I came with very low expectations and was wowed by this movie. Sergio Soto's editing is exceptional. Star Carlos Lico's performance of "Alegría" by Felipe Gil is the best song I've heard in a Mexican movie. The conventions of musical melodrama are more deftly handled than usual; Libertad Lamarque gets her standard, bizarrely staged, incongruous showstopping number, but it happens early and is the lone absurdist touch. Her star power noticeably influences the camera work, sometimes keeping her costars distractingly out of focus.
Toward the end the movie builds genuine dramatic tension -- unusual for a Mexican film of the era. The breaking of the fourth wall is used cleverly. Also, though she appears only briefly, Claudia Islas is a standout, stunning and enchanting. Sadly and typically, indigenous Mexicans are shown only briefly, and mostly in shadow.
It's interesting to catch a glimpse of how Mexico (or its white elite) viewed the country in 1968 -- as a nation confidently entering the world stage, a first-world contender, and a global peer.
Toward the end the movie builds genuine dramatic tension -- unusual for a Mexican film of the era. The breaking of the fourth wall is used cleverly. Also, though she appears only briefly, Claudia Islas is a standout, stunning and enchanting. Sadly and typically, indigenous Mexicans are shown only briefly, and mostly in shadow.
It's interesting to catch a glimpse of how Mexico (or its white elite) viewed the country in 1968 -- as a nation confidently entering the world stage, a first-world contender, and a global peer.
