The fourth film from Andrés Wood (Chilean director and writer), 2004’s Machuca is based on one of the most complicated and polemical times of Chile's recent history.
1973 was a year of political chaos in Chile; the society was divided in two. On one side was the first socialist elected president of South America, Mr Salvador Allende. His rise to power was not welcomed by the high society, and the military under the command of General Augusto Pinochet.
It’s in this context that father McEnroe (Ernesto Malbran) started a project of social integration of the classes, mixing the students of the respectable school of Saint Patrick with lower class pupils. The idea was not welcomed by the big families of the right wing in Chile.
The movie focuses on two teenagers - Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna), a poor kid from the ghetto, and Gonzalo Infante (Matias Quer), a rich mother’s boy - and how they become friends, unaware of all the social drama that surrounds them.
Wood tells us this history from the naïve point of view of Gonzalo Infante, who, without realising it, started discovering this completely alien world of Santiago’s skid row. One of the big challenges was not to make it overly political, as events were still fresh with the Chilean audience, and the director manages to pass this subject in a subtle way – truthful but without causing offence. The script is flawless, a crescendo exponentially, and leaving no space for wandering.
The art department’s achievements are omnipresent throughout the running time. For Chilean audiences, this is nostalgic trip back in time, and for foreign viewers, this is a vivid representation of the country during the ‘70s. And the cinematography by Miguel J Littin, washed out and almost without contrast, represents the times historically, but also the feelings of the characters.
Machuca's cast features many big names of the Chilean film industry, such as Ernesto Malbran as father McEnroe and Tamara Acosta as Juana, however, it’s the acting of the protagonist Matias Quer (Matias Infante), and the second roles of Ariel Mateluna (Pedro Machuca) and Manuela Martelli (Silvana) that take most of the plaudits. Andrés Wood had to work for several months with these inexperience actors before the actual shooting to ensure they could deliver the feeling he wanted – and the hard work paid off. Ariel Mateluna steals the movie – a natural talent.
This film was first released in Europe, and enjoyed award success at the Cannes Film Festival (21st May 2004), before its release back home in Chile (August 2004), where it broke all national box office records, and won a number of awards.
Fan: Eric Malbran
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