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Verónico Cruz (film)
Encyclopedia
Verónico Cruz is a 1988 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 José Camero
, Gonzalo Morales
, among others. The author of the book, Fortunato Ramos, appears in the film in the opening scenes as Verónico's father.
The drama tells the story of an Argentine elementary-school teacher sent by the government to a rural hamlet located in the northwestern province of Jujuy. It shows how he touches the lives of the villagers, especially the young and impressionable boy Verónico, 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.
between Great Britain
and Argentina
.
Verónico Cruz (Gonzalo Morales
) is a poor indigenous Argentine shepherd boy who lives in the desolate and harsh Andean
highlands. He lives in Chorcán, a small hamlet
in the Jujuy Province
.
One day Mr. Lehrer (Juan José Camero) arrives in Chorcán to take the job as the new school teacher
. Verónico 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 Verónico on his first road trip to San Salvador de Jujuy
, the capital of the Jujuy Province, to look for Verónico'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 military and that he probably has become a desaparecido.
As Verónico 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 Verónico's small village to teach at a larger school far away.
However, the warm relationship between el maestro and Verónico is tragically cut short after Verónico joins the navy
and Argentine troops invade the Falkland Islands
.
in 1982.
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.
fashion, used extras and bit players when he filmed in the Jujuy Province
and Chorcán.
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
.
and Channel Four partly funded the film and the English provincial press called their action "treasonable." The Falklands War
was, after all, between Great Britain and Argentina they argued.
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.
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, "Chorcán, where Verónico 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.
Nominations
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
. The motion picture is directed by Miguel Pereira
Miguel Pereira (film director)
Miguel Pereira is a film director, producer and screenplay writer. He works mainly in the cinema of Argentina.-Biography:...
, his first, and written by Pereira and Eduardo Leiva Muller. The movie was produced by Julio Lencina
Julio Lencina
Julio Lencina is a cinematographer and director from Argentina who is known for his work in the cinematic world of the Andes ....
and Sasha Menocki and features Juan José Camero
Juan José Camero
Juan José Camero is an Argentine film, television, and theatre actor.Camero started out as an advertising model and worked his way into television roles...
, Gonzalo Morales
Gonzalo Morales (actor)
-Filmography:* La Deuda interna , aka Veronico Cruz* La Última siembra , aka The Last Harvest* Cerca de la frontera aka Close to the Border* Soleá, manchada en sombras -Television:...
, among others. The author of the book, Fortunato Ramos, appears in the film in the opening scenes as Verónico's father.
The drama tells the story of an Argentine elementary-school teacher sent by the government to a rural hamlet located in the northwestern province of Jujuy. It shows how he touches the lives of the villagers, especially the young and impressionable boy Verónico, whose mother died and father left to seek work when he was an infant. The film is based on a non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
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 WarFalklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
between Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
.
Verónico Cruz (Gonzalo Morales
Gonzalo Morales (actor)
-Filmography:* La Deuda interna , aka Veronico Cruz* La Última siembra , aka The Last Harvest* Cerca de la frontera aka Close to the Border* Soleá, manchada en sombras -Television:...
) is a poor indigenous Argentine shepherd boy who lives in the desolate and harsh Andean
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
highlands. He lives in Chorcán, a small hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
in the Jujuy Province
Jujuy Province
Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.-History:...
.
One day Mr. Lehrer (Juan José Camero) arrives in Chorcán to take the job as the new school teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
. Verónico 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 Verónico on his first road trip to San Salvador de Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy , commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. It lies near the southern end of the Humahuaca Canyon where wooded hills meet the lowlands....
, the capital of the Jujuy Province, to look for Verónico'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 military and that he probably has become a desaparecido.
As Verónico 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 Verónico's small village to teach at a larger school far away.
However, the warm relationship between el maestro and Verónico is tragically cut short after Verónico joins the navy
Argentine Navy
The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....
and Argentine troops invade the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
.
Cast
- Juan José CameroJuan José CameroJuan José Camero is an Argentine film, television, and theatre actor.Camero started out as an advertising model and worked his way into television roles...
as Lehrer, the teacher who befriends Verónico. He's known as el maestro by the village folk. - Gonzalo MoralesGonzalo Morales (actor)-Filmography:* La Deuda interna , aka Veronico Cruz* La Última siembra , aka The Last Harvest* Cerca de la frontera aka Close to the Border* Soleá, manchada en sombras -Television:...
as Verónico Cruz, the main character. The film is about his coming-of-age. He learns about Argentina from el maestro and is presumed killed at the end of the story in the sinking of the cruiser ARA General BelgranoARA General BelgranoThe ARA General Belgrano was an Argentine Navy light cruiser in service from 1951 until 1982. Formerly the , she saw action in the Pacific theater of World War II before being sold to Argentina. After almost 31 years of service, she was sunk during the Falklands War by the Royal Navy submarine ...
during the Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. - Fortunato Ramos as Castulo Cruz, who is Verónico's father and appears in the opening sequence and is seen leaving the hamlet in order to find work and feed his family. He finds political trouble in the large city and never returns. The film is based on Mr. Ramos' work in northwest Argentina.
- Anna Maria Gonzales as the Grandmother, who is fearful for Verónico to learn about the cruel world and prefers that he not go to school. Yet she changes her mind and allows Verónico to attend classes.
- Juanita Caceres as Juanita, is Verónico's young love-interest.
- Don Leopoldo Aban as Don Domingo
- Guillermo Delgado as Policeman
- Rene Olaguivel as The Commissioner
- Titina Gaspar as Verónico's Mother
- Raul Calles as Officer
- Leo Salgado as Police Officer
- Luis Uceda as Soldier
Politics in Argentine films
Verónico Cruz is part of what can be considered a second group of films to be made in Argentina since the downfall of the last military dictatorshipNational Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
in 1982.
The first group, like The Official Story
The Official Story
The Official Story is a 1985 Argentine drama film directed by Luis Puenzo, and written by Puenzo and Aída Bortnik. It stars Norma Aleandro, Héctor Alterio, and Chunchuna Villafañe, among others. In the United Kingdom, it was released as The Official Version.The film is about an upper middle class...
(1985) and Night of the Pencils
Night of the Pencils (film)
Night of the Pencils is an Argentine drama film directed by Héctor Olivera and written by Olivera and Daniel Kon. It is based on the non-fiction book by María Seoane and Héctor Ruiz Núñez....
(1986), dealt frankly with the repression, the tortures, and the disappearances during Argentina's Dirty War
Dirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
in the 1970s. This second group of films uses metaphor and hints at wider socio-political issues.
Casting
Miguel Pereira, in neo-realistNeorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...
fashion, used extras and bit players when he filmed in the Jujuy Province
Jujuy Province
Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.-History:...
and Chorcán.
Filming locations
Filming locations include; Chorcán, HumahuacaHumahuaca
Humahuaca is a city in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. It has 11,369 inhabitants as per the , and is the principal town of the Department of Humahuaca...
Department; San Salvador de Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy
San Salvador de Jujuy , commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. It lies near the southern end of the Humahuaca Canyon where wooded hills meet the lowlands....
; both in the Jujuy Province
Jujuy Province
Jujuy is a province of Argentina, located in the extreme northwest of the country, at the borders with Chile and Bolivia. The only neighboring Argentine province is Salta to the east and south.-History:...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Jujuy Province is located in the northwest part of Argentina, high in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
.
Controversy in Britain
According to the New Internationalist some of the English press was critical of the film's funding. The British Film InstituteBritish Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
and Channel Four partly funded the film and the English provincial press called their action "treasonable." The Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
was, after all, between Great Britain and Argentina they argued.
Distribution
The film was first featured at the 38th Berlin International Film Festival38th Berlin International Film Festival
The 38th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 12 to 23, 1988.-Jury:* Guglielmo Biraghi * Ellen Burstyn* Heiner Carow* Eberhard Junkersdorf* Tom Luddy* Heinz Rathsack* Daniel Schmid* Andrei Smirnov...
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
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, on September 13, 1988.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the movie opened in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on January 5, 1990 and Los Angeles in March 1990.
The motion picture was Argentina's official selection for the 1988 Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, Foreign Language
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
film category.
Critical response
Chris Brazier, film critic for the BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
, especially liked the look of the motion picture, and wrote, "Chorcán, where Verónico 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- 38th Berlin International Film Festival38th Berlin International Film FestivalThe 38th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 12 to 23, 1988.-Jury:* Guglielmo Biraghi * Ellen Burstyn* Heiner Carow* Eberhard Junkersdorf* Tom Luddy* Heinz Rathsack* Daniel Schmid* Andrei Smirnov...
: 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
- Verónico Cruz detailed plot summary at Epinions
- La deuda interna at the cinenacional.comCinenacional.comCinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema.The site provides a vast array of information, including: films, television programs, directors, actors, cinematographers, film editors, production designers, and other production professions in Argentina...
- La deuda interna film clip at You Tube (El maestro arrives at the school)
- Fortunato Ramos biographical video at You Tube