Twenty-three-year-old Santiago has just returned from the Peru-Ecuador war to discover that he and his soldier friends have no place in ordinary Peruvian society. The years he has missed weigh heavily, and without a proper education, he cannot find a decent job. His military buddies try to recruit Santiago for a robbery, but he decides to drive a cab while taking a part-time computer course.

But Santiago, whose compulsive need for control makes it impossible to communicate with others, has trouble controlling his violent reactions, thereby, straining his marital relationship. He tries desperately to fit in with his classmates and befriends a group of girls, but their decadent behavior just seems to make Santiago feel that much more removed from those around him.

Peruvian director Josué Méndez's first feature film Days of Santiago poses some very complicated questions?asking how to reintegrate returning soldiers into society: soldiers who have been trained to kill in the name of others. Méndez?s exploration of a soldier?s psyche is beautifully captured through a combination of color and black and white?to juxtapose varied perspectives?is his hopes to address the horrors of war and the enduring damage it has on those sent to fight.

Tamee Tanoor

GLOBAL LANDSCAPES