Synopsis
Santiago, capital of Chile during the Marxist government of elected, highly controversial president Salvador Allende. Father McEnroe supports his leftist views by introducing a program at the prestigious "collegio" (Catholic prep school) St. Patrick to allow free admission of some proletarian kids. One of them is Pedro Machuca, slum-raised son of the cleaning lady in Gonzalo Infante's liberal-bourgeois home. Yet the new classmates become buddies, paradoxically protesting together as Gonzalo gets adopted by Pedro's slum family and gang. But the adults spoil that too, not in the least when general Pinochet's coup ousts Allende, and supporters such as McEnroe.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Matías QuerGonzalo Infante
- Ariel MatelunaPedro Machuca
- Aline KüppenheimMaría Luisa
- Ernesto MalbránFather McEnroe
- Federico LuppiRoberto
- Manuela MartelliSilvana
- Tamara AcostaJuana
- Francisco ReyesPatricio Infante
- Alejandro TrejoWilly
- María Olga MatteMiss Gilda
Recommandations
- 88
New York Daily News
An astonishingly intimate and painful coming-of-age story. - 88
New York Post
You don't have to know Chile's bloody history to be moved by the poignant new film Machuca, the first movie made by a Chilean about the country's 1973 military coup. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Packs a quiet wallop. - 80
Variety
Richly human in focus, the drama steadily cranks up its political and emotional charge. - 80
Salon
Wood's film works, first and foremost, as a powerful character drama; it's not trying to teach historical or ideological lessons. - 80
Los Angeles Times
One of those special films that broadens and deepens as it goes on. - 70
The A.V. Club
Though Machuca ultimately doesn't shy away from taking sides, it wisely keeps the focus on the human element. The politics take place in the background until they demand the foreground. - 70
The New York Times
Both sweet and stringent, attuned to the wonders of childhood as well as its cruelty and terror.
