The Dancer Upstairs (film)

The Dancer Upstairs
250px Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Malkovich
Produced by	Andrés Vicente Gómez John Malkovich
Written by	Nicholas Shakespeare
Based on	The Dancer Upstairs by Nicholas Shakespeare
Starring	Javier Bardem Juan Diego Botto Laura Morante Elvira Mínguez Wolframio Sinué
Music by	Alberto Iglesias Madredeus Yul Anderson
Cinematography	José Luis Alcaine
Edited by	Mario Battistel
Production company	Mr. Mudd Antena 3 Televisión Via Digital
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates	11 January 2002 (2002-01-11) (Sundance) 6 September 2002 (2002-09-06) (Venice) 20 September 2002 (2002-09-20) (Spain) 2 May 2003 (2003-05-02) (United States)
Running time	133 min.
Country	Spain United States
Language	English Quechua Spanish
Box office	$5,227,348

The Dancer Upstairs is a 2002 Spanish-American crime thriller film directed by John Malkovich (in his directorial debut) and starring Javier Bardem, Juan Diego Botto and Laura Morante. The film is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Nicholas Shakespeare, who also wrote the screenplay.

Synopsis

Detective Agustín Rejas is tracking the self-styled President Ezequiel, a Marxist-influenced guerrilla waging a brutal terrorist campaign against the corrupt democracy of an unnamed Latin American country. Contrasting with the violence and death in his professional life, Rejas begins to fall for Yolanda - his daughter's beautiful ballet teacher. But she may not be all she appears, and his growing attraction to her brings him in direct conflict with his prey.

Cast

• Javier Bardem as Detective Agustin Rejas
• Juan Diego Botto as Sucre
• Laura Morante as Yolanda
• Elvira Mínguez as Llosa
• Wolframio Sinué as Santiago
• Abel Folk as President Ezequiel
• Alexandra Lencastre as Sylvina Rejas
• Oliver Cotton as Merino
• Luís Miguel Cintra as Calderón
• Natalia Dicenta as Marina
• John Malkovich (uncredited) as Abimael Guzmán

Production

The film was shot in Porto, Portugal. The original theatrical release included a quick scene (about 2–3 seconds) of a map of Lima, Peru. This scene is deleted from the DVD release.

A lamppost sign reads: "When I hear the word culture, I reach for my pistol." This is a quotation usually mis-attributed to Nazi leader Hermann Göring.

The seized videotape is labeled "Estado de sitio"; this happens to be the Spanish title for the film State of Siege by Costa Gavras. There turns out to be an execution on the tape. Later, portions of Gavras' film itself are also seen on the tape.

The wisecrack joke about "pubes on a coke can" is a reference to the Judge Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.

Historical basis

The story is inspired by the Maoist terrorist group in Peru known as the Shining Path. Its leader Abimael Guzmán, who was known by the nom de guerre President Gonzalo, was captured in an apartment above a ballet studio in the capital Lima in 1992. The ballet teacher Yolanda was based on Maritza Garrido Lecca, the woman in whose apartment Guzmán was found. Bardem's character was inspired by Benedicto Jimenez and General Antonio Ketin Vidal, the leading figures responsible for Guzmán's capture.

Awards and accolades

• 2002 - Venice International Film Festival
  • Won Rota Soundtrack Award for Alberto Iglesias
• 2002 - Chicago International Film Festival
  • Nomination for the New Directors Competition at John Malkovich
• 2004 - Chlotrudis Awards
  • Nomination for Best Actor in Javier Bardem
• 2004 - Political Film Society
  • Nomination for the PFS Award

External links

• Official website
• The Dancer Upstairs at IMDb
• The Dancer Upstairs at AllMovie
• The Dancer Upstairs at Box Office Mojo
• The Dancer Upstairs at Metacritic
• Nicholas Shakespeare interview—Urban Cinefile editor, Andrew L. Urban's detailed write-up [biographically detailed]
• Javier Bardem interview
• indieWire profile
• BBC Review
• Interview with John Malkovich
• Movie trailer with official soundtrack by Yul Anderson on YouTube