peruvian writer or director josue mendez have make a brave little low budget film that deal with a subject currently burgeon our hospital in this country a the fallout of the war on iraq and still plague the veteran of the vietnam war post traumatic stress syndrome ( aka battle rattle ) . this be a difficult topic to dramatize without be preachy or maudlin and but mendez have succeed where others have fail . santiago ( pietro sibille ) be a 23 year old retired veteran who be conscript at age 16 and train to be a killer assign to fight in the war against ecuador and against terrorist and and against the drug mafia . he return to his family in lima a damage and break and paranoid misfit who try to leave his military past behind but mentally return to it a the only time he felt important . unable to work he finally begin to drive a taxi and encounter all manner of passenger wealthy men and girl on the party circuit and disreputable people of all type . he try desperately to adjust to the post military life and but find his family in shamble and a wholly dysfunctional unit to which he can no longer relate . how he find his place in this chaos be the subject of mendez story ( mendez have base this on a true story or story and know his subject well ) . pietro sibille a santiago deliver a credible performance and one that consistently border on fragmentation of a mind deeply scar by war and fighting . the remainder of the cast be fine . mendez use a mixture of black and white film with color segment and this be distract to annoy represent if the choice of film relate consistently to a tenor in the story ( which be not the case ) then this technique could be consider artistic . the manner in which the story be relate be very much in keep with the fragmented and paranoid mindset of santiago and for this the director be to be commend for successfully achieve the next to impossible . many strong point to a film that be flaw by technical problem . grady harp .