''Secret of the Andes'' (''El secreto de los Andes'') is a 1998

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

-American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

co-written and directed by

Alejandro Azzano Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre (French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...

. It stars

Roshan Seth Roshan Seth (born 2 April 1942) is a British-Indian actor, writer and theatre director who has worked in the United Kingdom, United States and India. He began his acting career in the early 1960s in the UK, but left acting the following decade ...

as a powerful

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

, Camilla Belle as a nine-year old young girl with unusual gifts,

David Keith David Keith may refer to: * David Keith (novelist) (1906–1994), pen name of American scholar Francis Steegmuller *David Keith (actor) (born 1954), American film and TV performer and director *David Keith (physicist), Canadian-born Harvard Profess ...

as her archaeologist father, Nancy Allen as her mother and

John Rhys-Davies John Rhys-Davies (born 5 May 1944) is a Welsh actor best known for portraying Sallah in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and Gimli in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. His other roles include Michael Malone in the 1993 series ''The Untoucha ...

as a Catholic priest.

Synopsis

When Diana's behavior causes her to be suspended from her school in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, her mother takes her to join her father, an archaeologist working in a village in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. He is looking for the missing half of the golden disc of

Huáscar Huáscar Inca (; Quechua: ''Waskar Inka''; 1503–1532) also Guazcar was Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire from 1527 to 1532. He succeeded his father, Huayna Capac and his brother Ninan Cuyochi, both of whom died of smallpox while campaigning near Qui ...

, which legend says can grant eternal life. Diana meets the local

and discovers her own mystical powers.

Cast

* Camilla Belle ... Diana Willings *

... Brooks Willings * Nancy Allen ... Brenda Willings *

... Don Benito *

... Father Claver *

Jerry Stiller Gerald Isaac Stiller (June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He spent many years as part of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, to whom he was married for over 60 years until her death in 2015 ...

... Dr. Goldfisch *

José Luis Alfonzo José Luis Alfonzo (born 1969 in San Luis Province, Argentina) is an Argentinian film actor. He works in the cinema of Argentina.

... Lázaro *

Gianni Lunadei Gianni Lunadei (May 1, 1938 – June 17, 1998) was an Italian Argentine actor. He is considered one of the most versatile actors of his generation, and is best known for his work in Argentine comedy. Biography Lunadei was born in Rome in 1938. H ...

* Rodrigo Barrena ... Sancho Benito *

Betiana Blum Betiana Blum (born in Charata, Chaco in 1939 as Betty Ana Blum) is an Argentine actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatr ...

... Mama Lola * Leandro López ... Lucho Benito

Critical response

The critical reception was mostly negative in the Argentine press. Adolfo C. Martínez wrote in ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

'' that the film "was so short of imagination that does not resist the slightest analysis (...) If its makers though of a movie for children, they err their target...if they though of a movie for older audiences, nobody at an adult age can become captivated by the absurdities shown on screen". Juan Villegas, from the ''El Amante del Cine'' magazine wrote that "there was an exciting story to be tell, but they forgot to shoot it".

Accolades

''Secret of the Andes'' won a silver Remi in the 2000 edition of the

WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival The WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, founded in 1968, is an annual film festival held annually in April in Houston, Texas. Notable festival alumni include John Lee Hancock, who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning film '' The Blind S ...

. The movie was also nominated to best film in the 1998 edition of the

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature fest ...

References

External links

* * 1998 films 1990s children's adventure films 1990s fantasy adventure films American children's adventure films American fantasy adventure films Argentine children's films Argentine fantasy adventure films English-language Argentine films Films about children Films about families Films set in Argentina Films set in New York City Films about treasure hunting 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s Argentine films 1998 multilingual films American multilingual films Argentine multilingual films {{1990s-Argentina-film-stub