499

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1:55

499

Released Aug 20, 2021

1h 27m

Documentary

History

Drama

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Popcornmeter

85%

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20 Reviews

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In 2021, it will be 500 years since the Spanish conquest of Mexico. To commemorate this anniversary, director Rodrigo Reyes offers us an audacious cinematographic experience, a hybrid that mixes non-fiction with dramatic elements, framed in a road movie format . Through the gaze of a ghostly conqueror, Reyes recreates the epic route of Hernán Cortés from the coast of Veracruz to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, replaced by present-day Mexico City. On the road, this anachronistic character interacts with victims, real people affected by the failed war on drugs, and the director builds a portrait of the current humanitarian crisis in the country, a new chapter within a brutal unfinished colonial project, and still in motion, 499 years later.

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Carlos Aguilar

RogerEbert.com

A truly brilliant accomplishment of unconventional storytelling.

Rated: 4/4

Aug 20, 2021

Full Review

William Repass

Slant Magazine

The film raises pertinent questions about Mexico's mixed cultural heritage and the contested representation of reality.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 17, 2021

Full Review

Monica Castillo

Remezcla

Although the stories are undoubtedly powerful and the cinematography of rural and urban Mexico looks beguiling, Reyes never clearly connects the ramifications of colonialism to the violence and loss his bemused explorer experiences.

May 15, 2020

Full Review

Erick Estrada

Cinegarage

Alongside this conquistador we experience the shipwreck of a country, which is the one we live in. [Full review in Spanish]

Jun 28, 2022

Full Review

Alfonso Flores-Durón y Martínez

En Filme

Rodrigo Reyes focuses his sight on the catatonic state that Mexico finds itself today. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/5

Dec 8, 2021

Full Review

Jose Luis Ayala Ramirez

Konexión (MX)

499 is a necessary testimony, but above all else it's a different perspective than we're used to seeing in documentaries that manages more notable moments than others. [Full Review in Spanish]

Rated: 6.5/10

Oct 18, 2021

Full Review

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Rodrigo Reyes

Director

Eduardo San Juan Breña

Actor

Misha Maclaird

Writer

Lorena Padilla

Writer

Rodrigo Reyes

Writer

Inti Cordera

Producer

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499: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

In 2021, it will be 500 years since the Spanish conquest of Mexico. To commemorate this anniversary, director Rodrigo Reyes offers us an audacious cinematographic experience, a hybrid that mixes non-fiction with dramatic elements, framed in a road movie format . Through the gaze of a ghostly conqueror, Reyes recreates the epic route of Hernán Cortés from the coast of Veracruz to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, replaced by present-day Mexico City. On the road, this anachronistic character interacts with victims, real people affected by the failed war on drugs, and the director builds a portrait of the current humanitarian crisis in the country, a new chapter within a brutal unfinished colonial project, and still in motion, 499 years later.

Director: Rodrigo Reyes
Producer: Inti Cordera, Andrew Houchens
Screenwriter: Misha Maclaird, Lorena Padilla, Rodrigo Reyes
Distributor: The Cinema Guild
Genre: Documentary, History, Drama
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 20, 2021, Limited
Runtime: 1h 27m

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