Crystal Fairy
| Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Sebastián Silva |
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| Written by | Sebastián Silva |
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| Music by | Pedropiedra |
| Cinematography | Cristián Petit-Laurent |
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| Distributed by | IFC Films |
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | Chile |
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| Box office | $223,821 |
Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus (Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus and 2012 as presented onscreen) is a 2013 Chilean adventure comedy film written and directed by Sebastián Silva. The film stars Michael Cera and Gaby Hoffmann.
At the film's Sundance premiere, Silva said that his film, which is based on a real-life encounter, is "about the birth of compassion in someone's life." The film received positive reviews from critics.
Jamie, a footloose and self-absorbed young American, is traveling in Chile and is keen to experience the mysteries of a local hallucinogen — the mescaline-bearing San Pedro cactus. In a moment of indiscretion, he invites another young American, the eccentric "Crystal Fairy", to join him and his three Chilean companions, brothers who — with varying degrees of enthusiasm — also seek the magical herb. To the dismay of all four men, the New Age-addled young woman — now dubbed "Crystal Hairy" — joins them on their road trip, and soon everyone's patience is stretched thin. The desired plant is acquired through a hasty theft and the heartfelt experiences that they all undergo under its psychotropic influence on a remote desert beach bring them closer together. By the end they are all more sympathetic and tolerant of their individual personality differences.
Michael Cera was in Chile learning Spanish for Magic Magic and had been living with the Silva boys for months when Gaby Hoffmann arrived. Sebastián Silva had given her a brief character description during a phone call about a week before she left for Chile. Hoffmann says, "And all he did was say, 'Go buy some books about 2012 and get on the plane.'" The actors spent a week in Santiago in pre-production living together at Silva's parents' house—where he had shot The Maid in 2009. The boys would sit out back playing guitar and singing songs. Hoffmann recalls hearing the music streaming through the open doors while Sebastián and Hoffmann would sit at a desk where she created all Crystal Fairy's drawings in the sketchbook she has in the film.
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Wikipedia