Down Came a Blackbird (1995) (TV)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Jonathan Sanger

Writer (WGA):

Kevin Droney (written by)

Release Date:

22 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Helen McNulty is a journalist struggling to regain control of her life a year after she was abducted and tortured in Central America...

Cast

Raul Julia	...	Tomas Ramirez
Laura Dern	...	Helen McNulty
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Anna Lenke
Cliff Gorman	...	Nick the Greek
Sarita Choudhury	...	Myrna
Jay O. Sanders	...	Jan Talbeck
Jeffrey DeMunn	...	Rob Rubenstein
L. Scott Caldwell	...	Cerises
Falconer Abraham	...	Kouadio
Von Flores	...	Minh
Miguel Fernández	...	Captain Alonso Delacrux
Carlo Rota	...	Sergeant Manuel Ortega
James Kidnie	...	Secret Police Agent
Tedd Dillon	...	Man at Train Station
Ángel Jara	...	Torturer #1

Also Known As:

Ramirez

MPAA:

Rated R for depictions of torture, and some sexuality.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Australia:MA (TV rating) | Germany:16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Portland, Oregon, USA

Company:

All Media Inc.

Trivia:

Final film appearance by Raul Julia; he died the year before its release.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Anna Lenke checks Helen McNulty's heart rate she places the stethoscope on her right breast, not left, where the heart is located.

Movie Connections:

Features Houseboat (1958)

Superb perfomance of vanessa redgrave and Raul julia on a political current important problem : Tortur survivors

In addition to the excellent performance of Vanessa Redgrave and the deceased Raúl Julia, the value and significance of this film is that it shows, extremely close to reality, the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Syndrome of "torture survivors>", the modern denomination of those that been primary or secondary subjects in the widespread use of torture around the world. This film is so dramatically close to real cases experienced by the Danish IRC (international Recovery center for Torture survivors) that it will impress both who work with torture survivors and those really looking for suspense, unexpected ending snd superb performance of Raúl Julia and Vanessa Redgrave. Honestly a film worth to buy and keep in the same class as My Neigbors son and a few others.