Machuca - Manuela Martelli In Person
Spanish with English subtitles.
Director: Andrés Wood Producers: Gerardo Herrero, Mamoun Hassan, Andrés Wood Writers: Roberto Brodsky, Mamoun Hassan, Andrés Wood
Script Consultant: Eliseo Altunaga Cinematographer: Miguel Joan Littin Editors: Fernando Pardo, Soledad Salfate Music: José Miguel Miranda, José Miguel Tobar Cast: Manuela Martelli, Matías Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Ernesto Malbrán, Aline Küppenheim, Federico Luppi
Chile, 1973. Gonzalo Infante and Pedro Machuca are two eleven-year-old boys living in the capital city of Santiago. Gonzalo comes from a well-to-do family, while Pedro lives in a shantytown on the outskirts of Gonzalo's neighbourhood. Father McEnroe, the principal of St. Patrick’s, enrolls a group of boys from low-income families at the elite private school with the conviction that the students will learn to respect one another. Set against the backdrop of President Salvador Allende's final days and the military coup d’état, the film brilliantly reflects the tensions of the country through the friendships and betrayals in the lives of its children.
Machuca communicates the moral crises of Allende's fall with so much dramatic force that I think it can be enjoyed by people of many political persuasions, who simply like humanity and a good story.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Chile, 1973. Gonzalo Infante y Pedro Machuca son niños de once años y viven en la ciudad capital de Santiago. Gonzalo proviene de una familia acomodada, y Pedro viene de un asentamiento recientemente instalado no muy lejos del vecindario de Gonzalo. El padre McEnroe, el director de un colegio católico privado, enlista a un grupo de niños de familias de bajos ingresos para que asistan a la exclusiva escuela, convencido de que los estudiantes aprenderán a respetarse unos a otros.
El éxito de público de Machuca ha sido arrollador, es uno de los filmes chilenos más vistos en la historia; y el buen eco crítico local tuvo también su correspondencia en el extranjero, tras su estreno en el Festival de Cannes de 2004. Ha obtenido más de veinte premios, entre ellos once internacionales. Mónica Villarroel, Diccionario del Cine Iberoamericano.
Andrés Wood (b. 1965, Santiago, Chile) is one of the most highly regarded Chilean filmmakers. His films include: Historias de fútbol (1997), La buena vida (2008) and Violeta se fue a los cielos (2011). Machuca premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and won many awards including the People’s Choice Award at VIFF
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