Machuca

Aroview: Observing the onset of Augusto Pinochet's bloody coup d'etat in Chile in 1973, through the eyes of two boys who become friends across the class-divide, this epic tale of personal strife and political consequences has a certain unsentimental power, despite missing the opportunity for a deeper analysis.

Matias Quer is the shy upper-class schoolboy who finds escape from family problems by befriending Ariel Mateluna, who lives in a nearby shantytown. As the two navigate the usual rites-of-passage (certain of which come courtesy of a sexually-attractive female cousin), the political traumas of 1973 begin to unfold, inevitably infecting their hitherto comfortable microcosm. In all, a brave work, but perhaps not the last word on the subject.

NZ International Film Festival 2005
Adopt-a-Movie Kindly adopted by Miriam Ross

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