In a world subjected more and more to violence, with the established societies not able to provide appropriate answers to social and political conflicts, ordinary people try to protect their normality by building walls. Tall, barbed wired walls, with armed guards behind which the apparently normal life – with children playing games and going to school and adults indulging into the pleasures of comfortable routine – can continue. To what extent are these walls efficient may be measured by statistics that show if crime or violence are lowered by building them. There is another factor and effect however that is harder to measure – what is the psychological impact upon the ones who are supposed to be protected by these walls? To what extent are the people protected by the walls really free? What is their relation to the world outside – morally? legally? Can normality of life be really protected by walls?Those generic questions get some answers in the Mexican director Rodrigo Pla's first film, applauded by critics and the jury of the Film Festival in Venice, a story about a well-doing urban community in Mexico who build a wall around their district and protect themselves in a vigilante manner. A state within another state unable to protect its privileged citizens. When intruders almost accidentally break into the protected area, the inevitable happens, and the members of the community are faced with the dilemma of continuing to protect their way of life at the cost of covering the killings of the not-so-innocent intruders and chasing the sole teenage survivor of the incident.Pla's efficient film making and good acting keep the interest awake for the whole duration of this film, despite the rather expected story line and the conventional characters. It is however the questions that can be asked beyond the immediate details of the story that provide value, questions about the balance between the need for normality and the price to pay in order to earn it, about the rights of all members of society not only to a quite life but also to basic living conditions and equal chances, about the moment when the power of law is superseded by the laws of power. The story may happen in Mexico but it is true and actual for many other places in the world.

There is nothing wrong with the synopsis, the "gated community" - dilemma could be delivered with a twist like this, no doubt. But the problem is how it is executed.There is not one character here with any kind of depth whatsoever. Its all one-dimensional cardboard-pieces responding to some really incoherent twists of the plot.The dialogue is embarrassingly bad sometimes and the actors fight to get some kind of guidance in their performances. The story kind of wants to be both drama and suspense-thriller but fails on both parts.Not that a drama cant be in the vein of a thriller and vice versa. (Check out Buenos Aires 1977 for some chilling thrills and high drama.)The stage is great though. The scenes of the clean cut streets clashing with the outside slums is alone thought-provoking. And the watchful eye of the surveillance-camera is perhaps tiresome by now but never the less effective here. But thats hardly a reason to spend time and money on this shoddy piece.

In Mexico City, a wealthy compound is surrounded by walls and surveillance system to protect the locals against the violence of the slums. During a stormy night, a billboard falls over the wall and three smalltime thieves cross the border through the breach to rob. They break into a house and kill an old lady; the residents organize militias to chase the delinquents. Two of them and one security guard are murdered by the vigilantes, but the sixteen year old Miguel (Alan Chávez) hides in the basement of the teenager Alejandro (Daniel Tovar). When Alejandro finds Miguel, he feeds and helps the boy, but it is impossible to escape from the Zone."La Zone" reflects the life in a Third World big city, where the afraid middle-class lives in houses, compounds and buildings surrounded and under siege of slums and protected by walls, fences and gates. Further, it shows the corruption in the police, where the work of an honest policeman is affected by the general corruption. This drama unravels how dangerous might be the principle of an eye for en eye and when common people becomes vigilantes. The performances are very realistic, giving a total credibility to the plot. The DVD released by the Brazilian distributor Dreamland Filmes has a problem and for accessing the last chapter, the viewer needs to go to "Scene Selection" in the Menu, otherwise the DVD stops. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Zona do Crime" ("Zone of the Crime")

La Zona is one of those rare films which grips you from the start and doesn't let go till the end credits roll up. It is also a rare example of a thriller and social drama which delivers on both fronts.La Zona are residential compounds in Mexico for the rich and the affluent. They have their own security system and guards and even law, thus separating them from the normal law of the land. These "zones" are real and do exist in Mexico city. The one depicted in the film is separated from the slum neighbourhood by large concrete walls and barbed wire. An accident causes one of the power pylons next to the Zone to collapse thus paving an entry for three young petty thieves from the slums to enter the Zone to make a quick burglary. Things go wrong, however, and two of the boys are shot dead while the third manages to escape from the burgled house but not from the zone.We then follow the search for the boy, by the residents (who intend to kill him) and the cops, who are mostly corrupt ready to turn a blind eye for the right sum. The Zone is a superbly tense thriller and a damning indictment of the social system in Mexico. The residents in these zones appear to be totally cut off from the reality outside; a nice contrast is a golf course inside the Zone from which the players get a panoramic view of the slums.It is hard to believe that this is the feature debut of its director Rodrigo Pla. It's one of the most accomplished feature debuts that I have ever seen and you can be certain that Rodrigo Pla's name is going to be much better known in the coming years.