The Legend of Shorty

Dir: Angus Macqueen, Guillermo Galdos

2014

***

In February 2014 the infamous drugs baron and public enemy number one Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman (known as Shorty as a boy) was captured by the combined force of the US and Mexican governments. It took them over thirteen years to finally track him down but it only took film makers Angus Macqueen and Guillermo Galdos a few months. The Legend of Shorty asks how it should be that public enemy number one is so easily found by way of exploring his legend, picking it apart and also adding to it. The film's soundtrack acts as quite a clever narration, Jackson Scott was hired to write folk-style songs telling the story of El Chapo's bloody history. The film makers get startlingly close to the cartels and El Chapo's inner circle. We see how drugs are packed up and smuggled, how much they are worth and how they are distributed and who is selling them. We even see an interview with El Chapo's aging parents, neither one having a bad word said about him, he is clearly good because he looks after them in their eyes. This makes for surreal and frustrating viewing. To balance this out there are interviews with journalists such as Anabel Hernandez who explain exactly what El Chapo is responsible for and how he gets away with it, suggesting that he is essentially free to do as he pleases for the right price. This is what Macquee and Galdos' clearly want to get out there, they do it well without ever having to say it themselves. It is quite clear that El Chapo has got away with his crimes and has escaped prison because he has paid the right people. Indeed, although Macquee and Galdos were both pipped at the post by the authorities El Chapo miraculously escaped later that year. I'm not sure I liked the overall structure of the documentary, it kind of builds up to an event that never really happens and although it is entertaining and interesting, there is always that anti-climax looming overhead. The story certainly isn't over just yet but at least eyes are now focused on those that declare a person public enemy number one just as much as public enemy number one themselves.