Klute (1971)
88%RT Audience Score: 80%
Awards & Nominations: Won 1 Oscar
9 wins & 5 nominations total
A striking effort that synthesizes disparate influences with inventive flair, Güeros marks a bold step forward for modern Mexican cinema
Güeros is like a fancy black and white filter on Instagram, but instead of making your selfies look better, it makes Mexico look cooler. The movie is like a love letter to the French new wave, but with a Mexican twist. It’s got social commentary, humor, and beautiful cinematography that will make you want to take a trip to Mexico City ASAP. Plus, it’s a great way to impress your film buff friends and make them think you’re cultured. So, grab some popcorn and get ready for a wild ride with Güeros.
Production Company(ies)
Mosfilm Vtoroe Tvorcheskoe Obedinenie
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1971
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 48m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 20, 2015 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 20, 2015
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
starring Tenoch Huerta, Ilse Salas, Leonardo Ortizgris, Laura Almela, Sebastián Aguirre, Raúl Briones, directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios, written by Alonso Ruizpalacios, Gibrán Portela, comedy, Mexican cinema, student strikes, black and white cinematography, social commentary, Richard Linklater homage, French new wave, inventive, beautiful, brutal, ironic, madcap, grim, social differences, social-political commentary, simple story, stylistic flourishes, emotional bond, parallels of social criticisms, beautiful prose, colloquialisms, music, humor, Kino Lorber, Coria Corial, José Felipe, Ramiro Ruiz, MPAA rating, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Elissa Suh, Kevin Maher, David Jenkins, Peter Bradshaw, Peter Keough, Nick James, Rosa Parra, Dennis Harvey, Rubén Rosario, Daniel Krauze, Indra Arriaga
Worldwide gross: $34,050
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $279,404
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,871
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 30,469
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
Ilse Salas – Ana
Leonardo Ortizgris – Santos
Laura Almela – Isabel
Sebastián Aguirre – Tomás
Raúl Briones – Furia
Director(s)
Alonso Ruizpalacios
Writer(s)
Alonso Ruizpalacios, Gibrán Portela
Producer(s)
Coria Corial, José Felipe, Ramiro Ruiz
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
9 wins & 5 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (54) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (4)
Draining the color in service of the disillusioned youth may initially seem detrimental to the depiction of Mexico, but the gorgeous and striking cinematography emits its own radiance, capturing every gradient of silver.
March 16, 2020
Elissa Suh
StageBuddy.com
TOP CRITIC
It plays like a dreamy, structurally fractured Richard Linklater homage to the French new wave.
November 19, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Maher
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Seek this one out, then make a friend happy by forcing them to see it too.
November 19, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
David Jenkins
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
A very smart debut.
November 19, 2015 | Rating: 4/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
“Güeros” is brutal, ironic, madcap, and grim.
September 17, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4
Peter Keough
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
As self-aware black-and-white, nouvelle-vague-tribute fever dreams go, Güeros is surprisingly beautiful, inventive and convincing.
September 15, 2015
Nick James
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Brilliant use of black and white cinematography to showcase social differences, social-political commentary with a simple yet fascinating story.
August 15, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Rosa Parra
Latinx Lens
One of the most bracing Mexican debut features in recent years…
October 21, 2020
Dennis Harvey
48 Hills
Ruizpalacios is too busy indulging in stylistic flourishes for us to form much of an emotional bond with the characters, leading to a closing shot that would have been really powerful if he’d tightened the film’s structure.
August 22, 2018
Rubén Rosario
MiamiArtZine
The charm of Güeros, by Alonso Ruizpalacios, is in its variety of… apparent contradictions. [Full review in Spanish]
January 12, 2018
Daniel Krauze
El Financiero
Güeros provides space for this type of dialogue (parallels of social criticisms) delivered through beautiful prose, colloquialisms, music and humor.
June 20, 2017
Indra Arriaga
Anchorage Press
With the Mexican student strike of 99 as a backdrop and the use of black and white photography and playful camerawork, Güeros is a fresh and interesting film that must be seen. [Full review in Spanish]
May 6, 2016
Fernando Moreno
Ibero 90.9…
Plot
Six months after the disappearance of Tuscarora, PA businessman Tom Gruneman, his boss, Peter Cable, and his wife, Holly Gruneman, hire Tom’s friend, private detective John Klute to find out what happened to Tom, as the police have been unable to do so, and despite John having no expertise in missing persons cases. The only lead is a typewritten obscene letter Tom purportedly wrote to Manhattan actress/model/call girl Bree Daniel, who admits to having received such letters from someone, and since having received several mysterious telephone calls as well. The suggestion/belief is that Tom was one of Bree’s past johns, although she has no recollection of him when shown his photograph. Bree’s tricking is both a compulsion and a financial need. In their initial encounters, John and Bree do whatever they can to exert their psychological dominance over the other, especially as Bree initially refused to even speak to him. Despite their less than friendly start, they embark on a personal relationship based on emotional need, but it is a relationship Bree tries to sabotage because of those same issues which causes her to turn tricks. As they follow the leads through Bree’s call girl world, they know they’re getting close to finding the truth when someone continues to torment Bree. They believe the key to Tom’s disappearance is a violent john who tried to kill her a few years earlier when Tom disappeared but who she doesn’t remember. The questions become whether John and Bree can discover his identity and stop him before he tries to kill Bree again, and whether there is a future for them together.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no specific goofy or funny comment about the film on Fresh Kernels, but the critic consensus does describe it as a “striking effort that synthesizes disparate influences with inventive flair.”
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