Los debutantes (2003)

Director:

Andrés Waissbluth

Writers:

Cristián Jiménez (collaborating writer)
Julio Rojas (writer)

Release Date:

13 June 2003 (Chile)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

The story of two brothers who get involved with a sexy stripper and her boss, the nightclub king of Santiago, as told from three perspectives. Sexy, gritty, emotional.

Plot Keywords:

Club | Stripper | Santiago | Santiago Chile | Female Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Antonella Ríos	...	Gracia
Néstor Cantillana	...	Silvio
Juan Pablo Miranda	...	Victor
Alejandro Trejo	...	Don Pascual
Eduardo Barril	...	Don Marco
Roberto Farías	...	Danilo
Victor Montero	...	Marcelo
Anita Alvarado	...	Solange
Mario Poblete	...	Milico Borracho
Antonia Bravo	...	Parvularia
Arturo Ruiz Tagle	...	Animador Parrilladas
Angel	...	Bailarina 1
Francisca Castro	...	Bailarina Milico
Isabel Santelices	...	Puta Milico
Alan Ramirez	...	Rodrigo Munoz

Also Known As:

The Debutantes (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Chile

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Santiago, Chile

Trivia:

Director Andrés Waissbluth is himself a drummer who plays in one of the bands listed in the soundtrack.

Soundtrack:

Sol

Interesting Chilean version of Pulp Fiction

I saw this movie in Santiago last summer and unfortunately it will probably not be released outside of that country. It would be interesting to watch it again with English subtitles as Chilean Spanish is notoriously difficult (especially for someone like myself who left that country as a small child in 1973 and grew up speaking English). At times I could have sworn the characters were speaking Italian. The movie is a kind of a South American version of Pulp Fiction with three interweaving narrative strands focusing on a stripper, an inexperienced teen, and his more experienced older brother. It's no Pulp Fiction, but it's superior to most Pulp Fiction knock-offs. Juan Pablo Miranda is very convincing as the teen. Antonella Rios, who plays the stripper, would make even someone who wasn't born in Chile want to go there. Alejandro Trejo is convincing as a gangster/strip club owner, and Anita Alvarado, a local scandal queen known as the "the Geisha of Chile", puts in a cameo as the prostitute who first deflowers the Miranda character. Only Nestor Cantillana as the older brother disappoints, not because he's a bad actor, but because this rail-thin pretty-boy is woefully miscast as a tough-guy bodyguard. Still, check it out if you get a chance.