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TITLE: El Cochecito, also known as The Wheelchair or The Little Coach (Spain, 1960)
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
LANGUAGE: Spanish with English Subtitles
COLOR: Black and White
DIRECTOR: Marco Ferreri
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
LANGUAGE: Spanish with English Subtitles
COLOR: Black and White
DIRECTOR: Marco Ferreri
WHEN: Wednesday, October 3rd
WHERE: DCTV, 3rd Floor Screening Room
87 Lafayette Street (By Subway: 6, N, R, Q, W, J, M, Z to Canal Street; go two blocks south) between Walker and White in New York City.
TIME: 6:30 to 10pm. Screening starts @ 7pm
WHERE: DCTV, 3rd Floor Screening Room
87 Lafayette Street (By Subway: 6, N, R, Q, W, J, M, Z to Canal Street; go two blocks south) between Walker and White in New York City.
TIME: 6:30 to 10pm. Screening starts @ 7pm
SUGGESTED DONATION: $5
El Cochecito (The Little Coach) is a dark comedy about an old man who would kill -- literally -- for a motorized wheelchair, but not because he needs one, but so he can ride through town with his rambunctious disabled friends.
Don Anselmo, played most cunningly by Jose Isbert, wants to go buzzing around town with his disabled pal Don Lucas and join in his road races with other disabled locals. But there is a big problem, Don Anselmo isn't disabled and doesn't need one. Since his wife's death, Anselmo has been drifting pointlessly about the big crowded apartment that serves as home for his extended family and offices for his son and son-in-law. For him, staying at home is just a way station to the cemetery, until it dawns on him that a motorized wheelchair may be just the solution he needs to break free.
Unlike most Hollywood films, in El Cochecito a motorized wheelchair promises freedom.
When his family refuses to buy him one, Anselmo plots his revenge. He methodically poisons his family one by one, using their tiny legacies to finance his purchase.
Despite the seemingly dark tone, Anselmo grows on you. The pleasures of the film lie in the vividness of the characters, never caricatures. The family members, grumpy Don Lucas, the bossy servant to a well-to-do member of the racing crew, the avuncular wheelchair salesman, the shrewd woman to whom Anselmo sells his late wife's jewels - they're all real people in real places.
By the end, chuckles of recognition have grown into cheers for Anselmo's defiance. Audience sympathy is most definitely with the elder gent in this lost classic -- a timeless study of aging, loneliness, neglect and rebellion. Based on the novel El cochecito by Rafael Azcona.
disTHIS! movies, talkback sessions and related events are open to the public. This film is subtitled in English. ASL interpretation available upon request. Snacks are provided and there is a cash bar for drinks, but recent screenings following articles in the Tribeca Trib, New York Nonprofit Press and the NY Times have filled our recent screenings to capacity. Space is limited to the first 65 people! Don't miss out! Call 212.251.4040 to RSVP and reserve YOUR seat or email: disthis@...
The disTHIS! Film Series, a program of the Disabilities Network of NYC in association with DCTV, showcases independent and international short, documentary and feature films with disability themes you are unlikely to see elsewhere. disTHIS! movies are always provocative; never what audiences expect. No handkerchief necessary, no heroism required. This is disability through a whole new lens. We are made possible, in part, by the generous funding of The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and through audience support.
For more information and to sign up for regular email updates, please visit: http://disthis.org
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