The Interrupters, the story of interrupting the cycle of anger and vengeance. 

There are so many wonderful reviews of this film, so there is not much left to say about it.   This is my favorite review so far.  It's a very powerful, insightful and personal review called Extinguishing the Ecstasy of Anger. 

During the film, I saw how rampant vengeance killings are in Chicago inner city neighborhoods. The killings are not exclusive to gang drive-by shootings, but surprisingly between school children not associated with gangs. Young adults and children involved with drugs easily give themselves over to vengeance.  This situation reminds me of a documentary about a tribe whose tradition and culture was to give in to vengeance killing until they were on the verge of extinction.  Some missionaries showed them they didn't have to live or die that way.

The film follows three interrupters who are essentially counselors that have discovered how to stop the cycle of vengeance killings and violence in their own lives.  When children see their older brothers and sisters and other relatives directing their anger and frustration towards violent retaliation, they learn that violence is acceptable and a necessity to bring closure.  The film follows the interrupters in their daily attempts to nip violence in the bud.  It takes spending time to really get to know people and showing them how their lives could be different by not attempting to resolve their frustrations through violence.  The interrupters invest a lot of time and energy helping one person at a time to change lives for the better.

Where the Interrupters worked, the violence decreased by 45%.  At one point, the government sought to bring in the national guard when they saw the murder statistics were on par with the casualties in war-torn countries.  Thank God the community decided to stand up and stop this invasion.

The reason I find this film so powerful is not because violence is so rampant in our country; it's because it shows the process of how people can gain control over their own lives and become self-empowered even in extremely negative situations.  It also shows how communities can become empowered and start to create livable environments.  

I totally recommend this film as required viewing for everyone.  Even though it is about a tough subject, it is ultimately hopeful, uplifting, and universally applicable.