It was originally published in the third issue of "Watching a Movie·Midnight Scene" in 2016. It is limited to the length of the magazine. I always feel that I have not explained it thoroughly.
From May to September 2015, the American film "Border Killer" directed by French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve was screened successively at the Cannes Film Festival in France and the United States. The US$30 million film won acclaim, was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, and nominated for Best Photography at the 88th Oscars, and it swept US$80 million in the global box office. Britain’s best-selling film magazine "Empire" even included it in the top ten movies of the year. Judging from the subject matter and plot, it seems to be a crime film or an action film, but in fact it has a more grand narrative background—the United States’ anti-drug war.
I am the blade and you are the chess piece
In history, the United States and Mexico have been at odds with each other, and there have also been wars. After the Mexican government no longer "delusions," drugs have once again made the US-Mexico border a sensitive area. In 1971, US President Nixon launched the "War on Drugs", focusing on fighting drug lords in Latin American countries. The reason why it is called "war" is not simply a crime-fighting operation, not only because of the direct intervention and assistance of the US intelligence agencies and the US military, but also because its geographical scope spans international and intercontinental, and the time range has continued to this day. .
"Border Killer" fictionalized a segment of the American war on drugs: after the raid in Chandler, Arizona, female agents of the FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT, also known as the "Thunderbolt" team)" "Kate Messer" was transferred by her boss to a task force constructed by the Special Operations Group of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to jointly combat drug trafficking organizations along the U.S.-Mexico border. During the period, she met an unidentified "consultant" who was actually the former Mexican prosecutor "Alejandro" who performed the assassination mission. In the end, with the participation of the US special forces "Delta", the task force destroyed the drug tunnel along the US-Mexico border. "Alejandro" achieved revenge with the assassination, and the US government also achieved its goal of purging the border order. "Meser" discovered with horror and sadness that in the anti-drug operation, he was nothing but a "pawn" used by the government.
Both the CIA and FBI are American intelligence systems. Generally speaking, the CIA is mainly external, while the FBI is affiliated to the Ministry of Justice, which is at the same level as the CIA. It mainly internally, but also has the power to investigate overseas affairs. The Director of the CIA is also the chairman of the US Intelligence Council and is responsible for coordinating the work of 13 intelligence agencies across the country, including the FBI, but he can only coordinate and not command. The CIA has no domestic law enforcement powers unless there are other personnel with domestic law enforcement powers participating in the operation. In the movie, the CIA had to pull on the FBI's "Messe" to obtain the law enforcement power for raids on the tunnels of drug transport on the US-Mexico border. "Meser" also became a "chess piece" without knowing it.
For viewers in centralized countries, the atmosphere of strong government coercive power will make them feel that the CIA's actions in movies are superfluous. In a country under the rule of law such as the United States, when the government needs to exercise coercive power, "procedural justice" is a principle that must be observed, even if it is used in disguise and reduced to a formality.
Killing intent in elite weapons
The anti-drug warfare is a low-intensity armed conflict, so the highlight of the equipment in "Border Killer" has become a variety of light weapons and civilian vehicles. All kinds of heavy weapons and vehicles, such as the U.S. M1025 "Humvee" assault vehicle, M923 type military truck, and the Canadian-made "Grizzly" wheeled general-purpose armored personnel carrier, only appear in the form of "a glimpse."
In the movie, the heroes and heroines seem to prefer Austrian Glock products. "Meser"'s personal self-defense weapon is "Glock" 19-type 9mm pistol, "Alejandro" is equipped with "Glock" 17-type 9mm pistol. Perhaps to ensure that one shot was killed, when the drug lord "Fusto Alarcon" and his family were killed, he switched to the German "Heckler-Koch" Mk 23 11.43 mm pistol, and was equipped with it. silencer. In the film, Mexican drug trafficking militants are also equipped with Belgian FN 57N 5.7 mm pistol, Swiss "Sig Sauer" P226 DAK 9 mm pistol, and Italian "Beretta" 92FS 9 mm pistol.
During the Chandler raid, the US FBI sniper used the "Remington" 700 PSS 7.62 sniper rifle, equipped with the "Leopold" Mk 4 sight. The common shotgun used in police and bandit conflicts is rare in the film. Only the gangster has used a silver "Mosberg" 590 "Sailor" No. 12 pump-action shotgun. American law enforcement officers, "Delta" Special Forces, and the Mexican Federal Police are widely equipped with American M4A1 5.56 mm carbines. The models used by the US military are mostly equipped with EOTech-type holographic sights or tactical grips. The M4A1 used by "Messe"'s boss "Matt Grave" is a special model produced by the Daniel Defense Company, equipped with Mk 18 tactical rail guards.
The excerpts of the US team extracting the drug lord "Guillermo" are extremely exciting, with a tense and smooth rhythm, fast and precise. The five black "Chevrolet" sports utility vehicles are like moving clouds and flowing water, and the distance between the vehicles is almost unchanged, as if tied together, traveling between the United States and Mexico at high speed. The Mexican Federal Police, which is responsible for receiving and covering, is equipped with the American M4A1 and "Colt" Model 933 5.56mm carbine. The "Ford" police truck is equipped with an M249 "Minimi" 5.56mm general machine gun.
In the traffic jam on the return journey, Mexican drug trafficking militants stupidly tried to take hostages, but were quickly wiped out. "Alejandro" initially used the MP5A3 9mm submachine gun, and later replaced it with the MP5SD3. The US military "Delta" special forces used the German G36C 5.56 mm assault rifle and the M4 MOE CQBR (indoor close combat receiver) assault rifle. The latter is an air gun and is therefore a pure prop. The firearms used by Mexican drug dealers include the German MP5A3 9mm submachine gun, the American M76 9mm submachine gun and the Russian-made AKMSU 7.62mm short assault rifle. They are all short and small automatic firearms, suitable for hiding in narrow spaces and being used in the car in the film, in line with tactical specifications. The drug dealers in the Mexican Federal Police used Russian-made AK-103 7.62mm assault rifles.
At the beginning of the battle fragment of the assault on the tunnels of drug transport, under the infinite sunset, US armed personnel wearing helmets equipped with night vision devices and armed with assault rifles plunged into the dark horizon with silhouette outlines. There is no majestic music, no yelling in the fierce battle. After the lens enters the night vision goggles, the battle is only left with intensive gunfire and calm information transmission on the radio. It seems that everyone has become a precise killing machine. The cold temperament of special operations.
Law has its short-term kills and its strengths
At the end of the film, "Alejandro" killed a bodyguard holding a Russian-made AKMS 7.62mm short assault rifle and sneaked into the manor of the drug lord "Alarcon". He used to be a Mexican prosecutor. "Alarcon" chopped off his wife's head and threw his daughter into a sulphuric acid bucket. In revenge, he unceremoniously shot and killed the drug lord's family. Perhaps some viewers are expecting a "humanity outbreak" for the male protagonist, giving up revenge or letting go of the drug lord's wife and child, but the director apparently chooses to be "cold to the end". "Forgiveness" is a right rather than an obligation. With the hatred of extinguishing the door, insisting on revenge or giving up revenge is human nature, but it is inhuman to demand that revenge must be given up.
In the end, the actor achieved the goal of revenge. The US government got rid of the lawless Mexican drug lord and cleaned up the border security. At the same time, the U.S. government has also fostered new drug lords and unified the chaos in the drug trade at the U.S.-Mexico border. Only "Meser", who had the idea of rule of law, could not accept this fact, but had to sign a disclaimer under the persecution of the male protagonist. When she returned from the Chandler raid, the audience might have thought that she was already a seasoned commander, but they did not expect that she would be nothing more than an unpolluted "white lotus" in the brutal killings at the border and the government's conspiracy. In fact, the "rule of law" can only exist in an orderly environment. There is the rule of law within the separation wall on the US-Mexico border, and the law of the jungle outside the separation wall is the law of the jungle. As the heroine, the image of "Messe" has gradually become naive, naive, fragile and helpless. As a result, some feminists in the audience label this movie as "straight male cancer". This kind of "feminist cancer"-style uploading guide goes online, completely ignoring reality. Some people can talk about feminism only by reasoning. Under the chaos of anarchy, it is male rationality, coldness, cruelty, killing and bloodthirsty that can solve practical problems, rather than daydreaming criticism and empty shouting.
Since Nixon started the "War on Drugs," the United States has invested $1 trillion in putting 45 million people involved in the case in prison. However, victory is still at a loss, and it seems more distant than the "war on terrorism." In the final analysis, it is because the United States is the world's largest consumer of drugs. Drugs flowed into the United States from Mexico, firearms flowed into Mexico from the United States, and 90% of the firearms illegally entered Mexico came from the United States. In the 19th century, Mexican President Diaz lamented Mexico’s misfortunes: “Too far from God and too close to the United States.” Drug cartels run rampant, shooting judges, prosecutors, police chiefs, mayors, and even policemen involved in drug trafficking. The Mexican government is helpless with the smuggling of firearms. In the movie, the scene of the naked body being hung on the bridge is not fictional, but a daily life in Mexico. Some people naively think that the US military crossing the border into Mexico to eliminate drug dealers will solve the problem, but they do not know that the only result that can be caused is that after the US military withdraws, a new batch of drug dealers will be created. Rather than sinking into the boundless quagmire, it is better to foster drug lords who can unify the situation, and then control them, instead, it can clean up the chaos on the border. What can solve this kind of problem is not the idea of judging good and evil, but the force and killing. Just like the movie's title "Sicario", it means "professional killer" in Spanish.
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