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:

Germany:16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Adolfo Aristarain

Quotes:

Hache: Dad says the best psychiatric is a barman willing to hear.

Why is growing-up such a pain?

Heche (which means letter H) is a nineteen year old boy that nobody wants. After his parents' divorce, his mother's got a new life in Argentina, and there's no place for him. After he survives an 'accident' that is believed by everyone as an attempted suicide, his mother asks his father to take care of him. His father agrees, even if he still does not think he has a place for his son. Only his father's woman and his best friend, an homosexual drug addict, show affection for this boy who is lost and can't find a way to really grow up and become independent.

Being raised in a family of people who flew Argentina before I was born, I was used, kind of, to the heavy Argentinian accent that the actors have, Federico Luppi especially. However, I agree it might be difficult for other Spanish speaking people who are used to a more 'orthodox' Spanish to understand parts of the dialogs, which is a shame. Dialogues are what makes this film so interesting and touching. The things that are said contrast with the things that remained unsaid, and you can only imagine by reading the character's eyes. Alicia, for example, is almost always laughing and having fun, but her eyes are dark, worried. Her happiness is just a mask she wears to avoid realize how much she feels bad about what she is missing for, a real family, with children. She only tells Hache about that, she wishes she were his mother. Hache apparently is resigned to being a nuisance for his parents, but he wants to escape this situation by living alone, even though he's not ready yet. He uses drugs and only his father's best friend manages to keep him away from danger.

The two main actors were great. Federico Luppi's portrayal of a father who is very disappointed for his son's way of life was so real I wanted to kick him! Juan Diego Botto was perfect, too. You could think he was portraying himself. I wonder if it's a pity he lives in Spain and his works are not known across the Atlantic Ocean, nor east of the Pirineos.