Nelson Villagra Movies
From director Nicolas Acuña comes this tale of crime and friendship. Paradise B centers on a pair of young men caught up in the local underground horse-race betting ring. As the story develops, both of them learn the harsh realities of life on the wrong side of the law. Starring Nelson Villagra and Leonor Varela, the film screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- 2000
Recalling Werner Herzog's Aguirre: The Wrath of God, acclaimed Chilean filmmaker Miguel Littin directs this sweeping epic about the true-life tale of Romanian engineer Julius Popper and his half-crazed pursuit of gold. Set in 1850, the handsome Romanian rides into a rough and tumble frontier town with his pockets full of gold. He uses his loot to round up dazzled prospectors and seduce hard-bitten brothel owner Armenia (Ornella Muti) into funding his expedition. The band sets off for the rugged South populated by half-naked indigenous people. Claiming the land for the Queen of Romania, Popper captures the Indians as slaves and forces them to mine for gold. They do find a scant amount of gold, which Popper promptly mints into coins bearing his likeness. Popper's second in command, a former Austrian sergeant named Novak (Nelson Villiagra), treats Indians with appalling savagery in the name of civilization, though he develops an odd respect for the tribe's beautiful, thoroughly-tattooed and frequently naked Queen Mennar (Tamara Acosta). As the rainy season sets in, the unpaid miners start to quietly talk of mutiny. Popper makes a bagpiper an example and forces him to play until he keels over. When this fails, Popper offers an ounce of gold for each Indian ear, breast, and testicle. This film was screened at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jorge Perugorría, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1994
- NR
A former guard in South American detention camp exacts his revenge on his cruel sergeant in this Chilean black comedy. When the odd-looking Ramirez sees a familiar face on the street, he follows him to a bar. The face belongs to Zuniga, a formerly domineering ex-sergeant in the desert known for his cruelty and itchy trigger finger. Ramirez was a guard under Zuniga and seeing him again triggered two powerful flashbacks. He remembered the time he allowed one prisoner to escape. Ramirez also remembered the incident where Zuniga calmly shot a pregnant woman. Rameriez returns from his reverie and begins plying the unrepentant Zuniga with beer and false camaraderie. He then invites the sergeant over to his house. While Zuniga comes, Rameriez quickly calls up his friend the escaped prisoner. Together they hatch their plot for revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicholas Walker, Julio Jung, (more)
- 1986
In this politically-colored melodrama, a father (Reinaldo Miravalles) and son develop plans for a farming cooperative in the Sierra Maestra mountains -- then tragedy strikes. The son is killed while fighting in Ethiopia, forcing the father, with ever-increasing determination -- to go it alone. Once he arrives in the mountains to start his project there is some token resistance from local villagers who are not yet won over to a communal way of life. Given their gruff exterior, the job of winning them over will not be easy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Reinaldo Miravalles, Nelson Villagra, (more)
- 1982
The story of Cecilia is a story of the society that dominated 19th-century Cuba, a society divided between whites, blacks, and those who were mixed, the mulattos. (Since the Spanish conquistadors killed off the Indian population in Cuba not long after they took over the island, there are no mestizos, or those of mixed-Indian blood in Cuba as in other Caribbean nations.) At any rate, the drama about the life and loves of Cecilia (Daisy Granados) takes place against the backdrop of graphically violent mistreatment of slaves and the rumors of a slave rebellion after the Cubans hear of slaves turning against their captors in Haiti. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daisy Granados, Raquel Revuelta, (more)
- 1979
In this story, prisoners are shown being interrogated and tortured by police working in the Pinochet government of Chile. They have been secretly imprisoned without benefit of trial. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelson Villagra, Leonardo Perucci, (more)
- 1979
This routine, slightly wooden political and social drama contrasts the difference between the way a widow perceives her husband and how he really was. Geraldine Chaplin is Adelaida, widow of Montiel (Nelson Villagra), who grieves for her dead husband based on her life with him. As circumstances unfold, Adelaida slowly begins to piece together a picture of what her husband was like in the eyes of others. He is clearly hated. Eventually, she discovers that he would capitulate to whatever dictatorship came to power, betraying people who had supported him in the past if they were now on the wrong side of the political divide. Adelaida herself may be a stand-in for the privileged few who see things through their own filtered lenses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- 1978
Set in the early 1900s, this film charts the rule of a Latin American dictator as he moves from being a charming despot to a tyrannical ruler before he is finally ousted, only to die in obscurity in Paris. Early in his regime, the resources and agricultural products his country sells command high prices, and he is a reasonably confident, even gentle, ruler who likes to take long vacations with his daughter in Paris. After World War I, with falling prices and a number of coup attempts behind him, his rule becomes quite cruel. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelson Villagra, Katy Jurado, (more)
- 1978
Exiled Chilean director Patricio Guzmán filmed in Cuba and in Venezuela to create this controversial statement on the creation and survival of Latin American culture from the late-15th century to the present. For some viewers, the film will be superficially symbolic and rhetorical, for others, it will be a strong and personal vision of several centuries of history. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patxi Andion, Nelson Villagra, (more)
- 1977
Political violence broke out in Cuba in the 1960s, quite a few years after Castro took power. This epic movie follows the efforts of one sturdy young revolutionary who helps bring peace. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sergio Corrieri, Nelson Villagra, (more)
As indicated by the title, the Cuban The Last Supper (La Ultima Cena) has pronounced religious overtones--but not necessarily reverent ones. Based on a purportedly true incident, the film stars Nelson Allegra as an 18th century Cuban landowner. Allegra sees nothing wrong or unusual about keeping slaves, but he does worry about his status in The Next World. To this end, Allegra begins instructing his slaves in the edicts of Christianity, inviting a dozen of them to restage the Last Supper. Not even at the end does the hypocrisy of religiosity combined with forced servitude become obvious to the well-meaning Allegra. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelson Villagra, Silvano Rey, (more)
Journalist Susan Sontag made this film as a photographic essay on the State of Israel and a recent war which took place there. In it, she meditates on the current (1974) situation of the country and its people and her feelings about Israel and its future. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1972
North Americans often think of South America in relation to two products: revolutions and coffee. This Chilean film is about revolutions. It was made by Miguel Littin, who was the head of the national film studio, Chile Films, under Salvadore Allende. Shortly after Allende's fall from power, Littin was encouraged to leave Chile. Before he did, he made this film about a period of peasant uprisings and social unrest in the 1930s. The story concerns the efforts of Jose Duran (Nelson Villagra) to improve conditions for his fellow peasants. When he begins to be involved in issues of surrounding regions, he calls attention to himself and his group, and their small successes are imperiled. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelson Villagra, Marcelo Gaete, (more)
- 1971
This stark Chilean melodrama concerns itself with the plight of slum dwellers living outside Santiago. For many years they have, with great difficulty, been faithfully paying small sums to a real estate man. This man has said that by doing so they can obtain title to the miniscule plots of land their houses stand on. In fact, he has been swindling them and does not even own the land he has been "selling." One of the aggrieved slum dwellers confronts him about this while he is visiting the slum, and the real estate agent shoots him before everyone's eyes. The question confronting these witnesses is whether testifying against this monster will make their lives even more precarious. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
The Jackal of Nahueltoro was Jose del Carmen Valenzuela, the animalistic murderer of a mother and her five children. The superstitious Jose (Nelson Villagra) places stones on the chests and hands of his victims so their spirits would not follow him. He is jailed and sentenced to death, but before his demise, Jose learns to read and write, learns a trade and develops a belief in God. He is executed by a firing squad for his crimes, but he manages to become a compassionate human before his death, expressing remorse for his actions. Miguel Littin, in his directorial debut, took great care in interviewing witnesses and people who knew Valenzuela, researching the events of the murder and the life of the notorious butcher. He allows the story to be told as the events transpired, avoiding judgments and blame on crime, society and punishment. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelson Villagra, Luis Melo, (more)
- 1968
This rather crude, low-budget romantic comedy by director Gilberto Gazcon de Anda revolves around the adventures and misadventures of a trio of lotharios and the women in their lives. Several episodic segments are strung together to create a thin storyline, as seductions and dialogue in dubious taste and musical numbers fill the 90-minute running time. The best recommendation for the feature (titled after the first words in a popular tongue-twister), is singer Luis Aguilar. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nelson Villagra
- 1967
Black-market intrigue follows a young American who returns to Chile in hopes of finding his long-lost stepbrother. He stumbles on a smuggling operation and is blackmailed by gang members in order to keep his silence about their covert activities. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
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