Machuca (2004)

Why so much hype?

Very Cool!!!

Too much of everything

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Machuca is a powerful story of the not too far off history of Chile through the eyes of a young boy. Set in the early 70s during the revolution that resulted in Salvado Allende being overthrown by the nationalist coup. The film exposes the large difference in class and political preference. Gonzalo is in a middle class family whose mother is very much for the nationalist keeping the order, allowing her to continue to live in luxury. Gonzalo becomes friends with Pedro Machuca, which crosses both political and social boundaries. Pedro is from a poor family who is in favor of the socialist movement, which gives them a chance for a better life. The two opposing sides ended up in a violent conflict. In the film it expands to the military moving in on the slums where Pedro's family lives.In an interview with Director Andrés Wood it is becomes clear what a bold film this actually is. In Chile it is illegal to portray the military in a negative light. As a result, Wood points to this as a reason why it took so long for a film like this to be made. Another element which makes this film valuable, is its relevance in helping people understand what is going on in the present. Historically, and during the film, it is declared that President Allende committed suicide. However, just recently Allende's family successfully petitioned to have the former President's body exhumed in order to determine the cause of death. During the film it is clear that the Nationalist Party of the past was made up of the wealthy and the middle class. They were not portrayed as decent people, but as snobs, adulterous, thieving, narrow minded, and a selfish group of people. Gonzalo's mother is an example of this, but she justified her behavior because she was desperate to hold onto what was secure. It is probable that most members of the upper-class rationalized the events of their time in the same way. They would cling to what was secure and dispose of whatever they deemed as a threat. This film reveals strong political ideals, as well as portraying a coming-of-age story. Gonzalo and Pedro were forced by circumstance to be on opposing sides socially/politically and to grow up without warning and without a choice.

The film is about children who get along, and then get separated. This happens because their families belong to different political sides, in a time and place where this was big deal.Spirituality unite us, politics divides us. I don't give the film the last star because it tends to biased towards the left(we have on bad leftist(the drunk) and a few mildly bad right wingers(a clueless semi-hippie, a crazy guy who thinks he's bruce lee, an adulterous mother and the wealthy guy who sleeps with her). Without the bias, the film could have been a much more profound tale of humanism among children, serving as an example to politically divided adults.Also, as a Latin American, I've always felt away from both the bully-like military backed right wing, and the hopelessly classist "it's not my fault" left-wing.So I strongly empathized with the story.

I wasn't born when my country Chile was taken by the armed forces (police,army, air force, etc)Sep 11 1973. That day, when the United States of America (with Tricky Dicky Nixon as president) together with the Chilean militars took over the country to get rid of the Chilean communist government. This was happening everywhere, Vietnam, Salvador, you name it. United states giving military aid to destroy communism around the world (comunism meaning civilians). That day changed everybody's life in Chile. It was like the second world war, Chileans where taken to concentration camps and tortured, and killed by the thousands, the man behind all this was general Pinochet and Mr Nixon, Pinochet is known to be the Chilean Hitler by half the country, and God by the other half, I've never understood that. Machuca shows all this, boths sides of the story, but not the politic side of the story but what children saw. Machuca tells the real life story of a bunch of school kids living in this hell, their experiences, and what they had to go through. this movie really touched me, not because I'm Chilean, but because the film showed me something I've always been searching...the truth about those events, not the politics behind it, but the suffering of millions of people, right or left, from Allende's side, or Pinochet's side. I don't really care about Pinochet, nor Allende, they both got it wrong. what I care about is that this doesn't happen again.30 something years later Chile recovered from all this and is now the greates economy in South America ...viva Chile mierda...

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.