Machuca February 16, 2007

FLICS p[resents this film. Admission is $4.

In 1973, in Santiago of Chile of the first socialist president democratically elected in a Latin-American country, President Salvador Allende, the principal of the Saint Patrick School, Father McEnroe (Ernesto Malbran) makes a trial of integration between students of the upper and lower classes. The bourgeois boy Gonzalo Infante (Matías Quer) and the boy from the slum Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna) become great friends, while the conflicts on the streets leads Chile to the bloody and repressive military coup of General Augusto Pinochet on 11 September 1973, changing definitely their lives, their relationship and their country.

This film reaches back and looks at history in a very intimate and personal way. Its young protagonist is shown, growing up, not quite understanding what is happening around him. His own life is the middle of a crisis, and suddenly he is in the middle of his own country's political storm. Gonzalo is one of the lucky ones, a young man who escaped the horrors while he learned how to become a better human being.

Andres Wood's direction is assured and gentle. He shows his love of his country, its main characters, his own history (there are strong hints at this being at least auto-biographical). His film is beautifully scored and photographed; in addition to having one of the best performances ever by a group of children. The movie moves along quietly, touching us, teaching us, and taking us along in an unforgettable study of humanity at its worst and its best.

Official Website: http://www.flics.org/