Cinema
The Mouth of the Wolf
La boca del lobo
Francisco José Lombardi · 1988
Synopsis
A military detachment arrives at Chuspi, an isolated village in Ayacucho, in the emergency zone ravaged by the Shining Path. The young soldier Vitín Luna and his comrades face there an invisible enemy and a population that stays silent. After the death of their commander, Lieutenant Iván Roca arrives, a violent and arbitrary officer, determined to wipe out the subversion at any cost, in whom Vitín at first sees a master; tension rises between the troops and the village they are meant to protect.
Context
The film is inspired by the Socos massacre, committed in 1983. Augusto Cabada and Giovanna Pollarolo, who investigated in Ayacucho, wrote the screenplay with a Spanish co-writer, on the advice of Carlos Iván Degregori and Gustavo Gorriti, specialists in the conflict; Enrique Iturriaga composed the music. Co-produced with the Spanish company Tornasol, it was shot over eight weeks at Estique, in the Tacna highlands, a region the war did not reach, with the support of the army and the air force. Released in December 1988, in the midst of the war, it was accused by part of the high command of attacking the military institution.
Who it is for
In Spanish. The guerrillas are almost never seen: the threat remains invisible, and the story stays on the side of the soldiers.
Prizes and reception
Second Coral at the Havana festival in 1988; best film, direction and screenplay at Cartagena in 1989; around one million viewers in Peru.