Machuca

Andrés Wood’s film examines the events leading up to the September 1973 military coup in Chile through the eyes of a soft, sensitive 11-year-old boy named Gonzalo, who comes from a rich, unhappy Santiago family and attends an exclusive private school. There, he meets Pedro Machuca, one of a number of poor boys granted scholarsips by the headmaster, a priest flush with the egalitarian spirit of the times. The friendship of the two boys — whose frequent companion is Silvana, a spritied girl from the shantytown where Pedro lives — develops as the country slides into political turmoil. Mr. Wood, who based "Machuca" on events from his own childhood, hews closely to Gonzalo’s point of view, and in spite of a few schematic, overdone scenes, the movie is subtle, quiet and forceful. — A. O. Scott, The New York Times