Batalla en el cielo (2005)

Marcos lusts after his boss's promiscuous daughter, but after botching an extortion scheme, he becomes wracked with guilt.

Director:

Carlos Reygadas

Writer:

Carlos Reygadas

Stars:

Marcos Hernández, Anapola Mushkadiz, Bertha Ruiz

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Marcos Hernández	...	Marcos
Anapola Mushkadiz	...	Ana
Bertha Ruiz	...	Marcos' Wife
David Bornstein	...	Jaime
Rosalinda Ramirez	...	Viky
El Abuelo	...	Chief of Police
Brenda Angulo	...	Madame
El Mago	...	Preacher
Francisco 'El Gato' Martínez	...	Gas Station Attendant
Diego Martínez Vignatti	...	Soccer Player
Alejandro Mayar	...	Police Inspector
Chavo Nava	...	Neurotic Conductor
Estela Tamariz	...	Ines
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Michelle Aizpuru	...	Adolescentes que llegan de fiesta
Valeria Alvarez	...	Ninos que juegan

Storyline

A working-class man named Marcos and his wife kidnap a baby for ransom money, but it goes tragically wrong when the infant dies. In another world is Ana, the daughter of the general for whom he drives, who does sexual acts to any man for pleasure. Marcos confesses his guilt to her in his troubled search for relief, and then finds himself on his knees amid the multitude of believers moving slowly toward the Basilica in honor of the Lady of Guadalupe.

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Plot Keywords:

title based on the bible | infidelity | extramarital affair | female removes her clothes | sex in bed | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Mexico Belgium France Germany Netherlands

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

26 October 2005 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Battle in Heaven

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

€1,601,792 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,306, 19 February 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$70,899, 25 June 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Coproduction Office,No Dream Cinema,Mantarraya Producciones

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 126 min (director's cut) 98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Writer/director Carlos Reygadas shot crowded street scenes in the middle of real crowds. Cameraman Diego Martínez Vignatti sat in a wheelchair and they just pushed him through everyone. Luckily, no one who passed by looked into the camera lens.

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Goofs

During the scene where Ana and Marcos are making love, as the camera pans out, a crew member's reflection can be seen in the window.

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Connections

Featured in The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Cinema Today and the Future (2011)

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Soundtracks

Concierto para Clavicordio en re menor, BWV 1052
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach (as JS Bach)
Performed by Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Harmonia Mundi SA

User Reviews

A refreshing piece for Mexican filmaking

A refreshing piece for Mexican filmaking, that's how I'd described this movie.

Nowadays, Mexican films try to imitate Hollywood patterns with unfortunate results. Therefore is surprising and exciting to watch a film that walks away from all commercial stereotypes and proposes a new way for filmaking.

Though I liked "Japón" better (Reygadas first feature)this film is in many ways different to his past movie. This one is set in the city and an important part of it is the chaos; this one has more dialogs but less narrative structure. In fact Reygadas is not trying to tell us a story at all. His films are more of a contemplative nature rather than a story with climax and an established ending.

Highly influenced by Abbas Kiarostami, Reygadas characters are not played by professional actors, they're played by common people that had nothing to do with the entertainment industry. And unfortunately, here, the results aren't that good as they were on his past film.

So, you've probably heard about the explicit sexual content. This, I think, is Reygadas biggest contribution: Never before a Mexican film has gone this far on the sex issue. He demonstrates that sex scenes are not supposed to be provocative, erotic or stimulating at all; they can be grotesque and raw because the important thing is that they look real and are not idealized.

However I think the movie has a few weak points: the acting is terrible ( it looks like that was made on purpose), the sound design is horrible and it looks like Reygadas takes 100 min to tell you nothing; but oh! what a beautiful way of telling nothing.