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      Battle in Heaven

      2005 1h 38m Drama List
      50% 60 Reviews Tomatometer 45% 50,000+ Ratings Audience Score A man (Marcos Hernández) struggles with his conscience after the baby he and his wife kidnapped accidentally dies. Read More Read Less
      Battle in Heaven

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      Critics Consensus

      Though it tries to be provocative, Battle in Heaven is lethargic and mind-numbing.

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      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member CRAP OF A CINEMATOGRAPHY Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Carlos Reygadas' second full feature and now I have seen all his flicks. The very interesting director's most provokative film I would say. Sex, blood, depression all over the line. We follow Marcos, a working-man that has kidnapped a baby for ransom money, but things does not turn out as planned for Marcos or his wife. The mind-absent and guilty man's life and choices is what we follow. The film manage to keep a minimal focus too this true plot, really. It's always inside Marcos head, but he has much else going on. The Generals daughter, for example. She works as some sort of prostitute, while he works as her driver and she is impotant for him in many ways. Many nice techniques here and it's weirdly, but effectively presented. One specific sex-scene is terrific where the capturing is doing everything else than making it explicit. A highlight. A confusing and affecting film. Grotesque and graphic, but at the same time very beautiful. The gritty sound mix and sound scenery is something that you can like or hate. I liked it a lot. I miss a true punch and there is a little bit too much of nothingness here. Artsy and hard to place on a rating scale. The director has openly given out explenations that makes it simpler to "get" - this makes it better and less random. This is well crafted and meaningful. Worth a go, but surely not for everyone - just like his other films. Films that I grade from fantastic too all right. This is all right plus. 6 out of 10 knee steps. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member 3.8/5 Okey, okey. Vaya que fue duro, pero vi Batalla en el cielo, es de las películas más incomodas y desagradables que podrás ver (con unas escenas sexuales repugnantes), locaciones nada agradables, una atmosfera de pobreza y "fealdad" está presente en toda la película. Como siempre, Reygadas no utilizó actores profesionales, y aunque en ocasiones se note esto, da en general un aire natural, fluido y realista a el dialogo y escenas. Su mensaje, que en resumidas cuenta y de manera burda podría decirse que es "México apesta", llega a la audiencia de una manera sútil, utilizando todo lo antes mencionado para ello. Es memorable, intensa y aunque sí es el filme menos genial de Reygadas, vale la pena. Advertencia: Deben estar preparados y con el humor adecuado. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member good look a social structure in mexico Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member É estranhíssimo ser a CMTV um dos poucos (o único?) canal português capaz de surpreender com os filmes que exibe e ainda por cima um bocado a monte, numa divisão de "Cinema Erótico" (com uns separadores hilariantes com a música de Serge Gainsbourg). Alguém na CMTV ainda não percebeu que nem todos os filmes com cenas de sexo são eróticos só por isso. Mas é bom que esse seja o critério de programação, porque leva a vários filmes que outros canais dificilmente mostram. E, pronto, lá estava "Battalla en el cielo" a altas horas na CMTV sem ninguém dar muito por ele. Com ele trazia algumas cenas de sexo explícito, mas nem por isso muito eróticas... "Batalla en el cielo" é aquele tipo de filme arty muito feito à medida das polémicas necessárias para agitar os festivais. De resto, é difícil perceber se o realizador Carlos Reygadas é bem sucedido no seu retrato de um miserável casal mexicano que decide raptar um bebé e que depois vê-se num duelo moral provocado por isso. São poucos os detalhes revelados sobre esse mote da narrativa (que nem sequer é mostrado) e tudo o que se passa a partir daí acontece quase geralmente na postura e expressões apáticas do working-class hero Marcos, que nos absorve para uma lentidão de movimentos tão hipnótica como aborrecida (talvez propositadamente). Não fiquei admirado de ter adormecido muito perto do final, mas antes disso acontecer há aqui um registo de autor verdadeiramente intrigante (se bem que por vezes gratuito) e um gajo que sabe filmar o México sem suavizar as coisas e mostrando tudo o que tem de estanho e de semelhante aos sonhos mais improváveis. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member very bad movie i dont understand why it can be in cannes. are u kidding me?? Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Battle in Heaven

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      Critics Reviews

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      Frédéric Bonnaud Film Comment Magazine But how can you resist a filmmaker who uses an old Spanish saeta as if it was an unpublished Ennio Morricone theme? Is real beauty ever pure? Nov 19, 2013 Full Review J. R. Jones Chicago Reader Since premiering at Cannes the movie has become notorious for its shocking, emphatically unerotic sex scenes, though it's equally notable for its striking visual conceits and small moments of intense feeling. Apr 6, 2010 Full Review Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness Reygadas proves that rare filmmaker interested in tackling both the personal and the political through expressly confrontational means. Rated: B+ Aug 24, 2006 Full Review Tom Dawson The List A simultaneously austere and visceral work, one steeped in mystery and longing. Rated: 4/5 Apr 27, 2019 Full Review Robert Dabrowski The List Reygadas casts non-actor Marcos Hernandez [as the lead]. It's a gamble that pays off; Hernandez imbues the role with a placid quality of a character lifted from the pages of Albert Camus. Rated: 4/5 Apr 26, 2019 Full Review Dorothy Woodend The Tyee (British Columbia) Despite the unpleasant looking sex, there is something about these scenes that is strangely moving. Aug 24, 2017 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis A man (Marcos Hernández) struggles with his conscience after the baby he and his wife kidnapped accidentally dies.
      Director
      Carlos Reygadas
      Producer
      Hamish McAlpine
      Screenwriter
      Carlos Reygadas
      Production Co
      Mantarraya Producciones, Tarantula, No Dream Cinema
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      Spanish
      Rerelease Date (Theaters)
      Feb 17, 2006
      Release Date (DVD)
      Jun 6, 2006
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $70.9K
      Runtime
      1h 38m