This is a film about the complex histories and interrelationships among a small group of ordinary people in contemporary Madrid. Adolescent Hector becomes orphaned at age 16 when his drug addicted mother dies in an auto accident. He comes to live with his dead mother's sister, her husband and her daughter. Just as he is tentatively making his way into a new family, his Mexican father arrives on the scene. The father, who had abandoned Hector and his mother when the boy was an infant, arrives to woo him away. Will he go to Mexico with his father? Will he stay with his aunt's family? Director Gracia Querejeta makes us care very much what Hector's decision will be.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Cautiva
(2003)
A teenager finds she was a cog in the cruel machinery of a dictatorial regime.
9 May 2004
Imagine going to school one day to be told that you can never return to the only parents you've ever known. A judge informs a young Argentinian that her real mother was one of the "disappeared" 14 years previously, and she must immediately go to live with her real grandmother. The teenager finds herself living in a nightmare, even though her "new" family is understanding and compassionate towards her. She must learn to negotiate not only a new identity but must relearn her personal history and the recent history of her country. The story unfolds in layers of bad dreams and harsh reality. Did her adoptive parents save her or did they kidnap her? In CAUTIVA we are treated to a spellbinding story and a stunning portrayal by a young newcomer to the screen.
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