Tesis (1996)

While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty...

Director:

Alejandro Amenábar

Writers:

Alejandro Amenábar (screenplay), Alejandro Amenábar (story),

Stars:

Ana Torrent, Fele Martínez, Eduardo Noriega

14 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ana Torrent	...	Ángela
Fele Martínez	...	Chema
Eduardo Noriega	...	Bosco Herranz
Xabier Elorriaga	...	Castro
Miguel Picazo	...	Figueroa
Nieves Herranz	...	Sena
Rosa Campillo	...	Yolanda
Paco Hernández	...	Padre Angela (as Francisco Hernández)
Rosa Ávila	...	Madre Angela
Teresa Castanedo	...	Presentadora T.V.
José Miguel Caballero	...	Conserje Videoteca
Joserra Cadiñanos	...	Vigilante
Julio Vélez	...	Encargado tren
Pilar Ortega	...	Encargada C. Ventas
Olga Margallo	...	Vanessa

Storyline

Why is death and violence so fascinating? Is it morally correct to show violence in movies? If so, is there a limit to what we should show? That's the subject of Ángela's examination paper. She is a young student at a film school in Madrid. Together with the student Chema (who is totally obsessed with violent movies) they find a snuff movie in which a young girl is tortured and killed. Soon they discover that the girl was a former student at their school...

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Plot Keywords:

violence | film school | torture | mutilation | man with glasses | 

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Taglines:

Me llamo Ángela. Me van a matar. [English Tagline: My name is Angela. They're going to kill me.]

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong and perverse violent content, brief strong sexuality and strong language

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

12 April 1996 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Thesis

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€721,214 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Las Producciones del Escorpión S.L., Sogepaq

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 118 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film had a relatively small budget of P116 million - equal to about 696,000 EUROS.

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Goofs

In the final garage scene, the height of the camera has changed from approximately waist level to head height.

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Quotes

Bosco Herranz: What color are my eyes?

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Connections

References A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Máquinas en Celo"
Written by Ingresó Cadáver
Performed by Ingresó Cadáver

User Reviews

Another Magnificent Thriller of Alejandro Almenábar, the Best New Director of Thrillers Arose in the 90s

In Spain, Ángela Márquez (Ana Torrent) is a student of cinema preparing her thesis about the violence in the media. She approaches to the strange student of an another class, Chema (Fele Martínez), who is fan and has a collection of violent movies, to improve her research about this theme. She is receiving orientation of Prof. Figueroa (Miguel Picazo), who finds a `snuff' movie in the library of the university, showing the death of another student, Vanessa, violently killed by a man. While watching this film, Prof. Figueroa dies, and the new professor assigned to give orientation to Ángela, Jorge Castro (Xabier Elorriaga), questions many points in her thesis, inclusive the achievement of information. Meanwhile, Ángela is introduced to Bosco Herranz (Eduardo Noriega), a handsome and nice student of the university, and she suspects he made the violent movie and killed Vanessa. The plot is only resolved in the end of the film. The first film directed by Alejandro Almenábar that I watched was `Abre Los Ojos'. This masterpiece is very unknown here in Brazil. `Abre Los Ojos' is only available on VHS, and it certainly is in my list of the best thirty favorite movies. The common viewers only know the sophisticated and spoiled Hollywood version `Vanilla Sky'. The pretentious, wealthy and ham actor Tom Cruise impaired one of the most original screenplays ever made. Then I watched the marvelous `The Others'. Last month, his first movie, `Thesis', was released on DVD in Brazil. Yesterday I saw this magnificent low budget thriller. A very simple and realistic story, which keeps the viewer in tension until the last scene. There is no clichés, the performance of the cast is very credible, and it is impossible not to like this film. I did not know the meaning of `snuff' films. Based on these three foregoing mentioned movies, I dare to say that Alejandro Almenábar is the best new director of thrillers arose in the 90s. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): `Thesis - Morte Ao Vivo' (`Thesis - Death Live')