Description
El diputado 1978
1h 50min | Drama | 19 March 1981 (Mexico)
Storyline
Sex and politics collide in this tale of forbidden love, blackmail and murder. Set up by the secret police to compromise a prominent politician, a teenage hustler discovers himself passionately in love with the man he must betray.
User review:
Well-written and very well-acted, “El Diputado” is a very human take on a story of political and sexual intrigue in recently-post-Franco Madrid. The politician Roberto Orbea (José Sacristán) is set up by political opponents, aware of his secret proclivities, for sexual entanglement with the street hustler Juanito (José Luis Alonso). But the unexpected happens and Juanito begins to experience real feelings of love for Orbea, and the political opponents, when the suspect they are being played, are none too happy about this. Mariá Luisa San José is Orbea’s almost unbelievably understanding wife.
The three principal actors do some really wonderful work, aided by some very good writing, as members of the love triangle–sterling examples of the “less is more” approach to acting. The viewer feels real compassion for these all-too-human characters, in stark contrast to a movie like “Making Love”–the love-triangle plot reminded me of it, albeit very superficially–which opted for caricatures over actual people.
The look of the movie is real ’70’s, which only adds to it’s immediacy and charm.
Director: Eloy de la Iglesia
Writers: Eloy de la Iglesia (story), Gonzalo Goicoechea (story)
Stars: José Sacristán, María Luisa San José, José Luis Alonso
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish
Release Date: 1 November 1985 (USA)
Also Known As: El diputado
Filming Locations: Cine Carretas, Madrid, Spain
Mr John (verified owner) –
Not yet watched – but know it was a cogent piece of film-making made shortly after the end of the Franco-era in Spain in 1975. It depicts political intrigue notably by blackmail of a politician but with an unforeseen outcome. The playback quality (1978 Mexico) in that file format is not great but the importance of the film makes it easy to forgive such a shortcoming.