by the military, not even being allowed to perform mass at the school's chapel. So, when he attends the first mass performed by a new priest, he receives communion but does not swallow the sacramental bread to preserve it from desecration, and declares the place profane. Pedro leads the other students in honoring the priest and therefore is expelled from the school. Gonzalo goes to visit the shantytown where Pedro and Silvana live but he arrives there only to see it being raid by soldiers, and he witnesses an unfortunate incident between the dwellers and the military that ends up with one of the later shooting Silvana, who dies right there. Spotted by a soldier and finding himself dragged into the incident, Gonzalo struggles to convince the soldier that he does not belong there, until he shows him his nice clothing and fair complexion. The soldier lets him go and warns him never to return, so Gonzalo is forced by the circumstances to forsake his friend. Gonzalo returns to his family's new home – which is now even more opulent than before thanks to his mother's lover and the redistribution of wealth the new government has imposed – and is left distraught over the events he has just witnessed, remembering the last time he saw Pedro, staring at the ruins of their dwellings. Cast Reception Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post deemed the film to be "that rare film that merges the personal and political without sacrificing restraint or intellectual honesty". Mike Goodridge of ScreenDaily described the film as a "small, artfully crafted movie", otherwise deeming it to be an "unsettling piece" which [unlike other films with similar themes] "doesn't fall into easy traps of sentimentalism". Accolades |- | align = "center" | 2004 || Vancouver International Film Festival || colspan = "2" | Most Popular International Film || || align = "center" | |- | rowspan = "2" align = "center" | 2005 || || colspan = "2" | Best Spanish-Language Foreign Film || || align = "center" | |- | || colspan = "2" | Best Ibero-American Film || || align = "center" | |} See also Cinema of Chile List of Spanish films of 2004 References External links Machuca in Wood Producciones Kenneth Turan 2005. Youthful innocence sacrificed on the altar of politics Machuca in the Philadelphia Film Festival "Chilean movie recalls U.S. priest's presence amid turbulence