Cinema
Ratas, ratones, rateros
Sebastián Cordero · 1999
Synopsis
Salvador, a teenager in Quito, lives off petty theft. His cousin Ángel comes out of prison, older, harder, with a price on his head about which he says nothing; he moves in with the family, and Salvador, fascinated by the life he leads, lets himself be drawn into ever bigger jobs, while the police and hired killers begin to look for his cousin and everyone around the two boys is caught up in their flight.
Context
The first feature film by its author, edited by him with Mateo Herrera and photographed by Matthew Jensen, the film was shot in Quito and Guayaquil for about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Rejected by Cannes, it was shown at Venice on 7 September 1999, then stayed six months in cinemas in Ecuador, where more than one hundred and thirty-five thousand spectators saw it. The title plays on three words that Spanish brings together by sound: rats, mice and petty thieves.
Who it is for
In Spanish, one hundred and seven minutes, subtitled in English. The language is that of the street, dense with slang, and violence is frequent.
Prizes and reception
Shown at Venice and Toronto; prize for editing at Havana in 1999, nominated for the Goya and Ariel awards; said to be the first Ecuadorian film to meet international standards.