The colonel and the dancer

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Movie
German title The colonel and the dancer
Original title The Dancer Upstairs
Country of production USA , Spain
original language English , Spanish , Quechua
Publishing year 2002
length 133 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director John Malkovich
script Nicholas Shakespeare
production Andrés Vicente Gómez
John Malkovich
music Alberto Iglesias
Yul Anderson
camera José Luis Alcaine
cut Mario Battistel
occupation

The colonel and the dancer (original title: The Dancer Upstairs , in Spain Pasos de baile ) is an American - Spanish drama from 2002 . Directed by John Malkovich , the screenplay was written by Nicholas Shakespeare based on his own novel from 1997.

action

The action takes place in an unspecified country in South America in the 1990s. Police investigator Agustín Rejas used to be a successful lawyer, but chose the police profession for idealistic reasons. He is entrusted with the investigation of the Marxist-minded terrorist Ezequiel Durán, who is covering the country with deadly terrorist attacks, among others by child and adolescent suicide bombers.

Rejas is married and has one daughter. He meets Yolanda, who gives his daughter ballet lessons, and falls in love with her. In the event of a power failure, which reveals Yolanda's panic fear of the dark, they get closer, but Yolanda does not find out what job Rejas is doing.

Due to the attacks that u. a. even a high military man falls victim, martial law is proclaimed in the country. Rejas has to leave part of the investigation to the military police, who are extremely brutal and murder innocent people.

After lengthy investigative work, Rejas tracks down Ezequiel and discovers that he is hiding with Yolanda, who is an ardent follower of his. She is arrested and sentenced to life in dark imprisonment. Ezequiel is deported to a prison island. The events have destabilized the country and Rejas will run for president. He declines on the condition that Yolanda be granted relief and release after five years. Yolanda sends him a message in which she refuses Reja's help and any contact with him.

Reviews

Roger Ebert certified the film in the Chicago Sun-Times of May 2, 2003 with "convincing intensity" and elegant images.

The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was an "exciting parable about the difficulties, duty, happiness and the consequences of acting under one roof" . The "ambitious directorial debut of John Malkovich" fascinates "with its old-fashioned, in addition almost semi-documentary narrative style and the courage to leave spaces" .

Awards

Alberto Iglesias received the Rota Soundtrack Award of the Venice International Film Festival in 2002 . Javier Bardem was nominated for the Chlotrudis Award in 2004. The film was nominated for the 2004 Political Film Society Award for Peace .

backgrounds

The plot is based on the story of Abimael Guzmán , the leader of the Peruvian terrorist organization Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) , who was captured in 1992 in an apartment above a ballet studio in Lima .

The film was shot in Madrid , Portugal and Quito ( Ecuador ). Its world premiere took place on January 11, 2002 at the Sundance Film Festival . On September 6, 2002, the film was shown at the Venice International Film Festival , which was followed by several other film festivals. It was shown in Spanish cinemas on September 20, 2002 and in German cinemas on January 16, 2003, with around 33,000 viewers. On May 2, 2003, the film was released in selected cinemas in the United States and grossed around 2.4 million US dollars . In total, he grossed around 5.2 million US dollars worldwide.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of release for the colonel and the dancer . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , June 2003 (PDF; test number: 92 597 V / DVD).
  2. ^ Film review by Roger Ebert, accessed February 19, 2008
  3. ^ The colonel and the dancer. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ Official Journal of the European Union: List of Terrorists and Terrorist Organizations (PDF) , accessed July 14, 2008
  5. ↑ Interview with Nicholas Shakespeare , accessed July 14, 2008
  6. ↑ Filming locations for The Dancer Upstairs, accessed February 19, 2008
  7. ↑ The Dancer Upstairs premiere dates, accessed February 19, 2008
  8. ↑ Box office results for The Dancer Upstairs, accessed on February 19, 2008