The Dancer Upstairs (2002) on Netflix
Police lieutenant Agustín Rejas is assigned to hunt Ezequiel, a Maoist guerrilla leader, in an unnamed Latin American republic. He befriends Yolanda, who teaches ballet to his daughter.
- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.9/107,266 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes64%
Trailer
Plot summary
Agustín Rejas serves as a lieutenant in the police of an unnamed Latin American republic, where his pay barely covers the needs of his wife and teenage daughter. He visits Yolanda, who teaches ballet to his daughter, to settle an overdue bill, and the two become friends. Dead dogs appear hanging from lampposts, each affixed with a placard naming a President Ezequiel; then a suicide bombing in the capital repeats the name. Ezequiel, Rejas learns, is a Maoist leader who has taken that name for himself, blamed for atrocities in the mountains. Rejas is raised to captain and told to investigate him within the bounds of judicial process, with Sucre, his subordinate, at his side.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Dancer Upstairs (2002)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film's story is inspired by the Peruvian Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path. Its leader, Abimael Guzmán, known as President Gonzalo, was captured in 1992 in an apartment above a ballet studio in Lima.
SPOILER
The film's ballet teacher Yolanda was based on Maritza Garrido Lecca, the woman in whose apartment Guzmán was found.- The film's Tristan Calderon is based on Vladimiro Montesinos, the de facto head of the Peruvian National Intelligence Service, who had also been an attorney for drug dealers.
- Bardem's character in the film was inspired by Benedicto Jiménez and General Antonio Ketin Vidal, the leading figures responsible for Guzmán's capture.
