Victor Cuica Movies
- 1997
In this Venezuelan-Spanish-Cuban drama, Spanish social worker Paula (Laura del Sol) travels to Venezuela to work in a women's prison. She sees that the women ignore one prisoner, Santera Soledad (Hirma Salcedo), who practices witchcraft. After Soledad is tortured by guards, Paula befriends her and soon learns about her spiritual father Eulogio (Victor Cuica), her family, and her past life at her jungle pueblo. Director Solveig Hoogesteijn attempted to capture the frenzy and mysticism of authentic jungle Santera dances and rituals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura de Sol, Hirma Salcedo, (more)
- 1994
In this Venezuelan drama a frustrated, but ambitious writer kills and steals the writing of an up and coming author. Ricardo Azolar, can write reams, but he hates it all. He goes to a literary salon where the beautiful people congregate to discuss books and the motivations behind the authors. There Ricardo encounters and falls for a young woman who is in love with Daniel, a writer whose popularity is rising. The opportunistic Ricardo becomes friends with Daniel. He then kills him, steals his work, and assumes his persona. He even alters his appearance and steals his girlfriend. His plot works for a while but it eventually fails. Ricardo's story is part of the autobiography that he is writing while in prison. It will be his magnum opus. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gustavo Rodriguez, Mimi Lazo, (more)
- 1990
According to one interpretation of the auteur school of filmmaking, the director/writer/editor is a visionary who can do virtually no wrong. Only philistine audiences can commit the crime of failing to appreciate a magisterial director's latest artistic offering. That seems to be the guiding principle behind this current work, in which a woman standing in an upstairs bar philosophizes about the human situation and politics, while another man stands at a bar downstairs watching the fish swim in a fishbowl and listening to the bartender reading aloud for a sublime (?) ninety-minute experience. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diego Risquez, Victor Cuica, (more)
- 1990
In this political thriller, an entire neighborhood in a poor section of Caracas has been subjected to a house-to-house, room-to-room search by the police. Why? Because poor people are criminals, and if they're not, they're in no position to protest. It's a chance to make some arrests and close some cases. Plus, it is a surefire cure for police boredom. Fun, too. In this case, it winds up being lethal fun, when the police fearlessly shoot an unarmed man in front of his mother. Like many other powerless people in similar situations, she is prepared to accept what has happened, but when she learns that the police have told the press that he was a ferocious criminal it is more than she can stand. She tells her story to a reporter, who gets the story investigated. This prompts the police to murder a witness and attempt to silence the boy's mother and the reporter. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Fans of the Guillermo Meneses' meandering novel El Mestizo Jose Vargas may be particularly interested in this film, despite its unclear story line. In the film, Jose's (Marcos Moreno) relationship with his black mother and racist white father is explored. Not surprisingly, he has difficulty in dealing with white society, and seeks his release in sexual episodes and alcohol. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Antonio Campos (Flavio Caballero) has a relatively straightforward job in Venezuela's oil industry. He certainly isn't living in the fast lane. He's just a production chief. That is, not until he makes an eye-catching commercial promoting the country's oil business. Then the high-living publicist Aroldo Benavides (Daniel Lopez) takes him under his wing, and suddenly he is flying with Aroldo in helicopters to other countries on the spur of the moment just for a lobster party. When he finally has a moment to reflect, he discovers that his life has not been improved by his sudden involvement with the party-crowd. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Flavio Caballero, Daniel Lopez, (more)
- 1987
Ismael (Daniel Alverado) is a policeman in his 30s who marries child-bride Macu (Maria Luisa Mosquera). After three years, she has given birth to two children but has fallen in love with her teenage friend Simon (Frank Hernandez). When Simon and his two friends mysteriously disappear, Macu soon discovers her husband Ismael is the main suspect. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Alvarado, Maria Luisa Mosquera, (more)
- 1987
Happy Sunday is a Venezuelan/Spanish film based on a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Victor Cuica stars as a musician who befriends 10-year-old Anthony Sauce. Cuica is unaware that Sauce is the son of a wealthy family and that he has faked his own kidnapping. The musician is nearly thrown into the hoosegow for life before the boy admits the truth. Happy Sunday was originally released as Un Domingo Feliz. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Cuica, Anthony Sauce, (more)
- 1982
Two people (a young man and woman) answer an ad (summarized in the title of this film) placed by a furniture store owner, and discover - after they are hired and work there for awhile, that the owner is into some shady dealings. Soon the young man has conned his crooked boss into thinking that he has connections with even bigger crooks, aiming to get his boss in a sting operation if possible. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Cuica, Fausto Verdial, (more)
- 1980
The intent of novice director Solveig Hoogesteijn to make a drama about two Venezuelans from opposite sides of the economic and social tracks wobbles and weakens in the telling. Although the two compatriots both live in the capital, Caracas, and both love music, they have a need to go out into the rest of the country and discover their roots. As big-city dwellers, they are limited in their perspectives, though this excursion into other areas of Venezuela may prove more illuminating to them than to a foreign audience. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Cuica, Asdrubal Melendez, (more)
