''Veneno: Primera caída – El relámpago de Jack'' ("Veneno: First Fall — Jack's Lightning-Bolt") is a 2018 sports

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

about the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

wrestler

Jack Veneno Jack Veneno (born Rafael Antonio Sánchez; May 2, 1942 – April 6, 2021) was a List of people from the Dominican Republic, Dominican Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and politician. Professional wrestling career He became interest ...

. Directed by Tabaré Blanchard and starring

Manny Pérez Manuel Pérez "Manny" Batista (born May 5, 1969) is a Dominican American actor who has appeared in the television series ''Third Watch'' and in the film '' Washington Heights''. He is the cousin of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz. L ...

, it is the first part of a planned

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

Production

The Veneno trilogy is one of the largest native Dominican Republic productions. Some liberties were taken with the story; for example, in reality Veneno first saw El Santo at a

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

cinema with his father, but in the film this was moved to a travelling circus in the town of

San José de Ocoa San José de Ocoa, or simply Ocoa, is the capital of San José de Ocoa province in the Dominican Republic. It is located north of the Peravia province, and was part of that province until 1 January 2002. History The town was founded in 1805 by pe ...

where he spent his earliest years.

Synopsis

In the modern day, an uninterested journalist interviews the aged former wrestler and politician Jack Veneno. In the 1950s, Rafael Antonio Sánchez grows up in poverty in the

under the Trujillo dictatorship. After seeing a film starring the '' luchador''

El Santo Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (23 September 1917 – 5 February 1984), known professionally as El Santo or in English The Saint, was a Mexican luchador enmascarado (Spanish for "masked professional wrestler"), actor and folk hero. He is one of the mo ...

, he and his friend José Manuel Guzmán Marte, a police officer's son, dream of becoming

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

s. They both find success, under the names of "Jack Veneno" and "Relámpago Hernández" respectively, but fighting tests their friendship.

Release

The film premiered in the DR on 22 February 2018, and in the US on 13 April. ''Veneno'' represented the Dominican Republic at the 2019 Ariel Awards.

Luichy Guzman Luis Alberto Guzmán (; born 22 July 1974) is a Dominican composer and singer-songwriter. He has composed the music for the films ''Quiero ser fiel'', '' Ladrones'' and '' Veneno: Primera caída – El relámpago de Jack'', for which he won th ...

's score won the Premio La Silla in 2018.

References

External links

* * 2018 drama films 2018 films 2010s sports drama films Dominican Republic drama films 2010s Spanish-language films Films set in the Dominican Republic Lucha libre films Professional wrestling films {{2010s-drama-film-stub