MACHUCA d: Andrés Wood

Machuca (2004)
Direction: Andrés Wood
Screenplay: Andrés Wood, Roberto Brodsky, and Mamoun Hassan
Cast: Matías Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Manuela Martelli, Aline Küppenheim, Ernesto Malbran, Tamara Acosta, Francisco Reyes
 

 

Machuca is a generally well-made, at times moving depiction of a difficult historical period — Chile on the verge of the US-backed military coup that deposed popularly elected president Salvador Allende — as seen through the eyes of three pre-adolescents from different social classes.
Despite an excessive use of hip sounds from the ’70s that tend to be more distracting than mood enhancing, director and co-screenwriter Andrés Wood does manage to capture the feel of early 1970s Chile, especially in the street scenes.
As a plus, Wood has an excellent grip on his solid cast, eliciting several outstanding [...]