Learning Spanish doesn’t have to be a difficult or tedious taskAt Spanish Express we know that very well. 😄
One way to make the experience more enjoyable is to immerse yourself in the greatest exponents of Spanish language culture. 🇪🇸
There are many great books and films that you can discover in your learning. Fortunately, Spanish Express will guide you every step of the way. 📚🎬
Thanks to our Spanish Film & Literature Workshops, specifically designed to learn Spanish through literary and cinematographic works, you will be able to delve into the fascinating world of Spanish culture.😉
Today we will talk to you about Machuca, an important Chilean film that will not leave you feeling indifferent. 😁
Let’s give this film by Andrés Wood a watch! 🙌
Machuca
Machuca is a 2004 Chilean film directed by filmmaker Andrés Wood. It stars Matías Quer, Ernesto Malbrán, Manuela Martelli and Ariel Mateluna.
At the centre of the film is the innocent and selfless friendship of two boys: Gonzalo Infante (Matías Quer) and Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna).
These youngsters experience very different realities. On the one hand, Gonzalo lives in a wealthy neighbourhood of Santiago de Chile, as his family belongs to the upper classes of the city. On the other hand, Pedro comes from the poorest and most marginalised strata of society.
Gonzalo studies at Saint Patrick’s School, an institution accustomed to receiving the children of powerful families. However, thanks to a policy of openness promoted by Salvador Allende’s government and welcomed by the school’s rector, Father McEnroe (Ernesto Malbrán), a group of underprivileged children are given the opportunity to study there.
This is how Pedro starts attending classes at Saint Patricks’s and, after some arguments with his new classmates, forges a friendship with Gonzalo.
The two children visit each other’s homes and thus discover another reality of the country where they were born that they had not known before.
In the midst of their outings and adventures, Gonzalo falls in love with Silvana (Manuela Martelli), one of Pedro’s neighbours. The friendship that unites them gradually turns into a love triangle.
Unfortunately, things don’t turn out to be so simple.
Perceived as a threat to their life of privilege, the bourgeoisie take a dim view of the social changes promoted by the new government. The students at the school, mirroring their parents, also begin to reject the new pupils.
The climate of political tension escalates and reaches its peak in September 1973, when a coup d’état, perpetrated by General Augusto Pinochet, kills Allende and ushers in a long military dictatorship.
As a consequence, Saint Patrick’s is militarised, integration policies are reversed and new students are expelled from the school. Gonzalo and Pedro’s friendship is abruptly interrupted and they never see each other again.
Machuca is a film that tells us about innocence, friendship and love, but also about the evil that is sometimes hidden in the heart of a part of our society.
Andrés Wood
The renowned Chilean director Andrés Wood was born in Santiago in 1965.
He attended the prestigious Saint George’s College, which years later inspired him to set his film Machuca in the fictitious Saint Patrick’s College.
Later, he graduated in commercial engineering at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, although he showed his love for the arts and cinema from an early age.
As a result, he studied photography for a couple of years in New York, where he directed his first short film, Idilio.
In 1994, back in Chile, he directed Reunión de familia, a short film that participated in the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival in France. For this production he received the award for best director at the Viña del Mar International Film Festival.
Three years later, he directed and co-wrote (with René Arcos) his first feature film, Historias de fútbol. This film is considered his first big success, as it was well received by audiences and critics alike. It was released in several American countries and in Europe, which brought Wood international fame.
Other equally important films followed: El desquite, La fiebre del loco and, of course, Machuca.
La buena vida, released in 2008, won the Goya Award for Best Latin American Foreign Film and the Colón de Oro at the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival.
He has also collaborated on two projects for Chilean television: Ecos del desierto and Ramona.
Other important awards received by Wood include the Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna Award and the Pedro Senna Award.
Challenge your knowledge with a little quiz!
Would you like to prepare for the Pearson Edexcel Spanish A-Level exam with us?
Spanish Express offers different Spanish A-Level programmes for adolescents and adults as part of our language tuition services.
We provide an online learning experience for students across the globe with our Spanish A-Level Private Tuition.
You can prepare for the Pearson Edexcel Spanish A-Levelwith us and take the exam for the Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Spanish in our London exam centre!
On the other side, our Spanish Express’ Spanish film & literature Ultimate Workshops can be offered to individual students and Sixth Form Colleges, where a single or a series of bespoke workshops can be organised for an A-Level group.
With these workshops, you will be very well prepared and ready to take the Pearson Edexcel Paper 2: Written response to works and translation in Spanish.
Please contact us for a free consultation whether you need help with Spanish individual private tuition, the Spanish academic year programme, or simply general information about Spanish Film & Literature workshops or the Spanish Homestay Immersion Programmes in Spain.
Discover more films like Machuca with Spanish Express! 💃
What did you think of our story today? 👀
In Spanish Film & Literature Workshops, there is a wide variety of titles available (films, novels, short stories) that you can discover to deepen your learning. 🙌
Studying and learning Spanish has never been so much fun and you will have a great experience with us! 😎
Hispanic culture is very rich and varied, and our courses will help you to immerse yourself in it! 😊
Don’t think twice and sign up for our workshops! 🤝
