By turns harrowing and poignant, writer/director Fabrizio Aguilar's coming-of-age tale Paloma de papel (aka Paper Dove) takes viewers inside the rough, rural life of a village set deep in the Peruvian Andes in the Eighties as 11-year-old Juan (Antonio Callirgos) wrestles with poverty and violence. After Juan's best friend's father (who also happens to be the town's mayor) is murdering by guerrilla soldiers aligned with the revolutionary group Shining Path, Juan discovers his stepfather, Fermin (Aristoteles Picho) is involved - as well as having had a hand in Juan's father's death some years earlier.

After Fermin inducts Juan into the world of the Shining Path soldiers, his life takes a radical turn from that of a carefree youth as he suddenly finds himself learning the art of dirty bombs and firing rifles. Carmen (Tatiana Astengo) and Wilmer (Sergio Galliani) shepherd Juan along the heartbreaking path towards maturity and the seemingly endless cycle of violence holding Juan's world in a vice grip.

Paloma de papel is a slow-burn character study that can be, at times, difficult to watch as Aguilar doesn't hold back when it comes to showing the devastation wrought by fanatical terrorists in the midst of bloody civil war. The fact that it involves children, in some tangential way, links up with the heartrending theatrics of Fernando Meirelles' brilliant City of God. Nevertheless, Aguilar's film is a bold, almost verite look at how, in some places when all else fails, violence is left as the only solution.

The Video:

Paloma de papel is presented in a non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen transfer that unfortunately suffers from a very digital (as opposed to film) appearance - while the night time sequences are considerably grainy, some of the day time landscapes and locations are gorgeous but come across as slighly fuzzy video footage.

Offered in Spanish Dolby 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles, Paloma de papel is a film largely driven by dialogue and while there's occasionally some ambient sound, there isn't much for the speakers to do.

There are no extras included.

Paloma de papel is an engaging journey into a gorgeously filmed Peruvian world that unfortunately suffers from a sub-par transfer. Perhaps if this were re-released in an anamorphic, remastered edition with bonus material, it would rate higher. As is, it's a rental at best.