for complex staging is in full effect, while Helm gives one of the most complex performances of her career. I would be remiss, though, if I didn’t mention Gustav Diessl as her controlling husband, whose face game has few rivals. I also found it fascinating how you could pretty much take this plot out of Weimar Germany, remove some of its seriousness, and it would make a pretty fun marriage-remarriage screwball comedy.

The festival ended with one final restoration, James Cruze’s “The Red Mark,” a 1928 melodrama set on a South Seas penal colony. Although largely forgotten now, Cruze was one of the leading directors of his era, with hits like the 1923 epic “The Covered Wagon” and the lost film “ Hollywood ” (which has for my money one of the greatest posters of all time ). Gaston Glass stars a Bibi-Ri, a pickpocket set for release, whose romance with the fair Zellie (Nina Quartero) is threatened by the colony’s ruthless, guillotine-crazed governor De Nou (Gustav von Seyffertitz). I was not very familiar with these three leads, and I must confess I kept imagining what the film would have been like with a genuine star like John Gilbert or Ramon Novarro playing the romantic lead. But I was completely beguiled by Nina Quartero, who must have the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen. 

As the flickering light of the final scene faded to black and the curtain closed on the festival, I found myself a mixture of exhausted, overwhelmed, and exhilarated. As saddened as I was that the whole affair was over (until next year, that is!), ultimately attending a festival like the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, that is so rooted in the deep love of preservation and presentation, of discovery and reappraisal, of cinema as a community, is a priceless experience. I walked out into the crisp night air of the City by the Bay, and felt nothing but rejuvenated, replenished, and renewed.

Marya E. Gates

Marya E. Gates is a freelance film and culture writer based in Los Angeles and Chicago. She studied Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, and also has an overpriced and underused MFA in Film Production. Other bylines include Moviefone, The Playlist, Crooked Marquee, Nerdist, and Vulture. 

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