IMDb > Al otro lado (2004)

Al otro lado (2004) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   195 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Gustavo Loza
Writer:
Gustavo Loza (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Al otro lado on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
1 June 2005 (Mexico) more
Genre:
Drama more
Plot:
full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
3 wins & 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
Horror sounds from Spain: Los Carniceros Del Norte
 (From Fangoria. 3 December 2008, 11:55 AM, PST)
User Comments:
A work of love more (6 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Carmen Maura ... Esperanza
Héctor Suárez ... Uncle Guadalupe
Vanessa Bauche ... Vicenta - the Mother
Susana González ... Caridad - Angel's Mother

Sanaa Alaoui ... Fatima's Mother

Ignacio Guadalupe ... Rafael - the Father
Héctor Echemendia ... Angel's Grandfather
Naoufal Azzouz ... Abdulatif - Fatima's Father

Adrian Alonso ... Prisciliano Martinez
Jorge Milo ... Ángel
Nuria Badih ... Fatima
Silke ... Eva

Martha Higareda ... Erendira
Manolo Caro ... Trafficker
Julián Villagrán ... Trafficker
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
90 min
Country:
Mexico
Language:
Spanish
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Certification:
Brazil:18
Filming Locations:
Zirahuen, Michoacán, Mexico
Company:
Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE) more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Selected by the Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the Official Entry for Mexico in the 78th Annual Academy Awards in the Foreign Language Film category. more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful.
A work of love, 8 June 2005
7/10
Author: José Luis Rivera Mendoza (jluis1984) from Mexico

This movie tells three stories sharing a common theme: the absence of a father figure in families. We witness the lives of three kids (from Mexico, Cuba and Morocco), and their curiosity for discovering the fates of their fathers who left their respective families.

We follow a Mexican kid that watches his father leave their house in order to find a job in the USA, a Cuban kid who dreams of finding his true father (an American citizen) and bringing him back to La Habanna, and finally, the journey of Fátima, traveling from Morocco to Málaga, Spain, trying to find her father that left her seven years ago.

Their adventures and the consequences of those are the main plot of the movie and while it may sound like a simple premise it is the way the stories are told (bordering on harsh reality and surreal fantasy) which makes the movie flow smoothly.

This mixture of fantastic surrealism and harsh realism is a constant through the movie, it is handled very well as children see life that way, specially when reality consumes fantasy at the time of the loss of a beloved member of the family.

The cinematography of the movie is one of the best seen in a Mexican movie, and the way the stories are told make the movie really enjoyable. It does not go for cheap empathy or giving the child characters easy development.

The acting is remarkably good in the three lead children actors. Nevertheless, the adult cast at times is inconsistent, and maybe the fact that the three stories were filmed at different times by different teams complicated the work. The story of Morocco has the best acting and photography, the story of Mexico is the best written, but the story of Cuba is easily the best as a whole, it is the most balanced and developed of the three.

It is not a perfect movie, the inconsistent quality between the three stories is notorious at times, but the movie definitely delivers its message. Very Recommended. Probably the best Mexican movie of the year. And maybe one of the best of the decade. 7/10

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