Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

BasicLogic Without any money and financial support, how could it possible that Carla ran away from Nicaragua and across the Atlantic Ocean and landed in Glasgow, England? Where she got the money for her long journey? Who helped her to get through the British customs? Did she get any sponsor to help her making all this possible? By viewing this film, we could easily see that she was totally alone, a stranger in a strange land.By judging from the film's scenario background, we also easily understood that she was just an ordinary country girl in Nicaragua, so where she learned the English language and could achieve the level of even an interpreter to be so fluently to translate between two totally different languages orally? We didn't see any proof that she got a very good education background where she grew up, yet she could speak and understand English so well.Then, let's talk about this bus driver's character. By judging his job performance, he could barely stay with his job as a bus driver, suspended due to his so opinionated attitude to almost anything. He was just a poor sod with limited means for a normal living. Yet during this insecure period, he seemed to be not worry at all and still could afford drinking coffee or beer as other guys in Glasgow. He already got a girl friend who loved him very much, yet he changed his heart and fell for an illegal alien from Latin America. A guy who got limited means even for his own living, yet he still could afford buying two tickets for this Nicaraguan woman and accompanied her to go back to her country.Then another of the unavoidable logic problem comes up: He already knew she got a lover in her motherland. One of the main purposes why she wanted to go back was to look for her boyfriend Antonio, yet this Glasgow native who once was a bus driver, would have such a big heart and interested in helping her finding her old boyfriend? This guy is either a pea-brain moron or a complete idiot; there's nothing in between and, where's the logic? Now here comes my last logic101 question: Why Carla escaped from her war-torn country and migrated to England; what's the purpose of doing so? By finally made a friend with the bus driver, who later became her temporary lover, then with his support (for her air ticket fare and other general expenses) she would again return home with this white man. What made her consider running away from her Nicaraguan country in the first place would have become no big deal once she made acquaintance with the skinny and jobless white guy and then made her strong enough to go back to her country? Why she left and why she decided to go back? Why she simply stayed in her country and did the search by herself? Did she use the bus driver only for her financial support? By making a new boyfriend in England, then it would make her going back to where she came from? Why she chose England to escape to? This film in certain way is not a bad film, but so many nobody-questioned against the basic logic questions simply put me not to be so easily convinced of its believability besides its absurdity.

Bryan Kluger Back in 1969, director Ken Loach made one of the best coming of age films, which is currently ranked in the number seven spot of ten films for the British Film Institute. That movie is called 'Kes', and is about a boy and his falcon. Criterion even added it to their collection. It was then that Mr. Loach came into the spotlight from directing television series to feature films and fell into his own unique style, which was focusing more on characters than anything else really.Over the years, Loach has shown us the good and bad sides of ourselves, usually using some sort of political or social backdrop to tell his story, which is the case in his 1996 film 'Carla's Song'. This film is almost like two films in one, as it drastically takes a turn mid way through and offers up something different. The film follows a Scottish bus driver named George (Robert Carlyle), who wants more out of life than driving a bus and coming home to his fiancé. He seems to be a good man and thoughtful as he allows people who can't pay the bus fare on his ride. Perhaps he feels like a superhero to them, making the world a better place for people less fortunate than him.He soon crosses paths with a Nicaraguan woman named Carla (Oyanka Cabezas), who he immediately seems very fond of, even though she can't afford to pay the fare for his bus, but he looks the other way. After their first encounter, he begins to see her everywhere, which we soon realize, he is pretty much stalking her. He never releases a creepy vibe, but we all know it's there, as he is very persistent to get to know her without being violent. It's a very strange and odd feeling to watch this character unfold, as we might expect something awkward or sadistic to happen at any moment.Even when Carla pushes away his advances and tells George that she has a boyfriend back in Nicaragua that she hasn't seen in a while, he buys her and himself tickets to go find him, even though they are having a very weird love affair. This is where the film changes, as these two people enter Nicaragua during the U.S. backed Contra war against the Sandinistas. George finally sees all of the horrible chaos an destruction that Carla has been through by traveling to her home, as they look for her family and lover.This is where George sees Carla for who she really is, and it takes a toll on him. Carlyle is great in this role and very different from his work in 'Trainspotting' and '28 Weeks Later'. You never know if you want to like or root for George, and Carlyle plays this mysterious "every man" to a tee. While the acting is spot on, the story and narrative loses its balance from time to time here. It's hard to focus on the first half of the film, and then change into something as drastic and chaotic as these two characters wander the streets of a war torn Nicaragua. Loach does tend to surprise us though with the abnormal ending and twists, which most filmmakers and studio executives today would not allow, which makes 'Carla's Song' such a unique film, despite its flaws.

Back_Row_Babe I saw this first at the Watershed in Bristol, a celebration of that city's twinning arrangement with the Nicaraguan town of Puerto Morazan. The town had just been devastated by Hurricane Mitch and the ensuing floods, yet the resourceful people of Morazan had emerged from the disaster without loss of life, and yet again they got on with their lives. They are used to this, after generations of bouncing back from flood, volcano, earthquake, military dictatorship and the hegemony of the global megacorporations backed by the US government. And their representatives tell us that Ken Loach's film gives their small voice a hearing.This is my favourite amongst Loach's films. It combines its political message - an important one - with comedy and a touching love story. It should be better known.

Marjorie Bendeck I am a great admirer of Ken Loach, the way he can make you get emotionally involved in the plots of his movies and how he designs his movies so one can fully comprehend the social situation his characters are living. The atmospheres created by him show us examples of a social realism confronted by modern day people (especially in England).When I started watching this movie, I really had no idea of the turn it would take. When it turned out that "Carla" was from Nicaragua, and it was taking place in the time of heavy war, I didn't imagine the masterfulness with which he recreated the events. Since I live in Honduras, I was very well informed and concerned about the Nicaraguan revolution. All the scenes, the music and the whole environment really caused a great impact on me. I could swear I was watching a documentary instead of a movie. Living near that country and being in contact with its people helped me understand the hardships they went through. And the situation painted by Loach of how the Nicaraguans felt and reacted about the war was incredibly realistic!!Carlyle's character was superb!! He showed emotions that were very pure and sincere not only to "Carla" but to the whole situation. He was just too good a person, he showed us unselfish feelings that nowadays are very hard to find in our society, which is oriented mainly to material purposes rather than spiritual fulfillment.This is the kind of humanistic films that should be made to teach people about the "real world" and true, unselfish comprehensive and devoted love. A love that goes so deep that one is willing to do anything for the other's happiness and wellbeing... even if it means letting them go.