Tesis (1996)

Director:

Alejandro Amenábar

Writers:

Alejandro Amenábar (writer)
Mateo Gil (writer)

Release Date:

12 April 1996 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Me llamo Ángela. Me van a matar. [English Tagline: My name is Angela. They're going to kill me.]

Plot:

While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured until death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her faculty...

Plot Keywords:

Dark And Stormy Night | Snuff Film | Violence | Circular Saw | Editor

Awards:

13 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Ana Torrent	...	Ángela
Fele Martínez	...	Chema
Eduardo Noriega	...	Bosco
Xabier Elorriaga	...	Castro
Miguel Picazo	...	Figueroa
Nieves Herranz	...	Sena
Rosa Campillo	...	Yolanda
Paco Hernández	...	Padre Angela (as Francisco Hernández)
Rosa Ávila	...	Madre Angela
Teresa Castanedo	...	Presentadora T.V.
José Miguel Caballero	...	Conserje Videoteca
Joserra Cadiñanos	...	Vigilante
Julio Vélez	...	Encargado tren
Pilar Ortega	...	Encargada C. Ventas
Olga Margallo	...	Vanessa

Also Known As:

Thesis (UK) (festival title) (USA) (video title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong and perverse violent content, brief strong sexuality and strong language.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-16 | Germany:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Las Producciones del Escorpión S.L.

Trivia:

The film had a relatively small budget of P116 million - equal to about 696,000 EUROS.

Goofs:

Continuity: When professor Figueroa finds the door to the secret library of snuff movies, before he enters, he wears glasses. In he next shot, as he enters the door, the glasses are gone, but they come back some shots after.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Title Card: WARNING: The following scenes may hurt the viewer's sensibility.

Movie Connections:

References Notorious (1946)

A Clever and Thrilling Directing debut

The film begins with a subway accident and the director,using the camera to direct the audiences reactions....the true meaning of pure cinema...teases with the viewer,will they show it,I hope not but still you can't keep from watching and this is mirrored in the final moments when patients at a hospital are all held spellbound by the images on the tv screen....will they show the actual images of torture and dismemberment.This film is what Robert Rodriguez and Tarantino aspire to do but don't quite get it right....Mr.Almenabar gets it right and I can't wait to see his new film,Open Your Eyes.Surprisingly,no one has attempted an American remake yet...THANK GOD!All Hollywood knows how to do is Blow Things UP!