El ciudadano ilustre (2016)

A recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, who has been living in Europe for decades, accepts an invitation to receive a prize. In Argentina he finds both similarities and irreconcilable differences with the people of his hometown.

Directors:

Gastón Duprat (co-director), Mariano Cohn (co-director)

Writer:

Andrés Duprat

Stars:

Oscar Martínez, Dady Brieva, Andrea Frigerio

26 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Oscar Martínez	...	Daniel Mantovani
Dady Brieva	...	Antonio
Andrea Frigerio	...	Irene
Nora Navas	...	Nuria
Manuel Vicente	...	Cacho - el intendente
Marcelo D'Andrea	...	Florencio Romero
Belén Chavanne	...	Julia
Gustavo Garzón	...	Gerardo Palacios
Julián Larquier Tellarini	...	Conserje (as Julian Larquier)
Emma Rivera	...	Emilse
Nicolás de Tracy	...	Roque
Daniel Kargieman	...	Renato Provicello
Alexis López Costa	...	Asistente del Intendente
Leonardo Murija	...	Mendez
Pedro Roth	...	Nobel Prize Presenter

Storyline

After refusing big and prestigious awards all over the world, Mr. Mantovani, Literature Nobel Prize winner, accepts an invitation to visit his hometown in Argentina, which has been the inspiration for all of his books. It turns out that accepting this invitation is the worse idea of his life. Expect the unexpected when you have used real people as characters in your novels!

---

Plot Keywords:

argentina | prize | literature | award | hometown | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Argentina Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

1 September 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Distinguished Citizen

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arco Libre,Televisión Abierta,Magma Cine

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A novelization of the film written by Andres Duprat as Daniel Mantovani in the film's main character's point of view was released in Argentina after its release.

---

Connections

References Citizen Kane (1941)

User Reviews

Masterpiece.

For starters, let me express that all the events that take place in this film can happen in real life, this fact being very welcome and of course, unusual. Not short of this, the genre explored here is indeed scarce. This film invades the spectator with a feeling of uneasiness very difficult to describe by minute five. And far from relieving you from this uncanny feeling, it builds up more and more and more and more. By the hour, I just had to stop and switch my TV to a stupid channel in order to go to bed peacefully. But don't misunderstand me: if you see my reviews you'll find I'm a tough critic of unnecessary violence and gore. What you have here is a mounting tension like when you see huge amounts of snow in the mountain ladder and you know a huge avalanche is due. Some other reviewers (of this same film) call this "predictable"; in my opinion they are completely mistaken. The avalanche is due, but you just don't know when and what it'll do. The nearest comparison I have at hand is a very old film starring Dustin Hoffman "The Straw Dogs", but it's just a poor comparison: "The Distinguished Citizen" is by far better and suspenseful. I watched the (almost) remaining half the next day and it just got better. Be warned, this film is better served for those who are emotionally sensitive: an idiot will just not notice that everything that goes on in this film is terribly wrong! I will end up saying that this is a class A film that deserves a place in the nominees for best foreign language films if not the Oscar. Highly recommended.