Bound by Honor

This was a difficult watch, partly due to my lack of knowledge of the Las Angeles crime scene. Italian gangster dramas are easier for me to stomach since it’s part of my family’s history, however dark it is. From highly fictionalized drama in The Godfather to more modernized classics as A Bronx Story, I can easily remember sitting and watching this films with my grandfather as he recalls his friends and family that fell to crime while he managed to avoid it. In the case of Blood in Blood out (this film is not called bound by honor as Letterboxd suggests), I had no basis for the culture. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t attach to these characters and their experiences. Their harsh world and cultural divide around them is done so well I can walk in their world with them. At first it seems like a cheap ripoff of the crime drama, but quickly diverts into its own style, its own masterpiece in a very unique way.