499

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1:55

499

2021

1h 27m

Documentary

History

Drama

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Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

20 Reviews

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0 Verified Ratings

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

08/20/2021

4/4

A truly brilliant accomplishment of unconventional storytelling.

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William Repass

Slant Magazine

08/17/2021

2.5/4

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

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Monica Castillo

Remezcla

05/15/2020

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.

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Erick Estrada

Cinegarage

06/28/2022

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

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Alfonso Flores-Durón y Martínez

En Filme

12/08/2021

4/5

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

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Jose Luis Ayala Ramirez

Konexión (MX)

10/18/2021

6.5/10

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]

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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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