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Cabeza de Vaca Photos

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Movie Info

In this film based on a true story, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (Juan Diego) sets out in 1528 with dreams of becoming a great Spanish conquistador, only to end up shipwrecked off the coast of Florida. A grueling eight-year trek follows, taking him across the Gulf of Mexico, through Texas to the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, he is captured by various Native American tribes, and rises from oppressed slave to mystical shaman and passionate ally of the very people he had once sought to conquer.

Rating:

R
Genre:

biography
Original Language:

Latin
Director:

Nicolás Echevarría
Producer:

Rafael Cruz, Julio Solórzano Foppa, Jorge Sánchez
Writer:

Nicolás Echevarría, Guillermo Sheridan
Release Date (Theaters):

Apr 17, 1992 wide
Box Office (Gross USA):

$6.0K
Runtime:

1h 45m
Production Co:

American Playhouse

Cast & Crew

Juan Diego
Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Daniel Giménez Cacho
Dorantes

Roberto Sosa
Cascabel, Araino

Carlos Castanon
Castillo

Gerardo Villarreal
Estebanico

Roberto Cobo
Lozoya (as Roberto 'Calambres' Cobo)

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Critic Reviews for Cabeza de Vaca

All Critics (1) | Fresh (1)

Actor Juan Diego falls into every ditch in Texas, moos at the sky, and gets bitten by angry critters. By the time the pic ends, we feel as if we've traveled every step of the way with him.

May 5, 2010 | Full Review…

Kelly Vance
East Bay Express

View All Critic Reviews (1)

Audience Reviews for Cabeza de Vaca

Feb 07, 2009

This film chronicles the true story of Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish explorer circa 1528 who was shipwrecked in Florida and was forced to live among the natives, where he slowly learned to respect their way of life. I?d been reading about this guy lately, and I decided to track down this fairly obscure movie at my library as it?s not available on DVD. It is a fairly gritty production, you can really just feel the suffering in the environment. The production values are competent, but not up to Hollywood standards. The acting is not great, the man playing de Vaca overacts? a lot. Still this is an interesting story, and while the movie isn?t a great work of art, it does what it sets out to do respectably well.

MJS M Super Reviewer
Apr 07, 2007

Mesmerizingly effective and powerfully delusional, mi buen hombre Nicolás Echeverría (¡ese es mi cuate, jaja!) combines the experimental desperation of a Reygadas gem and the unstoppable madness of a Jodorowsky masterpiece. The result is invigorating, transforming the lack of script to images of colossal psychological weight. Herzog would be proud, and the performance of Juan Diego (do I perceive a religious irony in the name?) revives the historical character of the Spanish conquistador Alvar Núñez in one of his journeys of eternal oblivion and confused priorities. Extraordinary, forgotten masterpiece of Mexico's few watchable efforts of the 90s. 97/100

Edgar C Super Reviewer