What Happened to Santiago (, ) is a 1989 Puerto Rican comedy film written and directed by Jacobo Morales. The film tells the story of a recently retired widower who meets a mysterious young lady who disrupts his daily routines.

It was the first and only Puerto Rican production to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2011 AMPAS revised its rules to make films from U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico ineligible for the Foreign Language Film award.

Plot

Santiago, a widowed man, visits his wife's grave at the cemetery. Near a movie filming location, Santiago encounters a mysterious woman. She is very pleasant and engages him in conversation. They exchange gifts, but upon parting ways, she leaves without revealing her name, leaving Santiago to ponder if he will ever see her again. They cross paths once more, and the woman, now identified as Angelina, continues to be amiable. Angelina discloses that she has been observing Santiago and mentions witnessing him mailing a letter to someone.

Santiago frequently argues with his daughter, primarily because she is undergoing a divorce, which he opposes. Later, during a dispute between his daughter and her husband in the presence of their young son, Santiago distracts the boy with conversation about snow, reminiscing about the only time he witnessed snow when it was airlifted to Puerto Rico. Santiago searches for employment but faces disinterest from an interviewer due to his age.

During their third encounter, Santiago and Angelina enjoy traditional guitar music and dancing. They later take a boat ride through a waterway in a park. Angelina exudes constant cheerfulness. Meanwhile, Santiago's daughter remains contentious. At the airport, she informs Santiago of her plans to move to New York City for three months, leaving her son with her husband. However, her husband fails to show up, prompting her to leave the child with Santiago before departing. As Santiago leaves with his somber grandson, the boy's father arrives to collect him.

One day, Santiago receives an unexpected call from Angelina on his landline. He had not given her his number, and she explains that she had to call every person in the phone book with his name to reach him. They arrange to meet in San Juan. Santiago's son, Eddie, confesses his depression and reveals that he gave away his guitar. Santiago encourages him, expressing a desire to travel together for therapeutic reasons. Santiago also confides in Eddie about meeting Angelina but admits to hiring an investigator to learn more about her due to his concerns about her mysteriousness.

Early the next morning, Santiago visits Angelina's grand Spanish-style home. As they share breakfast, Angelina reveals her family history, including her grandfather's involvement in the Spanish-American War.

Morales described the film as a very "simple" film with "great performances from Tommy, Gladys, and René Monclova", who played Muñíz' son. The production had a budget of $500,000. Although Morales wrote the script fairly quickly, filming was delayed for around 40 days. According to Morales, at the time it was the only one of his feature films that had gone over its initially planned shooting schedule. It was filmed in Old San Juan and Santa Isabel.

Release

The film's original release was delayed because of the passage of Hurricane Hugo in September 1989. It was ultimately released in November of the same year. After receiving critical acclaim, the film was also exhibited in various international festivals, including the Festival de Cine Iberoamericano de Huelva in Spain, the Latin American Film Festival in Washington, and the Festival du Cinéma Espagnol de Nantes in France. According to Morales, he wasn't "thinking in success, but in a story that grabbed my attention. I always try to do everything in function of the story. The star is the film". In 1990, the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Academy Awards. Muñiz's performance in Lo que le pasó a Santiago lead to the interest of TNT, which contracted him for the role of Tomás Ontiveros in Crazy from the Heart along Rubén Blades.

Awards

{| class="wikitable"

|- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"

! Award

! Year

! Category

! Recipient

! Result

|-

|Academy Awards

| align="center"| 1990

| Best Foreign Language Film

| What Happened to Santiago

|

|-

|Premio ACE

| align="center"| 1991

|Cinema - Best Director

|Jacobo Morales

|

|}

See also

  • Cinema of Puerto Rico
  • List of films set in Puerto Rico
  • List of Puerto Ricans in the Academy Awards
  • List of submissions to the 62nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
  • List of Puerto Rican submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • Entire film (English subtitles) on Odnoklassniki