Satanás (film)
Encyclopedia
Satanás is a 2007 Colombian film
directed
by Andi Baiz. It is adapted from the novel of the same title by Mario Mendoza Zambrano. It was Colombia's submission to the 80th Academy Awards
for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
, but was not accepted as a nominee.
The story is framed in a context of urban solitude in the modern world and sheds some light on the events that surrounded a spree killing that took place in Bogotá
, Colombia, in 1986. Satanás, the film, explores the final stages in the life of the killer Campo Elías Delgado
.
), a middle-aged English teacher, and veteran of the Vietnam War, has aspirations for a better life. In the past, he has had a lot of difficulty creating and maintaining relationships (especially with women). He has a difficult relationship with his mother, Blanca (Teresa Gutierrez
), who detests him and treats him with no respect. Due to his mother, he always has problems, especially with his neighbor and landlord Beatriz (Vicky Hernandez
), who is always asking him for money for his rent and for the support of the Colombian Army and the people displaced by violence, which he refuses, rudely saying, "They're all cowards, they don't know what a real soldier is like and I'm not interested." Offended by his refusal, his neighbor begins to tell everyone that Eliseo is a bad person. Eventually Eliseo is not welcome anywhere, and in a scene at the local store, they treat him rudely and make it clear that he is not welcome inside the store. This is one of the biggest factors contributing to Eliseo going mad, but it is not the only reason. The other reason, was because he fell in love with Natalia (Martina Garcia), his 15-year-old English student who lived in a very wealthy part of the city. Eliseo fell in love with Natalia because of her gentle, studious, and polite nature during lessons. For Eliseo, this small bit of kindness gives him hope that she could reciprocate his feelings. Eventually, he starts giving her gifts and starts to look forward more and more to seeing her again. However, this all changes when he is invited, and goes to, Natalia's birthday party; once there he realizes that Natalia has a boyfriend named Esteban (Javier Gardeazábal), and as she ignores Eliseo through the whole party (and her friends laugh at his gift), he is heartbroken. All of his stress and failures finally become too much, and he decides to go on a killing spree.
After a heated argument with his mother, he loses his temper and shoots her in the living room. After she is dead, he sets the body alight, a slight grin spreading on his face. When the fire begins to spread, he runs out of the apartment, shouting, "Fire! Fire!". When Vicky, the neighbor causing all the problems, walks out of her apartment, he shoots her. He also kills someone else on the stairs. Right after leaving the building, he heads anxiously for Natalia's house. When he arrives at the house, he acts normally and talks with her mother. He kills Natalia and her mother, viciously attacking one, then the other. At some point in the evening, he goes to the house of an old friend. He tells her that he is leaving town and thanks her for her friendship. From there, he goes on the last leg of his killing spree, the high class restaurant, "Pozzetto". He chooses an expensive meal and a few drinks, and consumes them both. He pays the bill leaving a big tip. Then, he goes into the bathroom and prepares himself for the upcoming massacre. When he comes out, he shoots the restaurant's pianist. Next, he begins to shoot anyone trying to escape. One of the people he shoots is a new waitress who has just begun her first day of work.
The second story consists that of Paola (Marcela Mar), an attractive young woman who hates her job in the marketplace. After accepting a better offer, she becomes a member of a gang of robbers, acting as a decoy to drug and rob wealthy men's money, by putting Scopolamine
in their drinks and then luring them into a cab where they'd do the "Paseo Millonario". Her story embodies the social and urban violence of life in Bogotá, Colombia
. As the movie goes on, after another night of robbing wealthy men, she grabs a cab ride home. Unfortunately, she ends up in the hands of two rapists who kidnap her and assault her at an old taxi shop. Afterwards, she is traumatized and eventually asks members of the gang she joined, to kill the two people that raped her. Feeling sorry for the deaths of the two rapists and all the robberies committed before, she quits the gang and gets a job as a waitress at one of the finest restaurants in Bogotá, "Pozzetto".
The third story consists that of Padre Ernesto, a tormented and libidinous priest. He is in a passionate and love-filled affair with his housekeeper, who is tormented by the bearing of the brunt of the secrecy of a woman in her community. This woman, who murders her three children "to release" of life (of evil), appears in the first part of the movie in a scene that serves to anticipate and prepare for the final slaughter at the end of the movie. But her stay in prison and its diabolical possession make her a spokesperson for theories, theses and obvious symbols for the future events. In the end, Ernesto cannot stop to refuse his carnal instincts towards his housekeeper and is too traumatized by the woman in the prison that he eventually loses his faith and refuses to go on as a priest. So right after he left he completely quit as a priest and invited his housekeeper to the restaurant named Pozzetto for a date but is unfortunately killed along with his date by Eliseo.
San Sebastián International Film Festival
– Horizons (Spain)
Festival de Cine de Bogotá – (Colombia)
Ibero-American Film Festival of Huelva (Spain)
Latitude Zero Film Festival – (Ecuador)
Cinema of Colombia
Colombian Cinema has struggled to develop as a solid industry throughout its history. During the beginning of the 20th century some production companies tried to maintain a level of constant production but lack of government support and a strong international industry ended up diminishing initiative...
directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Andi Baiz. It is adapted from the novel of the same title by Mario Mendoza Zambrano. It was Colombia's submission to the 80th Academy Awards
80th Academy Awards
The 80th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films in 2007 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 24, 2008 . During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards in 24...
for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
, but was not accepted as a nominee.
The story is framed in a context of urban solitude in the modern world and sheds some light on the events that surrounded a spree killing that took place in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Colombia, in 1986. Satanás, the film, explores the final stages in the life of the killer Campo Elías Delgado
Campo Elías Delgado
Campo Elías Delgado was a Colombian Vietnam War veteran who killed 30 people, and wounded 15 more, most of them at a luxurious Bogotá restaurant called Pozzetto, before apparently being shot dead by police...
.
Plot
Eliseo (Damián AlcázarDamián Alcázar
Damián Alcázar is a Mexican actor.To an English-speaking audience, he is probably best known as Lord Sopespian in the 2008 film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.- Filmography :...
), a middle-aged English teacher, and veteran of the Vietnam War, has aspirations for a better life. In the past, he has had a lot of difficulty creating and maintaining relationships (especially with women). He has a difficult relationship with his mother, Blanca (Teresa Gutierrez
Teresa Gutiérrez (actress)
Teresa Gutiérrez was a Colombian actress best known for her roles in TV series. Since the genesis of the television broadcasting in Colombia in she has appeared in numerous series, including Seguro y urgente, Te voy a enseñar a querer and Como Pedro por su casa...
), who detests him and treats him with no respect. Due to his mother, he always has problems, especially with his neighbor and landlord Beatriz (Vicky Hernandez
Vicky Hernández
Vicky Hernández is a Colombian movie, theater and TV actress.-Film:*2005 Les Gens Honnêtes Vivent en France *2004 Perder es Cuestión de Método, de Sergio Cabrera*2004 El Cristo de Plata*2000 Proof of Life, de Taylor Hackford - prod...
), who is always asking him for money for his rent and for the support of the Colombian Army and the people displaced by violence, which he refuses, rudely saying, "They're all cowards, they don't know what a real soldier is like and I'm not interested." Offended by his refusal, his neighbor begins to tell everyone that Eliseo is a bad person. Eventually Eliseo is not welcome anywhere, and in a scene at the local store, they treat him rudely and make it clear that he is not welcome inside the store. This is one of the biggest factors contributing to Eliseo going mad, but it is not the only reason. The other reason, was because he fell in love with Natalia (Martina Garcia), his 15-year-old English student who lived in a very wealthy part of the city. Eliseo fell in love with Natalia because of her gentle, studious, and polite nature during lessons. For Eliseo, this small bit of kindness gives him hope that she could reciprocate his feelings. Eventually, he starts giving her gifts and starts to look forward more and more to seeing her again. However, this all changes when he is invited, and goes to, Natalia's birthday party; once there he realizes that Natalia has a boyfriend named Esteban (Javier Gardeazábal), and as she ignores Eliseo through the whole party (and her friends laugh at his gift), he is heartbroken. All of his stress and failures finally become too much, and he decides to go on a killing spree.
After a heated argument with his mother, he loses his temper and shoots her in the living room. After she is dead, he sets the body alight, a slight grin spreading on his face. When the fire begins to spread, he runs out of the apartment, shouting, "Fire! Fire!". When Vicky, the neighbor causing all the problems, walks out of her apartment, he shoots her. He also kills someone else on the stairs. Right after leaving the building, he heads anxiously for Natalia's house. When he arrives at the house, he acts normally and talks with her mother. He kills Natalia and her mother, viciously attacking one, then the other. At some point in the evening, he goes to the house of an old friend. He tells her that he is leaving town and thanks her for her friendship. From there, he goes on the last leg of his killing spree, the high class restaurant, "Pozzetto". He chooses an expensive meal and a few drinks, and consumes them both. He pays the bill leaving a big tip. Then, he goes into the bathroom and prepares himself for the upcoming massacre. When he comes out, he shoots the restaurant's pianist. Next, he begins to shoot anyone trying to escape. One of the people he shoots is a new waitress who has just begun her first day of work.
The second story consists that of Paola (Marcela Mar), an attractive young woman who hates her job in the marketplace. After accepting a better offer, she becomes a member of a gang of robbers, acting as a decoy to drug and rob wealthy men's money, by putting Scopolamine
Scopolamine
Scopolamine, also known as levo-duboisine, and hyoscine, is a tropane alkaloid drug with muscarinic antagonist effects. It is among the secondary metabolites of plants from Solanaceae family of plants, such as henbane, jimson weed and Angel's Trumpets , and corkwood...
in their drinks and then luring them into a cab where they'd do the "Paseo Millonario". Her story embodies the social and urban violence of life in Bogotá, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
. As the movie goes on, after another night of robbing wealthy men, she grabs a cab ride home. Unfortunately, she ends up in the hands of two rapists who kidnap her and assault her at an old taxi shop. Afterwards, she is traumatized and eventually asks members of the gang she joined, to kill the two people that raped her. Feeling sorry for the deaths of the two rapists and all the robberies committed before, she quits the gang and gets a job as a waitress at one of the finest restaurants in Bogotá, "Pozzetto".
The third story consists that of Padre Ernesto, a tormented and libidinous priest. He is in a passionate and love-filled affair with his housekeeper, who is tormented by the bearing of the brunt of the secrecy of a woman in her community. This woman, who murders her three children "to release" of life (of evil), appears in the first part of the movie in a scene that serves to anticipate and prepare for the final slaughter at the end of the movie. But her stay in prison and its diabolical possession make her a spokesperson for theories, theses and obvious symbols for the future events. In the end, Ernesto cannot stop to refuse his carnal instincts towards his housekeeper and is too traumatized by the woman in the prison that he eventually loses his faith and refuses to go on as a priest. So right after he left he completely quit as a priest and invited his housekeeper to the restaurant named Pozzetto for a date but is unfortunately killed along with his date by Eliseo.
Cast
- Damián AlcázarDamián AlcázarDamián Alcázar is a Mexican actor.To an English-speaking audience, he is probably best known as Lord Sopespian in the 2008 film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.- Filmography :...
as Eliseo - Marcela Mar as Paola
- Blas Jaramillo as Padre Ernesto
- Teresa GutierrezTeresa Gutiérrez (actress)Teresa Gutiérrez was a Colombian actress best known for her roles in TV series. Since the genesis of the television broadcasting in Colombia in she has appeared in numerous series, including Seguro y urgente, Te voy a enseñar a querer and Como Pedro por su casa...
as Blanca, Eliseo's mother - Vicky HernandezVicky HernándezVicky Hernández is a Colombian movie, theater and TV actress.-Film:*2005 Les Gens Honnêtes Vivent en France *2004 Perder es Cuestión de Método, de Sergio Cabrera*2004 El Cristo de Plata*2000 Proof of Life, de Taylor Hackford - prod...
as Beatriz, Eliseo and Blanca's annoying neighbor - Martina Garcia as Natalia, Eliseo's English Student
- Patricia CastañedaPatricia CastanedaPatricia Castañeda is a Colombian actress. Patricia was born in the town of Cali, Colombia. While in school, Castañeda was asked to audition for a children's show called La Brújula Mágica she got the part and hosted the show for over 4 years and quit the studies in architecture...
as Valeria - Carolina Gaitan as Friend of Natalia
- Marcela GallegoMarcela GallegoMarcela Gallego is a Colombian actress, born in Tunja. Most of her work has been in Colombian telenovelas, some of which have appeared in the U.S. She is also famous for acting in the film Satanás .-External links:*http://imdb.com/name/nm0302719/...
as Mother of Natalia - Isabel Gaona as Irene
Prizes and Festivals
Festival of Monte Carlo (Monaco)- Award for Best Film Festival
- Award for Best Actor (Damián Alcázar)
San Sebastián International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
– Horizons (Spain)
- Honorable Mention to Marcela Mar (Actress)
Festival de Cine de Bogotá – (Colombia)
- Best Film Award Colombiana
- Critics Award for Best Film Colombiana
- Bronze Award for Best Opera Prima
Ibero-American Film Festival of Huelva (Spain)
- Pablo Neruda Prize for Best Feature – Awarded by the Student Film.
Latitude Zero Film Festival – (Ecuador)
- Honorable Mention of Criticism and the Press
See also
- SatanSatanSatan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
- Cinema of ColombiaCinema of ColombiaColombian Cinema has struggled to develop as a solid industry throughout its history. During the beginning of the 20th century some production companies tried to maintain a level of constant production but lack of government support and a strong international industry ended up diminishing initiative...
- List of submissions to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
External links
- Colombia's New Urban Realists (article about Mario Mendoza)
- Website in English of the 2006 Colombian film “Satanas”
- Satanás The Movie – Official Website in Spanish
- A review in English of Satanas – the film
- Spree Killer Scores (Delgado is ranked highest)
- Satanás (2007) En las fauces del mal – ochoymedio – revista en línea de cine (SPANISH SITE)
- Jackson Hole Film Festival 2008: Satanas
- Satanás Profile of a Killer | 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival | Andrés Baiz | Colombia
- San Sebastian Film Festival: Satanas (film)
- Analisis y Comentarios sobre cine Colombiano: Satanas (SPANISH site)