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Friday, March 21, 2008

Sites of Resistance



Last night I watched the Danish film GUERRILLA GIRL (2005). It is is the story of a young girl who enters the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC), the largest insurgent group in Colombia. With unprecedented access, Danish director Frank P. Poulsen follows a training course for future guerrilla soldiers, describing the transformation of a middle-class city-girl having to adapt to strict military training, Marxist ideology and primitive conditions of life.

In a post 9/11 context, the U.S. State Department and other non-government organisations have labelled FARC a "terrorist organization, engaging in terrorist activity including murder, hostage-taking and violent destruction of property". The film elevates the discussion beyond the specific, and in a further perspective deals with the underlying social and political basis of terrorism, in a very humane way.

Unsettling and unforgettable, this film captures with intensity the remarkable metamorphosis the guerrilla recruits undergo, during the 3 month basic training course. From her first arrival to the hidden guerrilla camp, we follow the main character, Isabel, in her quest to become a part of this ideological organisation, and thereby renouncing life as she knows it. It is the classic tale of losing ones innocence, a propelling human interest story.

GUERRILLA GIRL is a critical anti-war-film, from a distant world that people usually have sporadic conceptions or weak prejudice about. From deep within the Colombian jungle, we get the first cinematic in-depth look at the life, trials and tribulations of young men and women who are lead into an ideologically narrow and dangerous life cycle.

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