werner herzog
Monos (2019)
Another example of the impressive cinematic talent coming out of Latin/South America. This one has touches of the usual suspects — Herzog, Jodorowsky — and, sure, a bit of Apocalypse Now and Lord of the Flies stirred in. But the familiar is wrapped in disarmingly new and fascinating perspectives. Monos comes with multi-layered messages built-in, the most present being how battles are often fought without any clear cause or aim to advantage those who do the fighting. All soldiers are often child soldiers in this regard. The cinematography is gorgeous and the Mica Levi score is used at a minimum for maximum impact. Stunning. *
‘People were dropping like flies’: why Monos was the decade’s most brutal film shoot