Martín (Hache) (1997)

19-year-old Argentina Martin has a nearly fatal drug overdose. After that his mother sends him to Madrid, where his film director father (also called Martin) lives with his new much younger lover Alicia and gay actor friend Dante.

Director:

Adolfo Aristarain

Writers:

Adolfo Aristarain, Kathy Saavedra

Stars:

Federico Luppi, Juan Diego Botto, Eusebio Poncela

18 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Federico Luppi	...	Martín
Juan Diego Botto	...	Hache
Eusebio Poncela	...	Dante
Cecilia Roth	...	Alicia
Ana María Picchio	...	Blanca (as Ana Maria Picchio)
Sancho Gracia	...	José M.ª Navarro
José María Sacristán	...	Schauve (as José M. Sacristán)
Will More	...	Coracero (as Joaquin A. Colmenares)
Ángel Amorós	...	Productor Teatro (as Angel Amoros)
Kojun Notsu	...	Joven Oriental
Esther Herrera	...	Niña Andrógina
Marisa Cabezón	...	Mujer Espejo (as Marisa Cabezon)
Enrique Liporace	...	Migue
Claudia Gallegos	...	Lea
Leonora Balcarce	...	Nadia

Storyline

19-year-old Argentina Martin has a nearly fatal drug overdose. After that his mother sends him to Madrid, where his film director father (also called Martin) lives with his new much younger lover Alicia and gay actor friend Dante.

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Plot Keywords:

director | drugs | gay interest | homosexuality | band | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Spain Argentina

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

17 April 1997 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Martín (Hache)

Filming Locations:

Mojácar, Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

ESP200,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

A.V.H. San Luis, Adolfo Aristarain, Canal+ España

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eusebio Poncela and Cecilia Roth had previously acted together in Arrebato (1979) almost 20 years before this movie was made.

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Quotes

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

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Soundtracks

Cae
Written and Performed by Lucas Martí, Nahuel Mutti and Fito Páez

User Reviews

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.