I was lucky enough to see this movie at my college theater on the big screen. I must warn that I am a bit bias due to my addiction of the documentary / docudrama genera in general. I have always enjoyed true stories more than fictitious ones. With the releases of "City of God" and "Bus 174" recently, my eyes and mind have been opened to the extreme violence that has been fueled by poverty and gaining perpetual motion in many South American cities since the seventies. La Sierra focuses on a bloody civil conflict, in the surrounding hills of Medellin, Columbia, that has confiscated over 35,000 lives in the past decade. The war is waged between left-wing guerrillas against the government and illegal right-wing paramilitary. When I say guerrilla you may picture an unshaven jungle worn drug lord with a profiteering savage mentality. In all reality they are mostly frightened teenagers, armed with fully and semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, grenades, revolvers, and 9mm's with 30 round clips, wearing Nike-Air hats and Umbro shorts fighting for neighborhood territory in a war in a society that few understand. I grew up listening to gangsta rap and the whole thug life concept. Outside of Hollywood and the American prison system anyone who says their life is a product of this poison (e.g. studio gangsters) deserves to be slapped and exiled. The sheer lack of opportunity is the reason many psychologists believe South American children are growing up on the streets and murdering each other simply to attract attention. I almost feel that North Americans should be mandated to watch movies like this; since our luxurious lifestyle is essentially the reason why our brothers and sisters south of us have so little and are forced to sell their forests, resources, and bodies to survive.