FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Bound By Honor 

Bound by Honor tells the story of Miklo, the son of a Chicano mother and a white father, who struggles to be accepted by the barrio gangs of East LA. He earns respect and spends much of his life in prison. He grows up with two cousins he calls brothers. Their lives all develop in different directions: Miklo goes to prison, Paco to the police, Cruz becomes an artist and takes drugs. And if you know enough gang films from the 90s, you'll even think you're familiar with the East L.A. milieu. And who doesn't remember when Miklos and Cruz sit in front of a mural that sums up their entire lives as the camera glides skyward? Bound By Honor is one of those films you watched as a teen and never forgot! The epic contains some effective actor performances and moments of deep truthfulness. Presumably, things are the same in prison as they are in the film. If nothing else, Taylor Hackford teaches us a lesson with his work, as the life of a hero leads us to realise that power corrupts. But if power had not corrupted Miklo's life, it would still have been wasted... Are there any role models at all in this story full of nihilism? No. One notices this especially during the passages of prison life. The guards stand on the sidelines while gangs run the institution. They make their own rules, which they execute by force. In prison there are: 1. Chicanos, 2. blacks, 3. whites. They are all portrayed in a racist way. In general, hardly anyone in this film can portray themselves outside the role imposed on them by their skin colour. Miklos' dilemma. The gangs rule through alliances and truces. Miklo's central concern is to bring about a truce between Hispanics and blacks. This way he can break the power of the whites. At first, he works together with the Chicano leader, only to become the leader himself through betrayal. Is it ever possible for a protagonist to rise above himself? To discover what it means to be human? To find out that there is more to it than allying oneself against those one hates (with those who are like oneself and in turn hate the others). The principle of the Other seems to be ghetto reality. Hackford's drama seems realistic. But does it make any sense? A vision? Does it even have to? Life may be meaningless, but isn't it up to art to find ways out? Or am I thinking in Hollywood terms? Bound By Honor is well directed and remains utterly meaningless. Basically, the film lacks a hero, although everything revolves around this hero. There is a zero number at the centre.