Sumas y restas (2004) Online

Some times I heard negative comments about this movie. People who dislike it, argue that we have already seen lots of histories like this one before. And it might be true, but it is exactly what gives me a point of reference to judge this production objectively.

Many things have been said about drug trafficking, but I have never seen a closest approach to the essence and the beginning of the problem. An extraordinary representation of Medellín in the 80's, whit every little detail. Once more, Gaviria leads whit natural actors, obtaining great results on the interpretation of this complicated roles that in my opinion can not really be played by professional or foreign actors, as we could see what recently happened whit Unax Ugalde in Rosario Tijeras.

If you think you know every thing about drug dealing, or if you are Colombian and think that it is a distant problem, or you think it is not your problem, why don't you take a look at this really interesting movie, and by the way give a little support to Víctor Gaviria, that after almost three years whit many budget problems, could finish in great way whit this film.

..........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA....and ORLANDO, FL

For my sophomore college English class, I did a paper on Stanley Kubrick's "2001". SUMAS y RESTAS, really deserves one of its own. After living in Colombia for a total of 28 years and having had three close brushes with death, the only way to review this is with some brief insight into the dynamics of crime and violence in Colombia...

Most Colombians either ...

....A) Have been DIRECT victims of violence themselves....or

....B) Have family members, relatives and/or close friends who've been victims.

EVERYONE ELSE has friends, neighbors, classmates and/or co-workers who have experienced violence directly. Undoubtedly, it has ebbed from its peak in the 80's and 90's, but it's still an everyday fact of life people have learned to live with.

One factor, only dealt with rather obliquely in the film, is that violence can originate from many different sources; organized crime, leftist guerrillas, paramilitary groups, common criminals, corrupt police officials or any one of the above, masquerading as any one of the others! The kidnappers in the film identify themselves as F-2 agents (Think: DEA), but their true origin is never revealed. More often than not, this is the sad reality of Colombia.

Still, for the record, at least 97% or 98% of Colombians never collaborate or participate, in any way, with any of these factions! A bit uneven during its first 40 minutes, "Medellin" had me mesmerized its last hour.

I'm sad to admit, this was a gritty, spot-on slice of the dark side of Colombian life. The non-stop profanity is not translated in the English subtitles...The reason: Movies are usually translated by people officially licensed by the Colombian government, so they end up changing "Scarface" into "Paleface". But the sociopaths like the ones in SUMAS are known for incessant obscenity; it's unfortunate this was lost in translation.

The ending minute(?)was butchered/redacted or oddly altered in some way, causing me to lower my rating from 9* to just 8* STARS...

WARNING: Lots of naked, gyrating Colombian ladies!...ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!

Medellin: Sumas y Restas is a realistic portrayal of Medellin in the 1980s and how involvement in the drug trade has its ups and downs so to speak, which can happen rather quickly.

Santiago is a construction engineer is at a party on his farm house with some friends, one of whom is making tons of money in the drug trade, but who he's also a user, and the excesses of use become obvious quickly. Santiago is initially reluctant to use cocaine but eventually gives in. Somewhat short on money to complete his construction projects he is introduced to various characters who are rich and offer quick payment in cash or coke. Again, he tries to stay away from those sorts of people. At some point he is introduced to Gerardo, an owner of a car mechanic shop, who is looking to build something on his large lot. He immediately pays Santiago what he asks to begin the project.

Eventually Santiago, the educated well-spoken bourgeois becomes more involved with Gerardo, the uneducated and foul-mouthed peasant, who in the past was a drug cook but now is his own major cocaine producer. Gerardo asks Santiago to introduce him to some higher class customer who might have a need for large amounts of coke. Santiago does so, introducing him to his cousin who brings in raw material from Peru and exports drugs to Miami. The deal ends up sour provoking the unraveling of the story and of the relationship of our two characters.

The script is completely written in the colloquial language of Medellin, which is a much sweeter sounding Spanish than the rough Mexican, Argentinian, or even from Spain. The English subtitles are of big help, because even if one understands Spanish, some of the terms are specific to the business. Here of course, profanities abound and some turns of phrases are very original and funny. A scene of Gerardo getting in a shouting match with Santiago's cousin is absolutely hilarious.

Throughout the movie some of the ugly realities, of life in Colombia in the past are represented: kidnappings for ransom, shooting sprees in bars, law enforcement corruption, etc.

The acting is good for the most part, the story interesting, the sound professionally done, the script most importantly is excellent and it calls mainly for realism. You'll meet people speaking the way they would at parties, under the influence, when angry, etc. One feature that you never see in American movies but that adds to the realism is people talking at once. That is a challenge and caused some problems when it was re-recorded. There are some lapses in sound / lip movements synchronization. But other than that, this is an excellent production. One oddity is the ending of the US DVD. There is a final shot of buildings that lasts less than a second, as if there is more but it was arbitrarily decided that this would be the ending. Not sure if this is the case with international versions.

If you want to see a different kind of movie dealing with the realities of the drug business in the countries where drugs come from. I highly recommend this movie. It has some exciting, thrilling, funny, sad, interesting moments that as a whole make for an enjoyable and entertaining experience.

Besides the fact that – once more – a film about Colombia uses as its only resort the many times told story of Medellin's drug related violence during the 1980's, the film's unfortunate failing is the lack of adequate technical resources. If one can survive the monotony of unintelligible and intense sound, wild camera movements and jumpy edition, it is possible to recognize that Gaviria does succeed in insufflating credibility into the characters represented by natural actors, and does well in grasping the mood of the historic moment in which the plot takes place.

The story – specially the first thirty minutes – is utterly predictable and unbearably dull. The slang all along is unnecessarily heavy and boring. Despite all this, at the end one can have the vague sensation that, thanks to the interesting touch of realism and to the good job in actors' direction, the time spent in watching the movie was not completely wasted.

**may contain spoiler**

Well made Colombian gangster flick. In my opinion Colombian cinema has changed a lot last years and it's with joy and excitement I follow their progress internationally. Also foreign movie makers aren't that afraid anymore to shoot movies about Colombia IN Colombia. This however is a totally Colombian production and probably one of the better ones I've seen lately.

The story is set in 80's Medellin at the peak of the cartel activities, and shows successfully how Colombian society and especially how the upper class and upper middle class are infected with dirty money and criminal activity. And you have to take a moral stand and keep a low profile if you want to remain safe. Directly or indirectly, being wealthy in 80's Medellin consists of fraternizing with people that can easily ruin your life or end it, and will do it if you give them the chance. They are all a part of it, you just have to respectfully be as clean as possible without stepping on anyones toes.

We see the story through the eyes of Santiago, a well educated engineer and family man with good manners, who befriends Don Gerardo. A rich gangster that on the surface seem to have a lot in common with him, but through the course of the movie more and more starts to reveal his true self. After a while Santiago has to pay a heavy price for having got mixed up with the wrong people. And everything he can be happy for in his life is turning into garbage.

The acting of especially the two leads are excellent. Don Gerardo reminds me a bit of Joe Pesci in the American gangster flicks, a short, chubby and cocky little man with scary sides. Fabio Restrepo makes an excellent work portraying him, and you totally forget that it's actually an actor you are watching. Juan Carlos Uribe does an equally good work portraying the little naive engineer Santiago, who at first is easily impressed by the money Gerardo spreads around. So much that he totally forgets who he is dealing with.

I once saw a movie called "bad influence" starring James spader, this movie could've been named the same. They are a bit alike.

It's good that Colombians make these kinds of movies, and openly criticize what's wrong in their society, and therefore taking a closer step to changing it. I think every one living in Colombia can more or less relate to everything portrayed in this movie. Recommended viewing.