This was really good. Great acting by real street kids and a very cool 1980's Columbian punk soundtrack. Also disturbing considering the last sentence of the review below.
The first Colombian film to be selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Rodrigo D is a shockingly accurate and timely portrayal of the reckless existence of youths in one of the most exciting and dangerous cities in Latin America, if not the world -- Medellin, Colombia. Backed with a frenetic punk rock soundtrack, the film centers around Rodrigo, a would-be drummer, and his friends who are trapped in the violence and drugs which define their turbulent lifestyle.
Compared favorably with the neorealist classics The Bicycle Thief and Los Olvidados, Victor Gaviria's first film succeeds stunningly in painting a vivid picture of Medellin's stark contrasts: all high-rises and lush gardens in the valleys and impoverished barrios strewn up the mountainside.
The film's actors are essentially local teenagers playing themselves -- eight of whom were killed shortly after production was completed, attesting to the tragic realism of the gripping film.
