La Cienaga (2001)
86%RT Audience Score: 79%
Awards & Nominations: 16 wins & 8 nominations
Dense yet impressively focused, La Cienaga is a disquieting look at domestic dissatisfaction – and a powerful calling card for debuting writer-director Lucrecia Martel
If you’re looking for a movie that’s both dense with life and relentlessly dreary, then La Ciénaga is the perfect pick for you! Lucrecia Martel’s debut feature is a small masterpiece that captures the air of stultifying decadence to a T. The film doesn’t try to connect the dots with typical continuity editing, but instead focuses on textures and fleeting movements. It’s like watching metal rust, but in a good way. Plus, the opening sequence is mind-blowing and will leave you with an image of a suntanned chest impaled by the shards of a broken wine glass that you won’t soon forget. So grab some popcorn and get ready to be stimulated!
Production Company(ies)
Decia Films, Amazonas Images Solares Fondazione delle arti
Distributor
Cowboy Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Salta, Argentina
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2001
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTSDTS-Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 40m
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Language(s):Spanish
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 3, 2001 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2005
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
The Swamp, drama, Lucrecia Martel, Lita Stantic, Mercedes Morán, Graciela Borges, Martin Adjemian, Diego Baenas, Leonora Balcarce, Silvia Baylé, box office, budget, critic reviews, producer, MPAA rating, domestic dissatisfaction, rural country house, nonsequential, Spanish, Cowboy Pictures, surround sound, DTS, flat aspect ratio
Worldwide gross: $270,811
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $456,395
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,758
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 49,770
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Graciela Borges – Mecha
Martin Adjemian – Gregorio
Diego Baenas – Joaquín
Leonora Balcarce – Verónica
Silvia Baylé – Mercedes
Director(s)
Lucrecia Martel
Writer(s)
Lucrecia Martel
Producer(s)
Lita Stantic
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
16 wins & 8 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (44) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (5)
An early image of a suntanned chest impaled by the shards of a broken wine glass becomes an emblem of Martel’s ability to draw blood from her subject matter.
April 15, 2019
Adam Nayman
The Ringer
TOP CRITIC
Every shot is dense with life, with children and animals running in and out, yet the movie is highly focused, a small masterpiece.
April 6, 2017
Meredith Brody
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
March 10, 2003 | Rating: 3/5
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
Experiencing this film ultimately becomes as stimulating as watching metal rust.
February 15, 2002 | Rating: C
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
There’s a real energy in the way that La Cienaga takes nothing for granted — except your attention and your intelligence.
December 13, 2001
Chris Vognar
Dallas Morning News
TOP CRITIC
A strikingly well-directed, relentlessly dreary debut feature from Argentine director Lucrecia Martel.
November 30, 2001
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
That opening sequence is mind-blowing. An incredible and compelling filmmaking approach from Lucrecia Martel.
July 2, 2022 | Rating: 4.5/5
Rosa Parra
Latinx Lens
La Ciénaga does what cinema at its best can do: It reveals a universe we’ve never even imagined and then gets us to look differently at both the society and medium we’d underestimated.
February 28, 2020
B. Ruby Rich
The Nation
The air of stultifying decadence is captured to a T by Martel. It’s a reminder that as well as being a brilliant technician and visual artist, she is an exemplary writer too.
October 31, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro
…the air is equally thick with boredom and dread.
August 29, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm
Martel doesn’t try to connect the dots with typical continuity editing either, opting instead to focus on textures and fleeting movements
January 29, 2015 | Rating: 8/10
Christopher Long
Movie Metropolis
August 1, 2005 | Rating: 4/5
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com…
Plot
The Swamp is a disquieting drama about a group of families on summer vacation in a rural country house, where no event or exchange of words is more or less important than another, and the film continues nonsequentially in what feels like a prolonged wait.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for “The Swamp.”
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