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El Bola (2000)
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Reviews Counted:11
Fresh:10
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.2/10
Theatrical Release:Dec 13, 2002 Limited
Synopsis: Pablo (El Bola) is a 12-year old boy raised in a violent and unforgiving environment. Embarrassed by his family life, he retreats from his classmates, engaging them only through a dangerous game.... Pablo (El Bola) is a 12-year old boy raised in a violent and unforgiving environment. Embarrassed by his family life, he retreats from his classmates, engaging them only through a dangerous game. The arrival of a new boy at school, from whom he learns a new definition of friendship, leads to the discovery of a family where communication and love prevail over domination and violence. The film poignantly parallels the lives of a caring father unable to connect with his willful son, and that of distant Pablo (El Bola) and his abusive father who is incapable of giving him the love he needs, replacing it with something far more sinister. One imprints his son in an improbably gentle manner with a tattoo stylus, the other brutally with his fists. Told through both the children’s and adults' points of view, Achero Manas's El Bola is a stirring narrative that lodges in the memory. -- © Film Movement [More]
Starring: Alberto Jimenez
Starring: Alberto Jimenez
Director: Archero Mañas
Director: Archero Mañas
Studio: Film Movement
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Reviews for El Bola
Deliberately and skillfully uses ambiguity to suggest possibilities which imbue the theme with added depth and resonance.
A simple, but gritty and well-acted ensemble drama that encompasses a potent metaphor for a country still dealing with its fascist past.
Though uniformly well acted, especially by young Ballesta and Galan (a first-time actor), writer/director Achero Manas's film is schematic and obvious.
Mana gives us compelling, damaged characters who we want to help -- or hurt.
Although largely a heavy-handed indictment of parental failings ... the film retains ambiguities that make it well worth watching
At once subtle and visceral, the film never succumbs to the trap of the maudlin or tearful, offering instead with its unflinching gaze a measure of faith in the future.
Not employing gimmicks or tipping off the nightmare to be faced,'El Bola' draws us in.
As blunt as it is in depicting child abuse, El Bola is a movie steeped in an ambiguity that lends its conflicts a symbolic resonance.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 15% 15% | The Ugly Truth |
| 98% 98% | Up |
| 36% 36% | G.I. Joe: The Rise of … |
| 52% 52% | The Taking of Pelham 1… |
| 45% 45% | Ice Age: Dawn of the D… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 45% 45% | Shorts |
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