This film biography of Griselda Blanco, one of the linchpins of the Medellín Cartel, features a towering performance by Catherine Zeta-Jones. A central metaphor of the film is the "prison" in which La Madrina exists in perpetuity, much of which by her own choosing.
In the first section of the film, it is impossible not to feel empathy for Griselda, who was brutally abused as a child in Colombia, then lived in an abusive relationship with her husband in New York. She is depicted as creative in her skillful work in international drug running. Thus far, it is possible to empathize with this stalwart and indomitable character. But can she escape her metaphorical prison?
There is a turning point where La Madrina becomes vindictive and guilty of a hubris that eventually leads her to be responsible for 200 murders. One of the early victims is the father of the girlfriend of her teenage son. It is at that point in the film that the audience loses any empathy for a powerful woman, whose lapses in judgment led to cocaine addiction and gratuitous violence in order to maintain her foothold in the drug-running enterprise of Miami. One of the most touching relationships in the film is Griselda's relationship with Carolina, a woman who genuinely loves her. But, eventually, Griselda even turns on Carolina, who was her greatest source of support.
A major cinematic reference in the film is Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather, Part II." Griselda names her fourth son Michael after Al Pacino's character, Michael Corleone. But there is a major difference between Michael Corleone, who at least struggles with the guilt of his crimes and makes an effort to turn his crime family into a legitimate business enterprise.
By contrast, Griselda and her tag-team partner, Pablo Escobar, are a pair of amoral, one-dimensional crime lords. The paranoia that results in the wanton killing a family and two children, as well as the notorious Dadeland Mall Massacre of July 11, 1979, reveal the paranoia of a woman who really does not understand the uses of power. Ironically, her major takeaway from "The Godfather, Part II" is Don Ciccio's line, "don't even leave a seed" from your enemies, which only reveals her stupidity and lack of vision.
Griselda eventually comes full circle in her life, returning to a "prison" that is a state of mind as much as a physical reality. From Medellín to New York to Miami to Los Angeles to Irvine, La Madrina has never really been free. By the end, she realizes that she has been in prison "since the day I was born." From child abuse, to the thrill of drug running, to cocaine addiction, to a breakneck pace in trying to evade the law, Griselda only became free when she met her maker at the point she started in Medellín, Colombia. Ciao, Cara.
In the first section of the film, it is impossible not to feel empathy for Griselda, who was brutally abused as a child in Colombia, then lived in an abusive relationship with her husband in New York. She is depicted as creative in her skillful work in international drug running. Thus far, it is possible to empathize with this stalwart and indomitable character. But can she escape her metaphorical prison?
There is a turning point where La Madrina becomes vindictive and guilty of a hubris that eventually leads her to be responsible for 200 murders. One of the early victims is the father of the girlfriend of her teenage son. It is at that point in the film that the audience loses any empathy for a powerful woman, whose lapses in judgment led to cocaine addiction and gratuitous violence in order to maintain her foothold in the drug-running enterprise of Miami. One of the most touching relationships in the film is Griselda's relationship with Carolina, a woman who genuinely loves her. But, eventually, Griselda even turns on Carolina, who was her greatest source of support.
A major cinematic reference in the film is Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather, Part II." Griselda names her fourth son Michael after Al Pacino's character, Michael Corleone. But there is a major difference between Michael Corleone, who at least struggles with the guilt of his crimes and makes an effort to turn his crime family into a legitimate business enterprise.
By contrast, Griselda and her tag-team partner, Pablo Escobar, are a pair of amoral, one-dimensional crime lords. The paranoia that results in the wanton killing a family and two children, as well as the notorious Dadeland Mall Massacre of July 11, 1979, reveal the paranoia of a woman who really does not understand the uses of power. Ironically, her major takeaway from "The Godfather, Part II" is Don Ciccio's line, "don't even leave a seed" from your enemies, which only reveals her stupidity and lack of vision.
Griselda eventually comes full circle in her life, returning to a "prison" that is a state of mind as much as a physical reality. From Medellín to New York to Miami to Los Angeles to Irvine, La Madrina has never really been free. By the end, she realizes that she has been in prison "since the day I was born." From child abuse, to the thrill of drug running, to cocaine addiction, to a breakneck pace in trying to evade the law, Griselda only became free when she met her maker at the point she started in Medellín, Colombia. Ciao, Cara.