Selena (film)

Selena
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gregory Nava
Written by	Gregory Nava
Produced by	Executive Producer: Abraham. Quintanilla Jr. Producers: Moctesuma Esparza Robert Katz and others
Starring	Jennifer Lopez Edward James Olmos Constance Marie Jon Seda Lupe Ontiveros
Cinematography	Edward Lachman
Edited by	Nancy Richardson
Music by	Dave Grusin
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	March 21, 1997
Running time	127 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000
Box office	60,000,000 ($35,422,828 unadjusted for ticket inflation)

Selena (1997) is an American biographical film and drama film about the life and career of the late Tejano music star Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (born April 16, 1971 - died March 31, 1995), a Grammy Award-winning recording artist who was well known in the Mexican-American and Hispanic communities in the United States and Mexico before her death at the age of twenty-three.

Music industry executives believed Selena was ready to cross-over into mainstream popularity on the American pop charts when she was murdered on March 31, 1995 by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club. The movie stars Jennifer Lopez as Selena, in the breakthrough role of her career. Her father, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr., is played by Edward James Olmos and Constance Marie plays Marcela Quintanilla.

Cast

• Jennifer Lopez as Selena Quintanilla-Pérez
• Jackie Guerra as Suzette Quintanilla
• Constance Marie as Marcela Quintanilla
• Alex Meneses as Sara
• Jon Seda as Chris Pérez
• Edward James Olmos as Abraham Quintanilla Jr.
• Jacob Vargas as A.B. Quintanilla
• Lupe Ontiveros as Yolanda Saldívar
• Pete Astudillo as himself, Dinos 1990s
• Rueben Gonzáles as Joe Ojeda
• Rebecca Lee Meza as Young Selena
• Selena Quintanilla-Pérez as Herself (singing voice) (archive footage)
• Victoria Elena Flores as Young Suzette
• Rafael Tamayo as Young A.B.
• Panchito Gomez as Young Abraham
• Seidy López as Deborah

Background

File:Selenamovie.jpg

Jennifer Lopez and Jon Seda as Selena and Chris Perez.

Selena was produced with the participation of the Quintanilla family, and her father Abraham is the executive producer of the film. One scene features Chris Perez playing the guitar for the family using closeup footage of his hands and the shot was filmed specifically for the movie.

Some of Selena's recordings were used on the soundtrack (see soundtrack below).

Filming of the movie took place around San Antonio, Texas and Corpus Christi, Texas, and some other cities in Texas.

In the noted stadium scenes, where Selena once performed, the producers used approximately 35,000 extras. The stadium scenes are arguably the film's centerpiece. Filming took place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, rather than the actual concert location: the Astrodome in Houston.

Controversy

During pre-production, Mexican-American activists were highly critical that Jennifer Lopez, a New York City native born to Puerto Rican parents, was selected to play Selena. They preferred an actress with Mexican roots. However, after seeing Lopez's portrayal of Selena, they revised their opinions and were more accepting of Nava's decision.

Critical reception

Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, was impressed by the acting, and wrote, "Young Selena is played by Becky Lee Meza, who has a big smile and a lot of energy. The teenage and adult Selena is played by Lopez in a star-making performance. After her strong work as the passionate lover of Jack Nicholson in the current Blood and Wine, here she creates a completely different performance, as a loyal Quintanilla who does most of her growing up on a tour bus with her dad at the wheel."

Film critic Lisa Kropiewnicki liked the film and wrote, "Jennifer Lopez delivers a breakout performance...[and] Nava's engaging script wisely mines his subject's life for humor and conflict, embracing Selena Quintanilla's passion for music."

Film critic James Berardinelli also liked the film and the screenplay, writing, "It would have been easy to trivialize Selena's story, turning it into a sudsy, made-for-TV type motion picture." He believed the acting was top notch and wrote "Jennifer Lopez is radiant as the title character, conveying the boundless energy and enthusiasm that exemplified Selena, while effectively copying not only her look, but her mannerisms. I wonder if Selena's family, upon watching this performance, felt an eerie sense of déjà vu."

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan gave the film a mixed review. He wrote the film is part of a "completely predictable Latino soap opera." Yet, "there are chunks of Selena that only a stone could resist. This movie turns out to be a celebration not only of the singer but also (as "What's Love" was for Angela Bassett) of the actress who plays her, Jennifer Lopez."

Some film critics, however, did not like how the film appears like a sanitized Selena portrait. Critic Walter Addiego considers Nava's work a worshipful biography of her. Addiego, writing for the San Francisco Examiner, did have a few enjoyable moments viewing the film but wrote, "You can't help cheering for Selena, but the good feeling is diminished by the sense that her story's been simplified and sanitized."

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 78% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on twenty-five reviews. The review aggregator metacritic also reported that 66% of critics gave the film a good positive review.

Distribution

File:Selena 2-Disc DVD.jpg

10th Anniversary DVD

The film opened in wide release on March 21, 1997 (1,850 theaters) and sales the opening weekend were $11,615,722. Selena ran for 15 weeks domestically (101 days) and eventually grossed* 60,000,000 ($35,450,113 in the United States. The film sales worldwide were considerably more. At its widest release the film was shown in 1,873 screens. The production budget of the film was approximately $20,000,000.

A 10th Anniversary DVD edition of Selena was released on September 29, 2007 by Warner Home Video. The two-disc set contains the original theatrical (127 minutes) and a director's cut (134 minutes) of the film (which has been shown on several TV stations before). Extras include a Making of Selena: 10 Years Later featurette, a Queen of Tejano featurette, and nine additional scenes.

Marketing

The following taglines were used to market the film:

• The story of a girl who had the spirit to believe in a dream and the courage to make it come true.

• For One Brilliant, Shining Moment...The American Dream Came True.

• Discover the true story of one of America's brightest stars...that faded too soon.

Soundtrack

Main article: Selena (soundtrack)

Selena Original Soundtrack

An original motion picture Selena soundtrack was released by EMI Latin Records on March 11, 1997 debuting at 7 on the Billboard Charts and selling over 3,000,000 copies. The CD contains twelve tracks including Selena singing songs heard in the film. The only songs performed by Selena that were not heard on the film was "Is it the Beat", "Only Love", and "A Boy Like That", and the Selena tributes sung by other artists. The only recordings by Selena heard on the film was the "Cumbia Medley", "Disco Medley", and "Where Did the Feeling Go?", which was played in the last half of the closing credits of the film. The Vidal Brothers' "Oldies Medley" was also on the film.

Included are rare tracks, hits, and cuts like the "Disco Medley, Part II", recorded live during Selena's 1995 concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Not all the songs are performed by Selena.

Awards

Nominations

• Golden Globe Awards: Best Performance by an actress in a Musical or Comedy motion picture, Jennifer Lopez.
• ALMA Awards: The film was nominated for six American Latino Media Awards (ALMA) and won four.
• Grammy Awards: Best Instrumental Composition, Dave Grusin.
• MTV Movie Awards: Best Breakthrough Performance, Jennifer Lopez.

External links

• Selena Official Warner Bros. Website
• Selena at IMDb
• Selena film review at At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert (video of television segment)
• Selena film trailer at You Tube