Selena (1997)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Gregory Nava

Writer (WGA):

Gregory Nava (written by)

Release Date:

21 March 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The story of a girl who had the spirit to believe in a dream and the courage to make it come true.

Plot:

The true story of Selena Quintanilla-Perez, a Texas born tejano singer who rose from cult status to performing at the Astrodome, as well as having chart topping albums on the Latin music charts.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Tejano | Marriage | Texas | Band

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 8 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Lopez	...	Selena Quintanilla-Pérez
Jackie Guerra	...	Suzette Quintanilla
Constance Marie	...	Marcela Quintanilla
Alex Meneses	...	Sara (as Alexandra Meneses)
Jon Seda	...	Chris Perez
Edward James Olmos	...	Abraham Quintanilla
Jacob Vargas	...	Abie Quintanilla
Pete Astudillo	...	Himself - Dinos 1990's
Rueben Gonzáles	...	Joe Ojeda - Dinos 1990's (as Ruben Gonzalez)
Ricky Vela	...	Himself - Dinos 1990's
Don Shelton	...	Stage Dancer
Richard Emanuelle	...	Concert Reporter (as Richard Emanuele)
Panchito Gómez	...	Young Abraham - Dinos 1961 (as Panchito Gomez)
Richard Coca	...	Bobby - Dinos 1961
George Perez	...	Seff - Dinos 1961

Also Known As:

Selena: The Movie (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild language and thematic elements.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | USA:PG (certificate #35172) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:TE | Finland:S (video premiere) | Singapore:PG | UK:PG (video premiere)

Filming Locations:

Corpus Christi, Texas, USA

Company:

Q Productions

Trivia:

Salma Hayek was considered for the role of Selena, but she refused because she wanted to play Frida Khalo (in Frida (2002)) and did not wish to play two different Mexican heroines.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Selena is performing at a fair as a nine-year-old, during one shot, her lips are not moving even though you can hear her singing.

Quotes:

Abie Quintanilla: So much for my bustier.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 55th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Welcome to the Jungle

What a lovely biopic

What a lovely biopic. I had barely heard of Selena when she was killed, and I'm no fan of Tejano music. But this picture was a wonderful tribute to the young talent. The movie is a celebration of her life, rather than fixating on her death, as one would expect with her family so involved (controlling) with the film. This approach also just felt right. I'm sure that Hollywood, if it had had its way, would have sensationalized this aspect to the max. I don't know how much of the film is factual, and how much is apocryphal. A local reviewer wrote that a true biography of Selena would have to wait a few years, and be done without a Quintanilla looking over both shoulders.

All I can do is rave about Jennifer Lopez. Her beauty, her talent, her sheer magnetism flows right out of the screen. She was amazing. Since her biography subject died so young, she was able to avoid the problems, inherent in the genre, of trying to age the actress to match the aging of the subject. Constance Marie, who I'm not familiar with, was quite good as Selena's mother, although she did have to deal with the question of appearing to age 15 years. Every cast member seemed right for their part, and everyone did very well. The film seemed well-directed, in that I never thought about the director at any time during the film.

Overall, the movie was very sweet, with obvious tragic overtones. Highly recommended.