Bad Hair

(Pelo malo)
Mariana Rondón | Drama, Fiction

2013 | 93 minutes | Venezuela

A nine-year-old boy’s preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother, in this tender but clear-eyed coming-of-age tale.

Synopsis

A nine-year-old boy’s preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of homophobic panic in his hard-working mother, in this tender but clear-eyed coming-of-age tale.

Junior is a beautiful boy, with big brown eyes, a delicate frame, and a head of luxurious dark curls. But Junior aches to straighten those curls, to acquire a whole new look befitting his emerging fantasy image of himself as a long-haired singer. As the opportunity approaches to have his photo taken for the new school year, that ache turns into a fiery longing. Junior’s mother, Marta (Samantha Castillo), is barely hanging on. The father of her children has died, she recently lost her job as a security guard, and she now struggles to put a few arepas on the table for Junior and his baby brother.

"Junior doesn’t even know yet what it means to be gay, but the very notion prompts Marta to set out to “correct” Junior’s condition before it fully takes hold. This is a story of people doing what they feel they have to, partly out of fear, but also out of love." – Diana Vargas, Toronto International Film Festival.

Reviews

"Bold and intelligently perceptive film... Rondón's enthralling Bad Hair certainly challenges your prejudices; your thoughts on Junior's identity after watching this provocative and gripping film may very well be a reflection of such. That was director Rondón's intentions, after all, accomplished with aplomb. Buoyed by instinctive performances (especially the powerful Samantha Castillo as Junior's mother Marta) and an unnerving score, Bad Hair may just be this year's festival foreign sleeper hit." — Vanessa Martinez, IndieWire

"Rondón (Postcards From Leningrad) does a superb job of handling Junior's embryonic instincts, partly manifested by a pre-sexual attraction to a kiosk vendor he spies from his window." — Jay Weissberg, Variety

"The main attraction at this year's San Sebastián, where it took home the top award, Mariana Rondón's Pelo Malo smartly draws from Italian neorealism to create an intimate, sparely successful depiction of hardship during childhood and sexual identity." — Pedro Ponte, Twitch

"The most endearing film I saw out of 36 films [at the Toronto International Film Festival] was Bad Hair." — Kent Turner, Film-Forward.com

"Bad Hair is a riveting and gripping domestic drama that simmers to a boil and it is heartbreaking in many ways. Rondón manages to capture both the wide-eyed innocence of childhood and the grating sound of that innocence scraping against the harsh realities of economically oppressive urban life." — Brandy Dean, Pretty Clever Films

Citation
Main credits

Rondón, Mariana (screenwriter)
Rondón, Mariana (film director)
Ugás, Marité (film producer)
Ugás, Marité (editor of moving image work)
Lange, Samuel (actor)
Castillo, Samantha (actor)
Zambrano, Samuel Lange (actor)
Benites, Beto (actor)
Ramos, Nelly (actor)
Sulbarán, María Emilia (actor)

Other credits

Cinematographer, Micaela Cajahuaringa; editor, Marité Ugás; music, Camilo Froideval.


Citation
Cataloging
Keywords
Caracas, coming-of-age, childhood, homophobia, spanish, spanish language, latin america, latin american cinema, latin american film, ibero america, latin, latinx, latino, latina,,gender, sexuality, gender roles, gender identity, sexual orientation, gender equality, gender pronouns, gender studies, gender spectrum, gender norms, gender roles, gender stereotypes, sexual selection, sexualization, sexual awakening, puberty, pubescence,family, kin, fellowship, household, immediate family, extended family, multigenerational family, multigenerational household, kinfolk, family tree, genealogy, nuclear family, modern family, family tree,afro latin america, black latin america, afro latino, afro latinx, afro latina, black latino, black latinx, black latina, afro latin, afro-americanism, afro-brazilian, afro-cuban, afro-haitian, afro-colombian, afro-dominican, afro-mexican, afro-puertorican, afro-honduran, afro-bolivian, afro-argentinian, afro-chilean, afro-peruvian, afro-nicauraguan, afro-guatemalan,afro-caribbean, diaspora, slave trade,body image, appearance, body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, body acceptance, acceptance, body dysmorphic disorder, body dysmorphia, negative body image, distorted body image, confidence, self-esteem, self acceptance, fat acceptance, body acceptance, positive body image, negative body image, weight, fat, overweight, obesity,south america, south american countries, countries in south america, argentina, bolivia, brazil, chile, colombia, ecuador, guyana, paraguay, peru, suriname, uruguay, venezuela, south american politics, south american culture, south american cuisine, south american education, south america in media, south american languages, south america history,pelo malo,bad hair,pelo,spanish,pelo melo,bad hari,el pelo malo,LGbtq,los colores de las montanas,hair,Bad Hair - Pelo Malo,life of pi,maria llena eres de gracia,Pelo Malo (Bad Hair),gay,uncle,palo malo,Diarios de motocicleta,pelomalo,good hair,volver,Ixcanul,palo melo,pelo mala,manos sucias,mariposas,pelo mal,beautiful boy,In the Time of the Butterflies,La haine,walkabout,time will tell bob marley,dario,huey long,alfonso cuaron,venezuela,los perros,Pelo mano,pelo malo,Pelo Malo Mariana Rondón,XXY,children,Mariana Rondón,west side story,Bad Hair (Pelo Malo),palomalo,Paradise Now,Badhair,movies in spanish,Pelo malo (2013),tambien la lluve,beautiful boys,iranian cinema,pelo negro,varieties of us spanish,twilight,malo pelo,lgbt,latin america,madame bovary,pelo malp,nouvelles vagues cinéma documentaire,dark money,Spanish language movies,guantanamera,Venezuela relaciones raciales,movies staff picks,black hair,motorcycle diaries,bad haie,latin american films,pelo mmalo,they are we,. 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Mariana Rondón,,I'm Leaving Now,pelo malo film where to watch,kung fu panda,heiresses,brazilian cinema,august,catwalk,Curly hair,Laura Astorga; "Bad Hair"; Pragda Films; narrative; narrative_genre; drama; drama_genre;
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Festivals

Toronto International Film Festival
San Sebastián International Film Festival - Golden Seashell Sebastiáne Award
Mar del Plata Film Festival - Best Director Best Screenplay
Montréal Festival of New Cinema - Acting Award
Thessaloniki Film Festival - FRIPESCI Award, Bronze Alexander
Rencontres Cinématographiques de CANNES - Best Film

DIRECTOR: Mariana Rondón

NATIONALITY: Venezuela

YEAR: 2013

GENRE: Drama, Fiction

LANGUAGE: Spanish

COLOR / B&W: Color

GRADE LEVEL: College, Adults

SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE

AUDIO DESCRIPTION: NOT AVAILABLE

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