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Cronicas

Original title: Crónicas
  • 2004
  • R
  • 1h 48m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
3.6K
YOUR RATING
Cronicas (2004)
Theatrical Trailer from Palm Pictures
Play trailer1:59
2 Videos
16 Photos
CrimeDramaThriller

A suspense thriller about a reporter from Miami who travels to Ecuador in pursuit of a serial killer known as the "Monster of Babahoyo."A suspense thriller about a reporter from Miami who travels to Ecuador in pursuit of a serial killer known as the "Monster of Babahoyo."A suspense thriller about a reporter from Miami who travels to Ecuador in pursuit of a serial killer known as the "Monster of Babahoyo."

  • Director
    • Sebastián Cordero
  • Writer
    • Sebastián Cordero
  • Stars
    • John Leguizamo
    • Alfred Molina
    • Leonor Watling
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    3.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Sebastián Cordero
    • Writer
      • Sebastián Cordero
    • Stars
      • John Leguizamo
      • Alfred Molina
      • Leonor Watling
    • 30User reviews
    • 38Critic reviews
    • 63Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 9 wins & 9 nominations total

    Videos2

    Cronicas
    Trailer 1:59
    Cronicas
    Cronicas
    Trailer 1:59
    Cronicas
    Cronicas
    Trailer 1:59
    Cronicas

    Photos15

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    Top cast40

    Edit
    John Leguizamo
    John Leguizamo
    • Manolo Bonilla
    Alfred Molina
    Alfred Molina
    • Victor Hugo Puente
    Leonor Watling
    Leonor Watling
    • Marisa Iturralde
    Damián Alcázar
    Damián Alcázar
    • Vinicio Cepeda
    Peki Andino
    • Sargento Saltos
    • (as Peky Andino)
    Amira Bustamante
    • Señorita Autógrafo
    Juan Carlos Cedeño
    • Hombre Enfurecido 2
    • (as Carlos Cedeño)
    Andrés Crespo
    Andrés Crespo
    • Preso Medio Gramo
    Elena Del Rocío Murillo
    • Partera
    Susana Díaz Nieto
    • Secretaria Sociedad Biblica
    Jaime Estrada
    Jaime Estrada
    • Señor Limpieza
    Washington Garzón
    • Joseph Juan
    Ricardo Paul Gonzalez
    • Policía Mina
    Patricia Higuera
    • Reportera
    Hugo Idrovo
    • Lic. Orestes Zambrano
    Víctor Feratio Jiménez
    • Roger
    Adrián Layana
    • Joven Violento
    Henry Layana
    • Don Lucho
    • Director
      • Sebastián Cordero
    • Writer
      • Sebastián Cordero
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews30

    6.83.6K
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    Featured reviews

    7Coventry

    Intense & Confronting drama-thriller.

    Crónicas is more than just another lame and wannabe provocative satire that wants to prove how the media and charismatic reporters are capable of influencing people's opinions and emotions. In fact, it does handle about that, but it's definitely not a dumb satire. It's a harsh and harrowing social drama, set in an ultimately depressing environment and focusing on the inhabitants of a country that the pubic opinion usually neglects. Here is one foreign film production that Hollywood isn't likely to remake any time soon, and even if some fancy producer would consider a remake, you can rest assured that the content and especially the whole denouement will be changed drastically. The story entirely takes place in a small village in Ecuador, where a feared psychopath has already sexually abused and killed nearly 150 innocent children. New mass graves are discovered almost on a weekly basis and the petrified community fears the murderer will never be caught. The acclaimed Miami TV-reporter Manolo Bonilla, on location with his crew to shoot a documentary on the issue, prevents a man from getting lynched by an angry mob when he causes a car accident involving a young boy. Whilst in prison, the man provides Bonilla with a lot of detailed information concerning the murders and the reporter quickly becomes obsessed with the idea of catching the killer himself. In exchange for further information, Bonilla promises the man to do an emotional TV-show about his wrongful imprisonment. "Crónicas" benefices from a powerful first half hour and especially the climax sequences are ultimately fascinating and shocking. Unfortunately the middle-section of the film is somewhat sluggish and dull, but at least you can admire the beautiful filming location and the genuinely moving acting performances of the overall unknown cast. The film contains several unsettling images of violence and human misery, but the unconventional ending is far more shocking & disturbing than on screen violence could ever be. And you can even despise the characters for their action, because deep down you realize you'd do exactly the same. This film isn't a masterpiece, but it's definitely a film you won't forget easily.
    7sachsad

    a very important movie

    This film is one of the more important films of this age, especially for countries such as the United States where new stations such as Fox News dominate the airwaves. I am very surprised that a film with stars such as John Leguizamo giving great performances, and the support of Alfred Molina, that this film isn't receiving wide distribution in the United States.

    The film exposes the fringes of Ecuador by setting the story in one of the country's poorest areas, the province of Los Rios in its filthy capital Babahoyo. Against this backdrop we see a group of journalists from a Mexican news station known for its program "Una Hora con la Verdad (An Hour with the Truth)" confront some of the harsh realities present in these areas. In their efforts to expose the life in los Rios, they learn how little they actually know about the people there and how difficult it can be to provide the Truth for their viewers.
    8lastliberal

    ...that's my job. To serve the truth.

    Damián Alcázar (The Crime of Father Amaro, Lord Sopespian in Prince Caspian) gives a truly remarkable performance in a compelling film by young writer/director Sebastián Cordero.

    There are two stories going on at the same time. One is a story of a vicious rapist/serial killer who preys on young boys and girls; and the other is about the role of the media in our society.

    John Leguizamo plays a star reported that knows who the killer is and is trying to get the confession for a news story. In the meantime, events transpire that result in the killer's release before he accomplishes this.

    Leonor Watling (La mala educación, Paris, je t'aime) plays the producer who wants to tell what they know, while Leguizamo fights to keep it a secret and play off the hero status he gained. Who will win? Will his conscience get the better of him? That is the real story here, as we debate the role of media. Are they reporting the news, and becoming part of the news.

    The view of rural Ecuadorian life is also a big plus to the enjoyment of this film.

    Compelling.
    8bastetg4

    Disturbing, but very good

    It's hard to rate a movie that you find intensely disturbing and a bit nauseating. I saw this at the Philadelphia Film Festival, and the friend who saw it with me was equally disturbed - we both wanted to give it a rating of F***ed Up. Then again, if you spend the next two hours talking about how much a movie bothered you, that means it was well acted and directed, right?

    The reporter (Leguizamo) crosses the boundaries of morality and goes too far in pursuit of his story, and the movie ends on a very unsatisfactory note. Still, the bad guy is very good at being a psychopath, and the reporter and his crew are very good at being morally bankrupt. See Cronicas, but brace yourself for unpleasant subject matter.
    8noralee

    A Tough Look at the Responsibilities of Tabloid Journalism

    "Crónicas" is an updated, Latinization of Billy Wilder's cynical 1951 film "Ace in the Hole (The Big Carnival)," where a tabloid reporter selfishly manipulated an emotional story of a trapped miner.

    Where films like "Medium Cool" and "The China Syndrome" showed reporters as heroes getting radicalized by the stories they are covering, writer/director Sebastián Cordero effectively creates a hot, grimy, gritty environment for an ethically-challenged tabloid TV reporter who gets too mired in a serial murder investigation in the slums of Equador that recalls the hysteria and circus around the Atlanta child killings.

    The irony of the power of today's ubiquitous media is shown to searing effect, including the power to manipulate it for personal purposes by all sides. The cat and mouse negotiations between the reporter and a questionable source (the enthralling Damián Alcázar) are as tense as those in "The Silence of the Lambs," and in an ugly environs that we can practically smell through the screen.

    John Leguizamo is completely believable as a swaggering, self-promoting celebrity TV reporter for a popular show covering scandals across the southern hemisphere, flitting from his Miami base to drug lord hostages in Columbia to salacious murders, in and out of English. We are alternately sympathetic to his efforts and his bouts of conscience, then repelled by him.

    He is flanked by somewhat stereotypes of a lanky, battle-hardened cameraman who eagerly focuses on close-ups of violence and gore and an ambitious woman producer who plunges into research and infidelity with equal verve, who utilize the most shiny, high tech communications gear to capitalize on their tunneling through the muck of human nature, though even they finally reach their ethical boundaries.

    The focus is kept tightly on the reporter's responsibilities, as the producer comments ruefully: "We got the only honest cop in Latin America." The script and the camera certainly play with us, in edits of slowly revealed information that change our impressions of the facts, and as the reporter tensely tries to both get a scoop and do as much of the right thing as his ambitions allow.

    As an intelligent thriller, this film certainly puts a brutal spin on the issue of a reporter protecting his sources, even as the worst of the implications happens off camera.

    The background song selections fit the mood, though I have some feeling that the Spanish lyrics had significance.

    The English subtitles had some errors.

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    Related interests

    James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Sharon Angela, Max Casella, Dan Grimaldi, Joe Perrino, Donna Pescow, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Tony Sirico, and Michael Drayer in The Sopranos (1999)
    Crime
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was Colombian actor John Leguizamo's first film in Spanish. As all of his projects have been in English, he felt awkward talking in Spanish while acting. He felt he didn't know the language.
    • Soundtracks
      MADRE DE DIOS
      Written by Antonio Pinto and Yaniel Mattos

      Performed by Antonio Pinto y Yaniel Mattos

      Courtesy of Ambulante Discos and Indio Music Producões Musicais Ltda

      License of ANP Produções Musicais Ltda.

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    FAQ19

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 21, 2006 (Mexico)
    • Countries of origin
      • Mexico
      • Ecuador
    • Official site
      • Palm Pictures (United States)
    • Languages
      • Spanish
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Chronicles
    • Filming locations
      • Los Ríos, Ecuador
    • Production companies
      • Cabezahueca
      • Tequila Gang
      • Esperanto Filmoj
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $300,322
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $43,263
      • Jul 10, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $783,778
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 48m(108 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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