Machuca (ej svensk text)

Chile, 1973. The film is is set during the last days of President Allende and the first days of Pinochet. Gonzalo Infante and Pedro Machuca are two eleven-year-old boys who live in Santiago, the former in a wealthy neighborhood and the latter in a recently created, illegal shantytown just a few blocks away. There is a huge invisible wall dividing these two separate worlds, a wall that some people, caught up in the revolutionary fervor of the times, want to break down. One of these hopeful dreamers is the headmaster at a private parochial school, Father McEnroe. With support from the parents of his students, he admits children from the poor shantytown families into his elitist school. He is determined they will learn to respect each other. That is why Pedro Machuca is in the same class as Gonzalo Infante. The friendship between them is full of discoveries and surprises. But in addition to the practical difficulties involved in this attempt at integration, there are others caused by the open social confrontation taking place in Chilean society between the supporters of President Allende and the army looking to reintroduce “order”…