Alsino and the Condor (1983)
"Alsino y el cóndor" (original title)

Alsino, a boy of 10 or 12, lives with his grandmother in a remote area of Nicaragua. He's engulfed in the war between rebels and government troops when a US advisor orders the army to open ... See full summary »

Director:

Miguel Littin

Writers:

Isidora Aguirre, Miguel Littin,

Stars:

Dean Stockwell, Alan Esquivel, Carmen Bunster

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Dean Stockwell	...	Frank
Alan Esquivel	...	Alsino
Carmen Bunster	...	Alsino's Grandmother
Alejandro Parodi	...	The Major
Delia Casanova	...	Rosaria
Marta Lorena Pérez	...	Lucia
Reynaldo Miravalles	...	Don Nazario, the Birdman
Marcelo Gaete	...	Lucia's Grandfather
Jan Kees De Roy	...	Dutch Adviser
Luz Amparo Gutiérrez

Storyline

Alsino, a boy of 10 or 12, lives with his grandmother in a remote area of Nicaragua. He's engulfed in the war between rebels and government troops when a US advisor orders the army to open a staging area by the boy's hamlet. Alsino tries to be a child, climbing trees with a girl, looking through his grandfather's trunk of mementos and trying to fly; he goes to town to sell a saddle, has his first drink and is taken to a brothel. But the war surrounds him. The US advisor takes Alsino on a chopper flight, but he's unimpressed. The soldiers' cruelties awake rebel sympathies in Alsino, and after an army assault backfires, the lad is fully baptized into the conflict.

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Plot Keywords:

rebel | nicaragua | brothel | saddle | prostitute | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Nicaragua Cuba Mexico Costa Rica

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

15 September 1983 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Alsino and the Condor

Filming Locations:

Nicaragua

Company Credits

Production Co:

CRFC, Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC), Latin-American Film Releasing Corp.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

First fictional feature film produced in Nicaragua after the Sandinista Revolution.

User Reviews

This movie was awful

Its obvious political biases aside, this movie was terribly made and impossible to follow. Scenes were pieced together as if someone had cut up the reel, scattered the tape on the ground, and given the director only five minutes to tape it back together in no particular order. When characters were in doubt for dialogue, which was often, unnecessary profanity was used liberally. The movie didn't make sense, it preached incessantly, and it had the same entertainment value as cutting off your own finger. Alsino can keep his condor, thank you.