Dope.
Let’s face it, as long as most of them are still illegal movies like this will be made.
And that is just fine for the multi-millionaires that manufacture them. And for the generally poor [or barely middle class] folks alienated by the bleak sterility of the “modern world” who use them. And that is just fine for those employed by the prison industrial complex. These folks thrive on dope arrests. Either in regard to the folks who use them or the folks who commit crimes against the rest of us in order to make that possible.
And the “war on drugs”? How long has that been going on?
Next up: The Wall.
The film is based – more or less loosely? – on actual events from the 1980s. And doesn’t that speak volumes given the fact that our “drug problem” has only gotten worse. In Mexico for example. Among other things, some will argue, it is ripping that nation apart. And we all know who that dope is being made for, don’t we?
And, in particular, the film explores the world of the undercover operative. And that is all about the extent to which you can effectively create an alternative self [personality, persona] such that your life itself literally depends on how well you can pull it off. In other words, look for Donnie Brasco. And then there is this part: who can you trust? Really trust? And the part where, in interracting with the “bad guys”, you find yourself actually coming to…befriend them? At least on some level.
And then you stab them in the back.
But, let’s face it, some of these guys do what they do because of all that shit. It has almost nothing to do with the money. It’s more about keeping the adrenaline pumping…
Basically these guys – the bad guys – embody the nihlistic mentality of the sociopath: It’s all about the money. It’s all about “what’s in it for me”? Go ahead, try to enlighten them regarding, for example, the philosophical parameters of ethics.
Finally, this part:
Title card: The CIA maintained secret accounts at BCCI. These accounts funded the Iran Contra War and the Afghan Freedom Fighters [the Taliban] war against Russia. Operastion C-Chase led to the collapse of the seventh largest bank in the world.
IMDb
[b]In Breaking Bad, the characters of Hank and Walt Jr. both mention a book written by the real Robert Mazur who actor Bryan Cranston plays in this movie.
During an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015), host Colbert asked star Bryan Cranston if he thinks he’ll get into heaven. Cranston answered: “Not after what I did in Tampa” referencing unspecified circumstances during the shooting of this film in that city.
Working undercover for two years, Robert Mazur struggled to remain cool in the face of life and death situations. “From the outside, it probably looked like I was medicated, but inside my head, fireworks were going off,” he said. During one Cartel meeting, Mazur remembered, “Rudy [Armbrecht] told me if I ever turned on them, there wasn’t a hole deep enough on this planet that I could hide in. I knew the man he used to work for, Gerardo Moncada, was tortured to death. I also knew that if I acted scared, these criminals have a sixth sense. They can smell fear.”
Corrupt banking practices have metastasized over the ensuing decades since Robert Mazur’s 1980s mission, as evidenced by the recent “Panama Papers” leak. Dating back to the 1970s, the secret files document how major international banks continue to hide money in more than two hundred secret off-shore shell companies, without questioning the sources of their clients’ income. International banks including BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered Bank, Lloyd’s, ING, ABN Amro, Credit Suisse, Barclays, RBS, HSBC, UBS, and Wachovia / Wells Fargo have all paid fines for failing to report suspicious money transfers. “We lack the political will to do anything about it,” Mazur observed.
During Robert Mazur’s real life training with the Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), before he joined the U.S. Customs Office of Enforcement, Mazur learned an invaluable lesson about creating an undercover alias. “I’ll never forget when an IRS special agent told me ‘Do as much as you can personally to build your own identity and do not rely on the government’.” By way of illustration, Robert Mazur said: “If you let someone in the government get you a credit card, there’s going to be a red flag in a file somewhere at American Express saying ‘If this card becomes overdrawn, contact Special Agent so and so.’ The people I infiltrated had very high-level contacts. They’ve bought presidents of countries. It would be easy for them to get somebody in charge of American Express to give them information.”
Robert Mazur (played in the film by Bryan Cranston) credits Dominic (portrayed in the movie by Joseph Gilgun), the mob enforcer posing as his chauffeur, with invaluable fashion tips. “Dominic told me where to buy my clothes,” said Mazur, who paid for the expensive suits out of his own pocket. “The government does not outfit you with new clothes. As a Customs Agent there was no way I would have paid that kind of money for a couple of suits, but this stuff helped keep me alive.”[/b]
IMDb trivia: imdb.com/title/tt1355631/tri … tt_trv_trv
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Infil … (2016_film
trailer: youtu.be/N7_M4hjXW1I
THE INFILTRATOR [2016]
Directed by Brad Furman
[b]Waitress: Hey, you know, the last guy that paid me, he paid me with a gram.
Robert: A gram? Jesus…
Waitress: A gram. This guy, he told me he didn’t carry money anymore because money was old-fashioned. He said that money was done. And that what we needed was a new…Oh, fuck, what’s that word?
Robert: A new what?
Waitress: Like a new…Like a, you know… Come on.
Robert: Oh, I know. No, I know what you mean.
[he hands her a packet of dope]
Robert: What we need is a new currency.
…
Vicky: So, Bobby, tell me. How much you get? Come on.
Robert: Aunt Vicky, we have been through this. I work for the government.
Vicky: You don’t get a piece of the action?
Robert: No. A piece of the action?
Vicky: What, 10, 20%?
Robert: No, not a dime.
Vicky: Ah… And they call us criminals.
…
Bonni [to a room filled with customs agents]: When I say bad, I mean the County Morgue had to rent Burger King’s refrigerated trucks to ice all the dead bodies littering our sunny streets. Score: Cartel 100, Customs zero. Meet with your connects, talk to your informants, do your job. All right, out, out, out. Everybody out.
…
Abreu: I got this money broker, Gonzalo Mora Jr., who can connect us with some…
Robert: Okay, let me guess, you have a Colombian snitch who gave you that name?
Abreu: They prefer to be called informants…
Robert: I know what they prefer to be called. How much is you offer?
Abreu: 250K.
Robert: $250,000 for…
Abreu: What do you care? Is it coming out of your pocket? Yeah, nobody said the war on drugs was gonna be cheap, bro.
Robert: These people who sell information, they walk on the dirty side of the street. And then they cross over to the side that’s been swept. But their shoes always stay muddy.
Abreu: Is that Shakespeare?
…
Robert: Steve, I’ve been thinking. I think that we’ve been doing this backwards. We’ve been following the drugs to get to the bad guys. What if we chase the money to get to the bad guys? The real power up at the top.[/b]
In other words, become the money launderers.
[b]Robert: Look, Dom. I don’t care who you work for right now. I really don’t. I’m not here for that.
Dominic: Right, so what do you want, Bob?
Robert: When you cooperated before, it led to drugs off the street, and a lot of punks right here in this shithole that you call your home.
Dominic: Sorry, Bobby, I can’t rat.
Roberty: I’m not asking you to rat.
Dominic: Can’t do it.
Robert: I’m asking you to just act.
Dominic: Like fucking what?
Robert: Like you. Just be yourself. I need you.
…
Robert: You Okay?
Evelyn [wife]: Promise me this is the last one.
Robert: I promise.
Evelyn: Good.
…
Laundering the money:
Robert: My financial structure is already in place. So, you invest with me and a portion of your money stays put while the majority of your cash gets filtered through my businesses so that you are able to do with it what you please.
Mora: We don’t park cash. That isn’t the way we do business.
Robert: Mr. Mora, with all due respect, it’s the way I do business. Now, I’ve checked your transactions. Large sums to companies like Southern Air Transport, that raises the Feds’ antennae. It looks like one big money laundering machine. And that’s not what you want. That’s not bueno. However, smaller sums with more frequent deposits through my companies fly right under the radar of the Feds. You know why? Because all of my companies are legitimate. Capisce? I cannot allow my businesses and your money to be compromised.
…
Abreu: A fiance, Bob? Huh? Are you kidding me? A fucking fi-an-ce.
Robert: I’m a married man.
Abreu: Bob, you’re undercover. You gotta do whatever the fuck you gotta do, man. You should have fucked that stripper, fucking do a line of coke, anything to stay alive, man. You got the best fucking job in the world. I can’t believe I have to talk you into this shit. Bob, I know these people, man. You gotta play with them, you gotta drink with them, you gotta fuck with them. That’s the way you get their trust.
Robert: Hey, I’m alive, aren’t I?
Abreu: Oh, my God, you’re a piece of work, Bob. You’re a fucking piece of work. I mean, why are you even doing this, Bob? Why do you even bother? I mean, I heard about the retirement they offered you. You, he wife, and kids, you guys could be playing cricket on a yacht, eating early…Whatever it is that fucking white people do when you retire.
Robert: Why are you doing this?
Abreu: Man, because I love this shit. That’s why, baby. It’s my fucking drug of choice. Let me tell you something, nobody, nobody does it better than me. So, listen to me sometimes, will you?
…
Dominic: Let me remind you of something, Bobby, all right. You’re a fucking poser, and so are you Emir. And that faggot out there…You fuck this up, he’ll kill you, he’ll kill your fucking wife, and your two kids. And do the same to this asshole here, and then he’s gonna kill me. You understand? You understand?!
Robert: Yeah.
…
Ian [BCCI CEO… after being told Robert’s clients product is cocaine]: Mr. Bilgrami and Mr. Awan have taken good care of you?
Robert: Yes, yes. Excellent.
Ian: Good. Because BCCI is a reputable bank.
Robert: Look, I assure you…
Ian: No, no. No assurances from you. Only from us. Please, take a seat. We buy gold or diamonds, keep them in our secure vaults or we could send your money to Paris or our headquarters in London, other banks around the globe, deposit it, wire transfer to Panama. We like to be nimble with our clients’ cash. How does that sound?
Robert: Sounds like I came to the right bank.
…
Abreu: Okay, here we go. Let’s play this newlywed game. All right, Kathy, what do you know about your handsome fiance Bob? Favorite drink?
Kathy [his new “fiancé”]: He’s a whiskey kind of guy.
Robert: And she’s a Manhattan girl.
Abreu: All right, that was too damn easy. All right. Food she hates?
Robert: Uh… Yogurt.
Kathy: No. I love yogurt.
Robert: I thought you said you hated yogurt?
Kathy: I hate sour cream. And mayonnaise.
Robert: Sour cream and mayonnaise. Noted.
…
Evelyn: That was the most degrading, vicious, disgusting thing I have ever seen you do.
Robert: I know. I’m sorry. I never wanted you to see that.[/b]
It was appalling. But, really, what choice did he have?
[b]Robert: My paperwork for Southern Air Transport has to be in place. In order to do that we need to make it look like I manage your money.
Barry: Listen, friend, I never fuck on the first date. Walmart on every block. Smack dab in milk and honey land. America the beautiful. Only we don’t get to the see the filth on the other side of the store. The sewage of civilization. Hell, man, if it wasn’t for the churches,
this whole fucking place would just die. You know, the Good Book? It says, “Don’t steal, don’t lie.” Well, who’s that written for? You know, we pray for a good clean life, a list of do’s or don’ts, and we act like animals. All of us. And Nancy Reagan with her holier-than-thou “just say no to drugs” bullshit. Ronny, you know, he should’ve stayed the Gipper. He’s nothing but a two-faced drug pusher.
…
Roberto [to Robert]: …got to tell you, I would have been a chef, but America put me in this business. It’s their fault I’m not wearing an apron, sweating my balls off in some kitchen somewhere. But no demand, no supply. And there are a lot of folks with noses. God gave us free will, so who am I to stand in the way of someone who wants to indulge in self-destructive behavior. The politicians think it’s a drug war, shoot them up, Dirty Harry, but I say it’s a business like any other. Profits up, people come, profits down, they leave, by any means necessary. The only difference is, in my business, nothing good ever comes in the absence of trust.
…
Tom Brokaw [on TV]: He used to smuggle drugs. Then he got caught and he became one of the government’s most valuable informants in the war against cocaine. But Barry Seal’s enemies caught up with him and killed him. Tonight, three men are in custody. NBC’s Brian Ross reports that Seal was about to testify for the government once again. Authorities believe machine-gun killing of top drug informant Barry Seal was ordered by drug bosses in Medellin, Colombia, who sent five men to kill Seal.
…
Roberto: All of my cash, this economic renaissance, this new Miami. The economy is addicted to drugs. You know who’s the biggest money launderer in the US?
Robert: Well, I thought it was me. No?
Roberto: No. Your Federal Reserve Bank. It’s called the anonymous window. They accept pallet loads of cash that used to be drug pesos, hundreds of millions of dollars from my country’s central bank, no questions asked. If your government didn’t have my dirty money, your economy would collapse. You know, Bob, I think I’m going to introduce you to Pablo.
…
Andrea [Robert’s daughter handing him an envelope leaking blood]: Daddy? Something’s dripping.
…
Dominic [to Robert]: These people are fucking nuts. I know I sound like a broken record, but I fucking heard it and I’ve seen it. You think you understand. You fucking don’t. These people are not fucking cops, Bobby, all right? They will make you die for days and they’ve got fucking good at it. You know what? They cut off your fingers. They cut off your toes. They inject you with that fucking adrenalin shit so you don’t pass out before any of that. Man, they cut open your fucking eyes so you can’t shut them, and then they’re gonna bring in your little fucking family. They’ll cut your son’s head off with a cheese wire. They’ll do the same to your little girl. And then, they’ll cut your wife’s tits off right in front of you and they won’t feel a fucking thing. Last but not least, they’re gonna cut your fucking head off and send it to your buddies down at Customs.
…
Evelyn [to Robert]: You could have retired, couldn’t you? You made a choice. And this is mine.
…
Roberto: I don’t wanna talk about business on such a beautiful day, but I must have that money.
Robert: Escobar sent me his calling card. A bloody coffin.
Roberto: I apologize for my associate’s indiscretion, but as your friend, I beg you to get him his money. Without it, he is an animal.
Robert: And I’m asking you to tell Don Chepe to deliver a message to Escobar that I do not do business under threat.
Roberto: Well, at this point, unfortunately, neither you nor I are in a position to dictate terms to Don Pablo.
…
Ian: I was admiring your briefcase. May I have a look?
Robert: Of course.
Ian: Renwick.
Robert: Renwick.
Ian: I wouldn’t mind one of these. Is it expensive?
Robert: Priceless.
…
Ospina: Bankers, all they are is crooked men with capes. Only they have suits, like Superman. Except, they’re maybe like the Joker. They are crooked thieves with crooked cocks. Their penises are crooked. I’m gonna come back to this table, and when I come back, I’m gonna be completely invisible.
Robert: Ospina. That’s enough.
Ospina: You broke my heart, Bob.
…
Kathy: What did Ospina do?
Robert: He embarrassed them.
…
Kathy: Who was that young guy?
Robert: That was Don Chepe. More importantly, the other man is Pablo Escobar.
Kathy: You gotta be fucking kidding me.
…
Robert: What are you doing here?
Roberto: When the heat is on, you get out of the fire. Except, I’m a chef, I’m always in the fire. Besides, you’re not talking to Roberto Alcaino. I am now Fernando Alvarez. Wanna see my Argentinian passport?
Robert: Roberto, I’m glad you’re here. But there is a part of me that wishes you hadn’t taken that risk.
Roberto: Without family or friends, what kind of world would this be? There would be no reason to be alive.
…
Gloria: You traitors! You will fucking regret this! You hear me! You’ll live to regret this!
Robert: Take them away.
Gloria: You will regret this!!
…
Von Rabb [being interviewed by a reporter]: Well, the drug dealers have said that, your children are the business of their future. America needs to stop this scourge. And these arrests are a big step in that direction.
…
Title card: Robert Mazur testified in trials that took place in New York, Tampa and London. More than 100 bankers and drug traffickers were criminally charged.[/b]