I saw this film once, on cable, completely unaware of who John Sayles was, and initially unsure if I wanted to watch something which sounded so didactic, but what I found was one of the most compelling dramas I had ever seen. The story follows a wealthy doctor from a lush unnamed city in a fictional South American country(but its filmed in Mexico), on his journey through the country side, as part of his retirement, he is going to first visit those doctors whom he trained that went on to work in poor villages. Out of the comfort of the city comes the violence of rural areas, crimes and horrors perpetrated not by the government or the rebels, but in the eyes of the many villagers who recount the tales, by "The Men With Guns". A journey of disillusionment and story of complacency, action, and meaning, "Men With Guns" is a movie which doesn't seem particularly appealing but which side-winds viewers with it's surprising literate dialog and plotting and lush visuals of South American countryside. Men With Guns is a political allegory that sneaks up on you with it's emotional impact and gripping humanism. I don't normally like to use to the word "moving" when referring to a work of art, because it makes me think of heavy lifting and boxes, but this movie was just, that, and having only seen it once after many years, it still comes back to me, particularly when I hear the daily body counts from any of the numerous war zones, patronized by the night news.
Review of Men with Guns
