Why is it called Nacho Libre?
Jared Hess, Mike White, and Jerusha Hess collaborated on the script for Nacho Libre, a 2006 Mexican-American sports comedy-drama film. It stars Jack Black and is based in part on the life of Fray Tormenta, a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who competed as a masked luchador for 23 years to raise funds for the orphanage…
Jared Hess, Mike White, and Jerusha Hess collaborated on the script for Nacho Libre, a 2006 Mexican-American sports comedy-drama film. It stars Jack Black and is based in part on the life of Fray Tormenta, a real-life Mexican Catholic priest who competed as a masked luchador for 23 years to raise funds for the orphanage he oversaw. The film was created by Black, White, David Klawans, and Julia Pistor. On June 2, 2006, Paramount Pictures released the film. It received mixed reviews from critics and garnered $99.3 million at the global box office despite a $35 million production budget.
Ignacio is the son of a Lutheran missionary from Scandinavia and a Mexican deacon. When he was a young cook, his parents died. Ignacio, now an orphanage cook, aspires to be a luchador, but the convent forbids wrestling.
Ignacio sincerely cares about the children, but his cuisine is abysmal due to a lack of funds to buy high-quality products. One night, he is robbed of the orphans’ tortilla chips in an alley and chooses to work to earn money to buy better meals. He also wishes to be respected by the other friars, to prevail over a sanctimonious friar who mistreats him and to realize his feelings for his new tutor, Sister Encarnación. Ignacio decides to defy the convent’s rules and become a Luchador in order to get money. He joins the local tournament as tag partners with the tortilla chip thief, Steven, with Ignacio altering his name to “Nacho” to conceal his identity.
Why is it called Nacho Libre?
The term libre (free) comes from the Latin libris, which also gives us the word liberty. If translated literally, the film’s title would be “Free Nacho” (as in freedom).
