The actors of the conflict by Lisandro Duque

Another movie on the armed conflict? This was the question that Colombian film specialists asked themselves when the premiere of Los Actores del Conflicto was announced, and, even though the answer was affirmative, this time the theme retained originality due to a bold and recursive direction.

The film shows two edges of the same problem. On the one hand stands the theme of the Colombian armed conflict, which confronts Colombian guerrillas, paramilitaries and politicians - whom the mass media, in a euphemistic way, recognize as “the actors of the conflict”. To represent these ‘actors’ (the title of the film is satirical), Duque uses some real actors, in this case theatre ones, to show the complexity of a war that exceeds 40 years of history. On the other hand, the problem of artists living in poor economic conditions is brought up. The complicated decision taken by the actors, of selling weapons to the guerrillas in order to obtain economic ressources, is a reflection of this situation.

The film has a humorous tone; and yet it provides a critical look at the Colombian reality. The difficult situations that the actors have to deal with when they are kidnapped by the guerrillas are a good example of this. The weak point of the film, no doubt, is its lack of cinematographic quality, mostly due to a poor video image. Nevertheless, this makes it interesting, for the conflict that Duque criticized is still in force.

Vivian Murcia González