En el nombre del hijo
1987 film by Jorge Polaco

En el nombre del hijo ("In the Name of the Son") is a 1987 Argentine drama film written and directed by Jorge Polaco. It won a Golden Dolphin in the 1988 Festróia - Tróia International Film Festival.
Plot summary
The story is about the unhealthy relationship between a castrating mother and her homosexual son, Bobby, who is a doll repairman. They have an incestuous relationship, bathing together, sleeping together, and having sexual relations. Bobby's mother is possessive and jealous of his suggestive relationship with his clients, mostly girls. The story portrays Bobby as a man confused about his sexual identity, while his overprotective mother abuses him and seeks to relive the days of her youth.
Cast
Margot Moreyra as Madre
Ariel Bonomi as Bobby
Fernando Madanes
Goly Bernal
Sergio Lerer
Jorge Sabaté
Graciela Taquini
Alí Bargach
Ana Estrada
Berenice Soto
María Angélica Villar
John Bolster
Natalia Zamara
Marina Cabrera
María Celeste Dalairac
Alicia Muxo
Reception
César Magrini in El Cronista Comercial said: "Formidable aesthetic language... Margot Moreyra and Ariel Bonomi, and you have to see them to understand them, are capable of doing what they do because when they act, they strip themselves of their fears, and it is known that from this counterpoint only injuries, sores, and wounds are produced, which are hardly curable."
Carlos Troncone in Página 12 wrote: "Repression, among flowers of evil... In truth - suggests the film - there are no absolute monsters just as there are no beings who are absolutely normal.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “En el nombre del hijo” is 1987 film by Jorge Polaco. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through nombre, hijo and film, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1987 film by Jorge Polaco” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5375055. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1987 and 1988.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “En el nombre del hijo”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow En el nombre del hijo primary sources, En el nombre del hijo archive and nombre research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “En el nombre del hijo”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “En el nombre del hijo” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.