La Vida Loca (2008)
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A documentary follows Mara 18 members near San Salvador as some try to leave gang life behind amid cycles of violence and repression.
The story
Near San Salvador, the documentary follows the everyday lives of men and women belonging to Mara 18. Their world is shaped by shootouts, funerals, reprisals, police checks and prison sentences, while police acknowledge that a purely repressive response cannot end the conflict. The film also tracks members who want to turn away from crime and build a different life through work at a bakery. Their hopes unfold against a cycle in which each settling of scores prompts retaliation, as authorities consider the need for reintegration programs for young people caught up in gang life.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
This documentary portrays the everyday lives of the men and women belonging to Mara 18, near San Salvador. Their lives are marked by shootouts, funerals, reprisals, police checks, prison sentences, and being hauled off in a police van. The film also shows the police at work, acknowledging their inability to stem this war through a purely repressive policy; the police chief calls for reintegration programs for young people in these gangs, who are caught up in a vicious cycle: every settling of scores is followed by retaliation from the other side... We also follow the stories of people who belong to Mara but now wish to repent, work in the bakery, and leave crime behind. Unfortunately, the gangster who came up with the idea for the bakery is arrested and charged with homicide—a symbol of the unrestrained police crackdown, which is doing little to bring the country out of the violence, despite what some would have people believe...
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