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Veronico Cruz (film)
Veronico Cruz (1988) is an Argentine and British drama film. The motion picture is directed by Miguel Pereira, his first, and written by Pereira and Eduardo Leiva Muller. The movie was produced by Julio Lencina and Sasha Menocki and features Juan Jose Camero, Gonzalo Morales, among others. The author of the book, Fortunato Ramos, appears in the film in the opening scenes as Veronico's father.
The drama tells the story of an Argentine elementary-school teacher sent by the government to a rural hamlet located in the north-east province of Jujuy. It shows how he touches the lives of the villagers, especially the young and impressionable boy Veronico, whose mother died and father left to seek work when he was an infant. The film is based on a non-fiction book written by Fortunato Ramos, a rural teacher in northwest Argentina, that discusses his teaching experiences.
Plot
The film is set in the mid 1970s and ends at the time of the 1982 Falklands War between Great Britain and Argentina.
Veronico Cruz (Gonzalo Morales) is a poor indigenous Argentine shepherd boy who lives in the desolate and harsh Andean highlands. He lives in Chorcan, a small hamlet in the Jujuy Province.
One day Mr. Lehrer (Juan Jose Camero) arrives in Chorcan to take the job as the new school teacher. Veronico comes to idolize his new teacher, who is also known as el maestro as a sign of respect and affection.
At one point in the film el maestro takes Veronico on his first road trip to San Salvador de Jujuy, the capital of the Jujuy Province, to look for Veronico's father, who the boy has never met. While there Lehrer is interrogated harshly by government authorities and discovers Castulo Cruz is considered a subversive by the powers that be in Argentina.
As Veronico Cruz learns about the outside world from his teacher, so too does Lehrer come to understand and appreciate the indigenous people who live in northwest rural Argentina and their history.
Lehrer, near the end of the film, is given a promotion and leaves Veronico's small village to teach at a larger school far away.
However, the warm relationship between el maestro and Veronico is tragically cut short after Veronico joins the navy and Argentine troops invade the Falkland Islands.
Background
Politics in Argentine films
Veronico Cruz is part of what can be considered a second group of films to be made in Argentina since the downfall of General Leopoldo Galtieri and his autocratic regime in 1982 (the last dictatorship in Argentina).
The first group, like The Official Story (1985) and Night of the Pencils (1986), dealt frankly with the repression, the tortures, and the disappearances during Argentina's Dirty War in the 1970s. This second group of films uses metaphor and hints at wider socio-political issues. Cinergia movie file by Lana Torres. Brazier, Chris. New Internationalist, Issue 192, February 1989.
Casting
Miguel Pereira, in neo-realist fashion, used extras and bit players when he filmed in the Jujuy Province and Chorcan.
Filming locations
Filming locations include; Chorcan, Humahuaca Department; San Salvador de Jujuy; both in the Jujuy Province, Argentina. Jujuy Province is located in the northwest part of Argentina, high in the Andes. Maslin, Janet. The New York Times, "Growing Up In Argentina, Isolated And Naive," January 5, 1990.
Controversy in England
According to the New Internationalist some of the English press was critical of the film's funding. The British Film Institute and Channel Four partly funded the film and the English provincial press called their action "treasonable." The Falklands/Malvinas War was, after all, between Great Britain and Argentina they argued.
Cast
Juan Jose Camero as Lehrer, the teacher who befriends Veronico. He's known as el maestro by the village inhabitants.
Gonzalo Morales as Veronico Cruz, the main character, the film is about his coming-of-age. He learns about Argentina from el maestro and is killed at the end of the story in the Belgrano due to the Falklands War.
Fortunato Ramos as Castulo Cruz, Veronico's father who appears in the opening sequence and is seen leaving soon after in order to find work and feed his family. He finds political trouble in the big city and never returns.
Anna Maria Gonzales as the Grandmother, she is fearful for Veronico to learn about the cruel world and prefers that he not go to school, yet changes her mind and allows Veronico to attend classes.
Juanita Caceres as Juanita, is Veronico's love-interest.
Don Leopoldo Aban as Don Domingo
Guillermo Delgado as Policeman
Rene Olaguivel as The Commissioner
Titina Gaspar as Veronico's Mother
Raul Calles as Officer
Leo Salgado as Police Officer
Luis Uceda as Soldier
Distribution
The film was first featured at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 1988 where it won many awards, including the Silver Berlin Bear. It opened in Argentina on August 4, 1988. The film was also shown at the Toronto Film Festival, Canada, on September 13, 1988.
In the United States the movie opened in New York City on January 5, 1990 and Los Angeles in March 1990.
The motion picture was Argentina's official selection for the 1988 Academy Awards, Foreign Language film category.
Critical reception
Chris Brazier, film critic for the British politically progressive magazine the New Internationalist, liked the film and wrote "[the drama is] strung together like beads on a rosary, a slow-paced but highly polished series of tableaux...[and is] beautifully shot with a lovely use of available light and low camera angles."
The film critic for The New York Times, Janet Maslin, especially liked the look of the motion picture, and wrote, "Chorcan, where Veronico lives, is captured in all its bleak beauty...The film has been handsomely photographed in sunlight so clear that the shadows of clouds moving across hillsides stand out in sharp relief." She was, however, disappointed by the slow pace of the film.
Awards
Wins
Berlin International Film Festival: Interfilm Award, Honorable Mention; OCIC Award, Honorable Mention; Silver Berlin Bear. All for Miguel Pereira, 1988.
Bogota Film Festival: Special Prize, Miguel Pereira, 1989.
Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor, Best Film, 1989.
Nominations
Berlin International Film Festival: Golden Berlin Bear, Miguel Pereira, 1988.
External links
Veronico Cruz detailed plot summary at Epinions.
La deuda interna at the cinenacional.com .
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Veronico Cruz (film)
