Soba (2004)

Justina (Claudia Soberon) runs away from home after her parents death and gets caught by a group of cops... It's the beginning of her worst nightmare.

Director:

Alan Coton

Writer:

Alan Coton

Stars:

Claudia Soberón, Dagoberto Gama, Antonio Algarra

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claudia Soberón	...	Justina Rivas
Dagoberto Gama	...	Ivan
Antonio Algarra	...	Captain
Miguel Loaiza	...	Ramón
Hena Corzo	...	Marifé
Jorge Zárate	...	Cop I
Silverio Palacios	...	El Ojitos
Óscar Trejo	...	Oscar
Alberto Acosta	...	El Cachorro
Roberto Álvez	...	El Minezota
Kengi Guerrero	...	El Chino
Cirilo Santiago	...	Esteban
Patricia Collazo	...	Narco's wife
Jaime Estrada	...	El Gordo
Hector Harfush	...	Cop II

Storyline

Justina is a fifteen years old girl who lives with her mother and stepfather in Mexico City. In her sexual-awakening, she starts flirting with the only man in her life, her stepfather, causing the accidental murder of her mother and stepfather. Shocked, she runs away from home, crazy, just dressed with her nightgown. Ivan, a police detective who practices torture as daily routine and is reduced to the rank of street cop, looks for her all night long. Justina gets picked up on the street by two cops; they take her to their headquarters. But instead of helping and rescue the girl, they take advantage of her and rape her. Ivan crosses paths with her and takes the girl to the Police Station. But when asked what happened to her, Justina tells a quite different story. In a very hard and strange way, Ivan and Justina finally find what they've been looking for...

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Plot Keywords:

stepfather | police | torture | flirting | sexual awakening | 

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Taglines:

A story like many others.... in a movie like not many others.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

La Chancla Producciones [mx]

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

9 September 2005 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Beaten

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

MXN 1,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

9.5 Grados en la escala de Richter, La Chancla Producciones

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The screenplay (originally entitled "Estocolmo en Mexico") was inspired by a real-life fact happened in Tláhuac where a group of teenagers get caught and raped by a group of cops.

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Quotes

Captain: You may relax now. Tell us what happened to you.
Justina: I was raped.
Nun: God!
Captain: You've been raped? Where? By whom?
Justina: By the one who brought me here.

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Connections

Featured in The Bet (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Amor Chilango"
Performed by Maria Urtuzuastegui
Written by Christian Arvesem and Maria Urtuzuastegui

User Reviews

great film noir

SOBA (Beaten) is a story of corruption and sexual violence that is at the same time an unconventional love story, set in Mexico City. Very dark in its subject matter, the story is told with broad strokes (more metaphorical and melodramatic than realistic) almost in the fashion of a graphic novel such as Frank Miller's Sin City, but much more discrete in its depiction of violence and not at all played for laughs or thrills. The story of innocence and corruption operates as a kind of metaphor for the interconnection between political, moral and sexual corruption on the one hand and poverty and economic depression on the other. Soba is a powerful re envisioning of the film noir genre - filmed in stunning black and white, with 15-year old Justine alternating between innocent victim and "femme fatale" and the sadistic but honest cop Ivan playing a role of ambiguous savior analogous to that of Robert De Niro's Travis Bickle to Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver