''Jackal of Nahueltoro'' ( es, El Chacal de Nahueltoro) is a 1969 Chilean

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

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 ...

, based on the true story of Jorge Valenzuela Torres, a poor farmer who, during a drunken rampage in 1960, murdered his partner and five of her children. It was entered into the

20th Berlin International Film Festival The 20th annual Berlin International Film Festival was supposed to be held from 26 June to 7 July 1970. The festival opened with ''Klann – grand guignol'' by Patrick Ledoux. However, on 5 July the competition was cancelled and no major prizes ...

, winning the OCIC prize. It is considered by some to the best Chilean film of all time because it questions the morality of the death penalty and the social hypocrisy of trying to rehabilitate a man only to later execute him.

Plot

Jorge del Carmen Valenzuela Torres is a farmer who suffers from abuse and exploitation from childhood, leading to alcoholism. As an adult, he receives help from a poor woman named Rosa Rivas, who has five children from a previous marriage. Eventually, he marries her. However, in August 1960, while under the influence of alcohol, he gets into a fight with her and ends up murdering her and all of her children. He is arrested the following month and spends 32 months in prison, during which he learns to read and write and converts to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He is ultimately sentenced to

execution by firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are u ...

, which is carried out in 1963.

Cast

Nelson Villagra Nelson Villagra (born 9 August 1937) is a Chilean actor, writer and director of stage and screen. He is recognised as one of the most masterful actors in Chilean cinema and is widely known in Chile for his exceptional portrayal of a mentally ...

as Jorge Valenzuela *

Shenda Román Shenda Román (born 4 August 1928) is a Chilean actress best known for playing leading roles opposite Nelson Villagra in the "New Chilean Cinema" (1968-1973) of directors Raúl Ruiz and Miguel Littín. Selected filmography * ''Three Sad Tige ...

as Rosa Rivas *

Héctor Noguera Héctor Eugenio Noguera Illanes (born July 8, 1937 in Santiago), is a Chilean television, theatre and film actor, and also a theatre director. Noguera is the son of Héctor Noguera Prieto (grandson of José Joaquín Prieto Vial and Yolanda Illa ...

as Chaplain *

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 ...

as the Judge * Rafael Benavente as a prison guard *

Roberto Navarrete The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Marcelo Romo Marcelo Romo (23 April 1941 – 23 January 2018) was a Chilean actor. He appeared in more than thirty films since 1969. Selected filmography References External links * 1941 births 2018 deaths Chilean male film actors Chilean ac ...

as Reporter * Rubén Sotoconil as Corporal Campos *

Pedro Villagra Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning ...

References

External links

* 1969 films 1969 drama films Chilean black-and-white films Chilean drama films 1960s Spanish-language films Films directed by Miguel Littín {{Chile-film-stub