Miss Bala: A Pretty Face Joins An Ugly War

Miss Bala

Directed By: Gerardo Naranjo

Written By: Gerardo Naranjo and Mauricio Katz

Starring:  Stephanie Sigman and Noe Hernandez

Director of Photography: Matyas Erdely, Editor: Gerardo Naranjo, Art Direction: Ivonne Fuentes, Original Music: Emilio Kauderer

Rated: R for bloody, truthful violence.

There’s a strong dynamic between two very different worlds at the heart of Miss Bala, a Mexican crime saga from director Gerardo Naranjo. Laura, a young woman who has been forced to help a powerful drug lord, watches as a DEA agent is run over, dragged through the street, and hung over a highway, his corpse bloodied and barely hanging together. The drug lords then take her to a fixed beauty pageant, where the bright lights practically blind her, the atmosphere of the event promoting youth, beauty, and love.

This clash of universes, and the fallacy between them, centers the powerfully shot but somewhat hollow drama, which made a splash on the festival circuit last year.Naranjo made some headlines in 2008 with I’m Gonna Explode, a unique exploration of youth and class with the powerful energy adapted from Godard’s Pierret Le Fou (full disclosure; I worked on the subtitles for I’m Gonna Explode while interning for IFC Films). Here, Naranjo is in somewhat stripping down the crime thriller to its essentials—the Italian mafia film Gomorrah might be this film’s distant cousin—though it indulges with its cinematic excess. The outcome is a somewhat mixed result that may interest audiences with its bizarre but true story of a beauty queen involved in the drug war, but rarely finds a way to outlive its genre ties and speak candidly about the issues it raises.

New York Film Festival: Gerardo Naranjo's Miss Bala

Miss Bala

A Film By Gerardo Naranjo

Mexico

            The clash of situations is at the heart of Miss Bala, a Mexican crime saga from director Gerardo Naranjo. Laura, a young woman who has been forced to help a powerful drug lord, watches as a DEA agent is run over, dragged through the street, and hung over a highway. The drug lords then take her to a fixed beauty pageant, where the bright lights practically blind her and the atmosphere promises youth, beauty, and love, which couldn’t clash more with the men controlling her lives.

            But clash is also one of the fatal flaws of this gorgeously shot but somewhat hollow film. Mr. Naranjo made a huge splash at the New York Film Festival in 2008 with I’m Gonna Explode, a unique exploration of youth and class with the powerful energy adapted from Godard’s Pierret Le Fou. Here, Mr. Naranjo is in somewhat stripping down the crime thriller to its essentials—another NYFF hit, Gomorrah, might be this film’s distant cousin—though it indulges through its camera. The outcome is a somewhat mixed result that may interest audiences with its bizarre but true story of a beauty queen involved in the drug war, but rarely finds a uniquely statement on the terrible situation.