Machuca (2004)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Andrés Wood

Writers:

Eliseo Altunaga (writer)
Roberto Brodsky (writer)

Release Date:

11 June 2004 (Spain)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Two boys observe a political coup in their native Chile.

Plot Keywords:

Chile | Friend | Political | Pinochet | Socialist

Awards:

9 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Matías Quer	...	Gonzalo Infante
Cynthia Choukair	...	Starring
Ariel Mateluna	...	Pedro Machuca
Manuela Martelli	...	Silvana
Ernesto Malbran	...	Father McEnroe
Aline Küppenheim	...	María Luisa Infante
Federico Luppi	...	Roberto Ochagavía
Francisco Reyes	...	Patricio Infante
Luis Dubó	...	Ismael Machuca
Tamara Acosta	...	Juana
Maria Olga Matte	...	Miss Gilda
Gabriela Medina	...	Lucy
Tiago Correa	...	Pablo
Alejandro Trejo	...	Willi
Andrea García-Huidobro	...	Isabel

Also Known As:

Mon ami Machuca (France)

Runtime:

USA:121 min

Country:

Chile | Spain | UK | France

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Sweden:15 (TV rating) | Brazil:12 | Chile:TE | Germany:12 | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:16 (canton of St. Gallen) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Santiago, Chile

Trivia:

The book that Gonzalo's mother's friend gives to him is "The Lone Ranger", the story of a man who befriends an Indian.

Movie Connections:

References The Lone Ranger (1956)

One of the Greatest Movie Ever

I live in Chile, where the movie happens. I have also followed Andres Wood in his career as a Director and I must say that this is his most mature, rounded and strong piece of work.

The Movie is centered in the social phenomena that happened in the last days before the Coup in 1973. Now the movie is incredibly accurate from the Costume Design, the Cars's License Plates, the expressions, the product brands and graffitis, to the social polarization, violence and killings. As remarkable as the Production is the honesty of the director, who could have easily fall into contaminating his movie with political propaganda, instead he kept delightfully accurate.

Even though for those who knows the history, the devastating feeling is all around, the movie centers in the social experiment led by a priest who was the principal of a high class school, who takes into the school some poor mestizo children.

Machuca is one of this children's who begins a friendship with a white rich children.

The story itself works as a metaphor for the innocence of the people in that time. innocence that was lost over and over.