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

When Professor Figueroa finds the door to the secret library, before he enters, he wears glasses. In he next shot, as he enters the door, the glasses are gone, but they come back some shots after.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Title Card: WARNING: The following scenes may hurt the viewer's sensibility.

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Connections

References Les aventures de Tintin: Le trésor de Rackam le Rouge (1959)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Very good first feature

A promising director: it's what I thought after the screening of Amenabar's first feature. There is a compelling story told with bright creative ideas.

Eventually I felt the first part of the movie was really great and the following went a little under. Sure, it is more difficult to bring all sorts of things together after you built up an exciting suspense. Still you don't feel bored once you are getting to know what it is really all about, but you got more free 'RAM space' to think it over. Perhaps accelerating the rhythm would have kept Tesis on the same high level of suspense. Perhaps it would have been a mistake to change the pace.

Among things you can take away with you is the background theme about our attraction for the morbid. It opens and closes the movie and really gives it one further dimension - one could say it's a bit didactical but it's a least flaw for a first major effort.

Next step Senor Amenabar: a little less personal work (as compared with the experimental Abre los ojos) but still something personal (The Others is the least interesting work so far).