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Machuca
Menemsha Films


9.7

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 32 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Matías Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Manuela Martelli, Aline Küppenheim, Ernesto Malbran, Tamara Acosta, Francisco Reyes, and Alejandro Trejo

Set in Santiago, Chile in 1973 (and based on filmmaker Andrés Wood's own childhood), Machuca is not just a political drama, but a poignant coming-of-age film. (Film Forum)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Foreign
WRITTEN BY:	Mamoun Hassan Andrés Wood
DIRECTED BY:	Andrés Wood
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 6, 2007 Theatrical: January 19, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	120 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Chile / Spain / UK / France
LANGUAGE(S):	Spanish (with English subtitles)

Most Popular Film, 2004 Vancouver International Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Chronicle Jonathan Curiel

A sensitively wrought work.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A fine, exciting film that makes a bloody historical event live all over again by showing it through the eyes of children on the edges of the conflict.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

An astonishingly intimate and painful coming-of-age story.

New York Post Russell Scott Smith

You don't have to know Chile's bloody history to be moved by the poignant new film Machuca, the first movie made by a Chilean about the country's 1973 military coup.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Machuca is a quiet film, moving sadly toward its inevitable climax, the final scenes a lesson in the methods by which the military restores order to a divided country.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Engaging entertainment and a great work of art.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Wood's film works, first and foremost, as a powerful character drama; it's not trying to teach historical or ideological lessons.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

One of those special films that broadens and deepens as it goes on.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Tender, funny and smart, Machuca is that rare discovery, an incisive political parable that also succeeds as a drama of sharply drawn individuals.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Packs a quiet wallop.

Variety David Rooney

Richly human in focus, the drama steadily cranks up its political and emotional charge.

Philadelphia Inquirer Karen Heller

Sweet, poignant, and winningly evocative of the period, though occasionally dogged by predictable scenarios and caricatures.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

It's a tale powerfully told, nevertheless, with an unusual vantage point in its upper-class young hero.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Both sweet and stringent, attuned to the wonders of childhood as well as its cruelty and terror.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Wood's drama packs an emotional gut-punch that's all the more devastating for its being rooted in a dreadful historical reality.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

A respectable entry in the Bicycle Thief school of art-house cinema, which uses a child's coming of age to explore an era of political and social turmoil.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Though Machuca ultimately doesn't shy away from taking sides, it wisely keeps the focus on the human element. The politics take place in the background until they demand the foreground.

Miami Herald Marta Barber

Though the film would benefit from further cuts, Machuca still manages to convey the frailty of convictions and the difficulties of growing up -- be it a child or a nation.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Machuca is still a half-measure. Wood is fastidious about period set design, but not much else; rather than burning with experience, the film feels opportunistic.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.7 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Gareth W gave it a6:
Ehhh. The scene with condensed milk was totally uncalled for and unnerving. The soundtrack ruined it for me, the music that was playing was often inappropriate for the tone of the scene. Think upbeat mariachi music at a funeral. Gonzalo was kind of a "chubby mope."

GLEN T gave it a10:
Arguably the most viewer-friendly depiction of a bloody era in Chile. I lived in Santiago at the time, and I'm amazed about how closely the makers were able to reproduce the real street scenes; the public phone cabins, vehicles, fashion, social drama, interior design, period media, ... fascinating.

Angelica S. gave it a10:
One of the best movies I have ever seen! It depicts Chile's political events through the friendship of 2 children - a boy from a shanty town and an upper class boy. Both of them are meant to have a future depending on their background and opportunities it provides, although being children they don't know it themselves and only the human aspect of their friendship is important to them (as it naturally is for children). Very moving, sweet story, which makes you think.

zumiko t gave it a10:
This the best movie I've ever seen.

Richard G. gave it a10:
Rented this film from blockbuster, watched it twice and then bought it. One of the best foreign language movies I've EVER seen. Would love to see a sequel set in the present day where the two boys meet up after all those years apart. would be really interesting. Great soundtrack too!

Maya gave it a10:
If I could I would rate this above 10. Very well developed and played charactors. The story was excelent. This shows the true wall of rich and poor (applied everywhere) and yet the common dinaminator of being a human being having the same needs. I grow in Iran and this was so close to home for me.

Kris V.H. gave it a10:
Excellent movie!

Machuca Menemsha Films

Machuca
Menemsha Films