The Passion of Michelangelo ( La pasión de Michelangelo )

The Passion of Michelangelo (DVD) (*)

~~$21.99~~ $15.97

Original Title: La pasión de Michelangelo
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital Stereo )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
96 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.85:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 2013 and produced in:
Argentina ( Latin America, Mexico )
Chile ( Latin America, Mexico )
France ( France, Benelux )

Directed By:
Esteban Larraín

Written By:
Esteban Larraín

Actors:
Sebastián Ayala ..... Miguel Ángel 'Michelangelo' Poblete
Claudia Celedón ..... Padre Ruiz Tagle
Patricio Contreras ..... Irma
Roberto Farías
Catalina Saavedra
Alejandro Sieveking

Synopsis:

Acclaimed Chilean director Esteban Larrain turns his attention to the true story of a street child who becomes a popular prophet, and of a people ready to give in, without questioning, to the luminous promise of a miracle. Chile, 1983. As the first street protests begin to pose a challenge for the Pinochet regime, 14-year-old orphan Miguel Angel, who claims to see and talk to the Virgin Mary, is anointed as a prophet. His tormented face is endlessly reproduced in the media; within weeks, thousands are making a pilgrimage to his home village to take part in ceremonies involving visions and miracles of all kinds. Miguel Angel himself undergoes a profound transformation, the shy boy becoming a clever, capricious teenager who uses his divine gift to manipulate others. The Church, however, cannot stand by. A priest, Father Ruiz Tagle, is sent to investigate the cult of the Virgin of Penablanca. Miguel's fate now seems uncertain...

In 1983, as Chilean demonstrations against Pinochet's military regime gathered strength, the government seized upon the strange story of 14-year-old street teen Miguel Angel as a means of diverting attention from the public's growing discontent. In Peñablanca, not far from Valparaíso, the charismatic Angel swore he could see the Virgin Mary at the top of a local hill and, with the government doing all it could to promote this 'miracle', hundreds of thousands of people made the pilgrimage to the 'holy' spot. Soon Angel had attained rock-star status - with all the perks the term implies - until, inevitably, he fell fast and hard…

An intense religious drama set during the Pinochet regime and based on a true story, 'The Passion of Michelangelo' reps an ambitious sophomore fiction feature for Chilean writer-director Esteban Larrain ('Alicia in the Land'). The helmer's background in documentary helps lend urgency, immediacy and credibility to the unbelievable tale of a teenage orphan whose supposed contact with the Virgin Mary attracted huge crowds just when the dictatorship needed some popular distraction. Despite an unfocused p.o.v., the pic is a nonetheless a gripping, almost mythical rise-and-fall yarn that could convert small arthouse congregations, some beyond South America.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 05 May, 2014.

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