Aging teacher Carmela has a special heart for pupils from broken homes and is challenged by the headmaster to follow up 12 year old Chala which is infatuated in Yeni. They are both poor, and... Read allAging teacher Carmela has a special heart for pupils from broken homes and is challenged by the headmaster to follow up 12 year old Chala which is infatuated in Yeni. They are both poor, and has severe home troubles.Aging teacher Carmela has a special heart for pupils from broken homes and is challenged by the headmaster to follow up 12 year old Chala which is infatuated in Yeni. They are both poor, and has severe home troubles.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 21 wins & 12 nominations total
- Mercedes
- (as Idalmis García)
- Mirta
- (as Anniet Forte)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
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Featured reviews
First it needs to be mentioned that the performance of the actors especially the play of the young actors is absolutely world class. Congratulations to the casting department.
The story, or better the multiple stories that are told during this 108 minutes fits. Every narrative makes sense. No minute is lost. Writing, acting, shooting, music - everything was created on a very high level.
But why is this film a statement.
This film offers for everyone and everywhere on this earth a lesson to learn. This lesson is created around Carmela, the teacher. It is a story of courage against cowardice. A story about real and authentic humanism against the brutality of indifference. The counterpart of the moving behavior of Carmela is played great by Silvia Águila in the character of the social worker Raquel.
This universal lesson is: It is easy to follow rules, laws and prejudices. Everywhere and in every social system we have those that hide themselves behind political correctness, adjusted unit and titles. In the name of nice labels as for example child care they bungle into the life of other humans. A bad but widespread behavior.
A great film. Highly recommended.
But the film is good not because it deals with the situation as a whole, or the education system, but because it focuses on a small group of people. It shows a teacher, an aged woman, responsible for helping her pupils cross the hell of their childhood.
The most troublesome boy in her current class in Chalah, whose mother is an addict and his father may or may not be a fight dog trainer for whom he works.
The most important thing-the story never becomes the old unbearable shtick about a teacher taming and saving students.
The child actor Armando Valdes Freire is simply amazing. He portrays a boy who is tough, street-smart, and reckless, and who deeply cares about his negligent mother. He feels that the teacher, Carmela, is the one person on whom he can count, and he's devoted to her. He also likes an immigrant girl who's in danger of being exiled with her father any minute.
Alina Rodríguez, who does Carmela, never misses. Her acting is so precise, she seems to be the teacher herself. She goes through her own hardship so she's aware life is rough, but she is willing to be that little Dutch boy who puts his finger in the hole in the wall to prevent the ocean from washing over the city.
Clearly, as it is not a soap opera, some things remain open, and nothing reaches an ideal solution. However, the film convinces that there is hope where one special person can open the way for others.
Did you know
- TriviaOfficial submission of Cuba to the best foreign language film category of the 87th Academy Awards 2015.
- Quotes
Carmela: Every year, I have a Chala in my class. None of them has ever been stronger than me, because, at heart, they are all children. There are four things you need to bring up a child: a home, a school, rigor and affection. But outside that door, there's the street, and a teacher needs to know what's waiting for them out there. In the past, life was clearer, and I knew what I was preparing my students for. Now, the only thing clear to me is what not to prepare them for.
Details
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $147,731
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1