Machuca (2004)

Good movie but grossly overrated

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Now, I don't claim to be an expert on Chilean history, but I'd like to think I know a good film when I see one... and this fits the bill. Featuring a mostly none professional cast (including a lot of children) it deftly tells us of life in 1973 in Chile just before General Pinochet came to power. It concentrates mainly on a private boys school where some new pupils have just arrived... who happen to be poorer, and a different colour to the existing students there. Met with racism and hostility, one does however find a friend. Both are from completely different backgrounds, but they bond over their love of comic books and bike riding. Tragedy is on the horizon though. and things in this South American country will never be the same again...Amongst a backdrop of protests and political upheaval, it fortunately skips most of the boring stuff about who did what and when, and zooms in on the friendship between these two lads and their families. The rich kid is by far the unhappiest... his mother is a prostitute, and takes him with her while she services her one client. His dad is always away, and his sister is a promiscuous ditz. The immigrant on the other hand comes from an environment where everyone seems to get on and help each other out, and his parents are an permanent fixture in his life (though his toilet is absolutely disgusting). It just goes to show, "money can't buy you love" as four moptops once said...Reaching the whole gamut of emotions, this successfully involves you in the lives of its participants to a degree that by the end, you almost feel they're your good friends. We are constantly reminded that life is rarely fair, especially in a country like this four decades ago where democracy was apparently a dirty word. Little did they know though, that things were about to get even worse... Oh well, as sad as this all is, it make for a stimulating 110 minutes, and one I can wholehearted recommend. 7/10

This is the story of the relationship between a boy from a middle class suburb and two children from a shanty town in Santiago during the dying days of Allende's democratically elected communist government, which as we know was overthrown by a cruel military dictatorship with CIA involvement.As others have pointed out this film does not idealise the Allende government, which was inspired by high ideals, but arguably created economic chaos in Chile. What it does do is explore the reality of class in terms of the relationship between the children. It is a coming-of-age movie in a time of political terror, where the moral and emotional realisations are linked to social and political developments, which both heighten the love between the central characters and intensify their separation and aloneness.The Far Left and the Far Right (like the US Republican Party and Fascists/ Baathists etc.)might both have difficulties with the way that morally compromising reality defeats propaganda in this film.Ken Loach, eat you heart out!

Chile 1973 - The Socialist govt of Salvador Allende is in its last days - and the dawn of the CIA backed military junta of Augusto Pinochet is around the corner. We are witnesses of the political turmoil as seen through the eyes, and lived intensely by two 12 year old boys of opposite social-economic and political status.Two boys meeting at the clergy-run school of St. Patrick's, under a new scheme to let poor boys study there for free, along with the high-class snot-nosed kids. Two boys connecting like kids their age should, regardless of their background, and despite the negative reaction of the majority of the old students towards this integration. Until their relationship is struck by reality... I will not get into details that would be spoilers for those who would (and should) like to watch the movie, but will only stress that the directing, acting and cinematography are truly excellent. I was touched by it - having at that age gone through the horrible switch from democracy to a military junta in my country (Greece)Watch it if you can!

I knew nothing about this movie when I won a couple of tickets to see it in a local Film Festival.I'm a 20 year-old Mexican and I didn't know what happened in Chile those years. Although you see the political and social conflict through the eyes of a boy, the narrative is far from naïve. The conflicts that Gonzalo (Matías Quer) lives are real for a high class boy trying to grow up in a country that's changing fast everything he knew. Is because of the friendship he makes with Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna), a child who lives in an impoverished community, that he gets in touch with other side of the story. The acting of Manuela Martelli is as always wonderful. She is one of the best young talents in Chile. "Machuca" is a very touching well-written story. I think everyone has to know what happened then. After the movie I went home and started to look after the information and facts that are showed in the film. This movie opened my eyes into another reality.It's an unforgettable film. By far one of the best I've ever seen.