''Julio comienza en julio'' ("Julio Begins in July") is a 1979 Chilean

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

period film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

directed by

Silvio Caiozzi Silvio Caiozzi (born 1944) is a Chilean film director and cinematographer. Select filmography * ''A la sombra del sol'' (1974) * '' Julio comienza en julio'' (1979) * '' La luna en el espejo '' (1990) * ''Fernando ha vuelto'' (1998) * '' Corona ...

and written by Gustavo Frías. It is one of the few Chilean

feature films A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

made and released in the first decade of the

Pinochet dictatorship Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

. The film won the Golden Columbus Award at the 1979 Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival and the Chilean Critics' Circle Award for Best Film. In 1999, it was voted as the "best Chilean film of the 20th century" by the public in a poll organized by the Municipality of Santiago. Critics regard it as one of the finest films in Chilean cinema, alongside

Miguel Littín Miguel Ernesto Littin Cucumides (born 9 August 1942) is a Chilean film director, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian people, Palestinian father, Hernán Littin and a Greeks, Greek mother, Cristina Cucumides. C ...

's '' The Jackal of Nahueltoro'', Raúl Ruiz's '' Three Sad Tigers'',

Patricio Guzmán Patricio Guzmán Lozanes (born August 11, 1941) is a Chilean documentary film director. He is most known for his films '' The Battle of Chile'' (1975-1979) and ''Salvador Allende'' (2004). Career Guzmán also teaches documentary film classes in ...

's '' The Battle of Chile'', and

Andrés Wood Andrés Wood Montt (born 14 September 1965) is a Chilean film director, producer and writer. Some of his most popular films include ''Machuca'', '' Violeta se fue a los cielos'', and ''Historias de Futbol''. He created his own production company ...

's ''

Machuca ''Machuca'' is a 2004 internationally co-produced film co-written and directed by Andrés Wood. It stars Matías Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Manuela Martelli, and Aline Küppenheim alongside Federico Luppi. Set in Santiago during the months leadi ...

''.

Plot

Don Julio García del Castaño is a wealthy landowner who must secure the future of his estate. To do so, he must train his son and heir, Julio (affectionately called ''Julito''), in the necessary skills to become a man.

Production

The film was shot in

Pirque Pirque () is a commune of Chile in Cordillera Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region; it is located 2.8 kilometers southeast of Puente Alto and 21.3 kilometers south-southeast of the center of Santiago. It is situated at the base of the Cajón de ...

and Calera de Tango (with the curious coincidence that filming began in July 1976). Due to a severely limited budget, actors and crew members received only minimal compensation for their participation. It was shot in 16 mm black and white format and later transferred to 35 mm and sepia format in laboratories located in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

.''Cien películas latinoamericanas'', Julio López Navarro. Ediciones Pantalla Grande, 2000.

Cast

* Juan Cristóbal Meza * Felipe Rabat * Schlomit Baytelman *

Gloria Münchmeyer María Gloria Münchmeyer Barber (born September 2, 1938 in Santiago) is a Chilean television, film and theatre actress, known for her roles in some telenovelas like La Madrastra, Marrón Glacé, and others. She was married with the actor/come ...

Jaime Vadell Jaime Patricio Vadell Amión (born 6 October 1935) is a Chilean film, theatre and television actor. He is one of the most recognisable faces in Chilean telenovelas and cinema, having played key roles in films directed by Raúl Ruiz, Silvio Cai ...

Luis Alarcón Luis Alfonso Alarcón Mansilla (born 23 October 1929), popularly known as Lucho Alarcón, is a Chilean actor, theater director, and activist with a distinguished film, television, and stage career. In 1957, Alarcón began working as a stage actor ...

* Ana González Olea * Delfina Guzmán * Tennyson Ferrada

Reception

At its premiere, the film not only received widespread critical and popular acclaim, but also won the Golden Columbus for Best Film at the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival and was screened at the prestigious

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. ''Julio comienza en julio'' already exhibits several traits that would establish Silvio Caiozzi as one of the most important Chilean film directors, including a strong sense of

mise-en-scène ''Mise-en-scène'' (; en, "placing on stage" or "what is put into the scene") is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, a ...

, remarkable skill in directing actors, and a keen ability to convey political messages about the country through implicit means. In 1999, ''Julio comienza en julio'' was voted the "best Chilean film of the 20th century" in a popular poll organized by the Municipality of Santiago.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0076247, title=Julio Begins in July 1979 films Chilean black-and-white films