Simply A Masterpiece

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

"Machuca" is an excellent film for all ages made by Chilian filmmaker Andres Wood.The best thing which can be said about "Machuca" is that it is one the those rare films which are a superb visual statement on human condition.It is true that young children will surely have a lot to learn from this film but adults can also learn a thing or two if they make up their minds to reduce conflicts in the world.Some of the major issues discussed in this film are about friendship,sexual awakening,class differences,trouble at home,trouble with church and trouble with military.In this film it is nice to see how two young boys tackle above mentioned themes with courage,determination and dignity.A moral lesson to be learn from "Machuca" is that weak souls are strong in dealing with all kinds of emotional adversities.Although films featuring young protagonists are a common trend in the annals of world cinema nevertheless Muachuca remains a totally different film as it is about self discovery,knowing one's limitations and keeping one's head straight even in the times of adversities.This is a must see film for all admirers of serious cinema,meaningful films and Latin American history.

1973,Chile. Gonzalo Infante is a rich boy, who studies in an elite and American school called ' Saint Patrick'', one of the best schools from Chile. There, he meets Pedro Machuca, one of the many boys who came to study in Saint Patrick with the help of the priests, who wants to make a integration and democratization where everybody independent from their classes, have the same rights to study in good schools. But Pedro is poor,lives in one of the worst places near school and barely has clothes to wear: the opposite of Gonzalo. When Gonzalo and Pedro makes friendship,they faces a new world for both, where Pedro is always the 'poor boy that can be a thief'and Gonzalo 'the rich boy who doesn't have any problems and a perfect life'. To get the situations worst,Chilean society is in one of the hardest transitions that already happened, from Allende to Pinochet, where communists are against bourgeois and vice versa. In their school always have fights, and almost all the parents from Saint Patrick don't agree with the school new system.This movie is a good recommendation for all people and also it makes us think if having democracy for all will always be an utopia.

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."Machuca" is a touching and realistic tale of friendship and coming to age in times of military coup in Chile. The Chilean director Andrés Wood made this fantastic movie following the political genre of Costa Gravas, but with a subtle drama with two children getting conscience of the fight of classes and the changes in their country by force and violence. The story in some moments seems to be a documentary so perfect the direction and acting are. The debut of the two lead actors, Matías Quer and Ariel Mateluna, is awesome: the eyes of the silent Matías Quer disclosing reality and the facial expression of Ariel Mateluna are amazing. "Machuca" is a highly recommended movie, and for the younger generations slightly see what happened in the 70's in South America and particularly in Chile. A few figures about Pinochet's dictatorship: 30,000 Chileans were killed; 100,000 Chileans were arrested without a trial; 22,000 students were expelled from the universities; 150,000 Chileans were exiled. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): "Machuca"

Wow what a great movie, it really describes the time when Chile was communist.I was on a vacation on Chile when I saw that this movie was coming out, I even went to the premiere, well I pass by the theater that would play it, and of course I tried to get in and of course the security guards kept me out. But I eventually watch it and get me realize what the Chilean people has to bare over the years, and how the events really made their people get more involve with politics than people from other countries. The acting is superb and the direction too, just a grate movie.