Martín (Hache) (1997)

Director:

Adolfo Aristarain

Writers:

Adolfo Aristarain (writer)
Kathy Saavedra (writer)

Release Date:

17 April 1997 (Argentina)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

No quiere trabajar. No quiere estudiar. No es un vago. Quiere ser libre.

Plot:

19-year-old Argentina Martin has a nearly fatal drug overdose. After that his mother sends him to Madrid...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Director | Gay Interest | Suicide | Writing

Awards:

18 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Federico Luppi	...	Martín
Juan Diego Botto	...	Hache
Eusebio Poncela	...	Dante
Cecilia Roth	...	Alicia
Sancho Gracia
Ana María Picchio
Enrique Liporace
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ángel Amorós	...	Productor Teatro
Leonora Balcarce	...	Nadia
Marisa Cabezón	...	Mujer Espejo
Gustavo Chantada	...	Dardo
Dominique Clément	...	Niña Lea
Joaquin A. Colmenares	...	Coracero
Rodrigo Fresán
Claudia Gallegos	...	Lea
Martina Gowland	...	Beba Liliana
Mercedes Halfon	...	Extra
Esther Herrera	...	Niña Andrógina
Horacio Luppi
José María Sacristán	...	Schauve

Also Known As:

Martin (H)

Runtime:

123 min | Argentina:130 min

Country:

Spain | Argentina

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Adolfo Aristarain

Quotes:

Martín: Your country is your friends, and that's what you really miss.

Well-made dialogue-driven piece

At times I felt this film might have been adapted from stage-theatre, so good are the dialogues; scintillating, the right way to speak Spanish – if you will excuse the `porteño' accent so very necessary for the film. The old `maestro' Federico Luppi is about as good as in any other film I have seen him in, I suppose; Juan Diego de Botto is better than in other films of his that I have seen; but the real standing ovation is for Eusebio Ponce who plays very delicately and intelligently the philosophical homosexual, and Cecilia Roth is outstanding as the film-director's girl-friend. Though I must say that I am beginning to get accustomed to Cecilia Roth being outstanding in everything she does.

The direction is right – spot on; tight, befitting the excellent playing out of the dialogues and demanding great skill with the camera and later the person with the scissors. Adolfo Arastarain worked hard for this one: the result is a hugely satisfying piece.

Once again, as erstwhile said elsewhere in IMDb, for those who like real character-driven pieces with intelligent dialogues, this film is highly recommendable. However, for those of you with a fair knowledge of Spanish, if you are not used to the Argentinian (porteño) accent you may well have problems, such that you will need the subtitles. It is worth the effort, I can assure you: just over 8 out of 10, which is pretty high on my scale.