THREAD — A CLOSER LOOK — SICARIO

On the surface, Sicario is an excellent action-thriller flick about the war on drugs, centering in the Mexican-American border. But kn a deeper level it’s a film that raises questions about morales, good & evil, and relativity.

From the very first frames Denis Villeneuve introduces the theme of relativity, telling us how can the same word have different meanings in different places.

The film opens on a mostly beige image, a color that is everywhere on this film. Denis and Deakins use beige to symbolize the ambiguity of morality and right & wrong. A very important theme of the film.

Beige color in ‘Sicario’

Kate (Emily Blunt) is an idealistic FBI agent who loves to do things by the book and has a strict moral code. That’s why the first time we see her is in a dark police van with beams of light on her.

At the begging of the film, Kate is always dressed in blue, a color that symbolize law, order and good. But as the film progresses and she breaks, she starts smoking and this blue fades until it becomes a washed grey.

Another character who wears blue is the incorruptible Reggie (Daniel Kaluuya)

When Kate “works by the book” against the orders of Matt, she is shot in black & white. An interesting decision true to her character.

Kate is a character that I cannot call the protagonist of the film. Sicario is a film that never tells you who to root for, like Denis Villeneuve other films you have to makeup your own mind.

On the beige ambiguous side there is Matt Graves (Josh Brolin) the unorthodox leader of the mission. Matt is always dressed in beige, telling us about his neutral and ambiguous point of view.

Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) is the most interesting character in my opinion. He is introduced in a beige suit like Matt, but underneath it he wears a dark shirt; hinting his dark past and nature.

When he comes to Mexico he takes off his beige jacket as he becomes what he really is. In a shot just showing him do that.

Kate’s parallel is Silvio. Like her he’s shaped by the environment, still have some humanity & is used.

Denis never tells if Silvio is good or bad, we have to form our opinion on this.

Every moment in Sicario builds towards the climax, a climax that is not an action sequence but a quite conversation between Alejandro & Kate. A test for her morale code that she fails but only under the threat of death.

In this scene, Alejandro in the dark and shows while Kate is wearing a washed grey shirt and is shot to a white background showing her innocence and vulnerability.

I think the real test is in the next scene where Kate refuses to shoot Alejandro and become like him.

Denis Villeneuve is a master of ending his films; Sicario ends with a football match between still innocent children. Unlike the adult world there’s two clear sides with rules.

The game is interrupted with far gunshots, a world that they must face.

End of Thread