Spectacle Every Day: Mexican Popular Cinema
Film at Lincoln Center and the Locarno Film Festival present “Spectacle Every Day: Mexican Popular Cinema,” a sweeping retrospective of Mexican cinema from the 1940s through the 1960s, to be presented at FLC from July 26 through August 8. With new restorations of many works rarely screened or some never before seen theatrically in the United States, and standout performances from the biggest screen stars of their day, this series offers New York audiences the rare opportunity to experience the breadth of this unique period of Mexican film history on the big screen.
The 1940s through the 1960s was a period of exceptional creativity in Mexico that ushered in a monumentally prolific era of major filmmakers (among them, Roberto Gavaldón, Emilio Fernández, Julio Bracho, Alejandro Galindo, and Chano Urueta) and screen titans (María Félix, Fernando Soler, Cantinflas, Tin Tan, Ninón Sevilla, El Santo, Pedro Infante, Rebeca Iturbide, David Silva, and more). This series goes well below the surface of the era’s most well-known works to show its vast wealth of innovative filmmaking, and spotlights the rich, at times undersung, but always fascinating period and the exceptionally diverse body of films that enthralled generations of moviegoers and artists alike. From pitch-black noir, delightful comedy, and lurid melodrama—sometimes all in one film—to a 3-D swashbuckler, luchador-vampire horror, and a superhero film, these exquisite tales interpreted and radically influenced popular culture through sweeping productions that take us to grandiose wrestling rings, frenetic cabarets and nightclubs, exquisite haciendas, restless cities, and everywhere in between.
“Spectacle Every Day: Mexican Popular Cinema” is sponsored by MUBI, the global streaming service, production company and film distributor dedicated to elevating great cinema.
This series is made possible by the generous support of Almudena and Pablo Legorreta.
Organized by Tyler Wilson and Cecilia Barrionuevo in partnership with the Locarno Film Festival and with support from Cinema Tropical. This program was selected from the retrospective curated by Olaf Möller and Roberto Turigliatto at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival.
Acknowledgements:
Alameda Films; Asociación Cultural Matilde Landeta; Carlos Gutiérrez; Carlos Vasallo; Claro Video; Ernesto Marcelo Sánchez Fernández; La Cineteca Nacional; Filmoteca UNAM; Fundación Televisa; Janus Films; Marcela Fernández Violante; Nuevo Cinema Latino; Lucio Ortigosa, Athos Overseas Limited Corp; Permanencia Voluntaria and Cinema Preservation Alliance; Robert Furmanek, 3-D Film Archive; S. Rodriguez; TV Azteca; Sofia Bordenave; Sony Pictures Entertainment. Translations by Samuel Didonato and Natalia Hernández Moreno, Cinema Tropical.
Series sponsored by:
Community Partners: Mexican Cultural Institute and CUNY Mexican Studies Institute
Film at Lincoln Center y el Festival de Cine de Locarno anuncian “Espectáculo todos los días: cine popular mexicano,” una amplia retrospectiva del cine mexicano desde los años cuarenta hasta los sesenta, que se presentará en el FLC del 26 de julio al 8 de agosto. Con nuevas restauraciones de muchas obras rara vez proyectadas o algunas nunca antes vistas en salas de cine en los Estados Unidos, y actuaciones destacadas de las más grandes estrellas de la pantalla de su tiempo, esta serie ofrece al público de Nueva York la rara oportunidad de experimentar la amplitud de este período único de la historia del cine mexicano en la pantalla grande.
Los años cuarenta a los años sesenta fueron un periodo de excepcional creatividad en México que dio paso a una época monumentalmente prolífica de grandes cineastas (entre ellos, Roberto Gavaldón, Emilio Fernández, Julio Bracho, Alejandro Galindo y Chano Urueta) y titanes de la pantalla (María Félix, Fernando Soler, Cantinflas, Tin Tan, Ninón Sevilla, el Santo, Pedro Infante, Rebeca Iturbide, David Silva, entre otros). Este ciclo se adentra mucho más de la superficie de las obras más conocidas de la época para mostrar su enorme riqueza de cine innovador, y pone de relieve el rico, a veces subestimado, pero siempre fascinante periodo y el conjunto excepcionalmente diverso de películas que cautivaron a generaciones de cinéfilos y artistas por igual. Desde el cine negro, la placentera comedia y el melodrama escabroso—a veces todo en una sola película—hasta el espadachín en 3-D, el cine de horror con luchadores y vampiros y una película de superhéroes, estas exquisitas historias interpretaron e influyeron radicalmente en la cultura popular a través de grandes producciones que nos llevan a grandiosos cuadriláteros de lucha libre, frenéticos cabarets y clubes nocturnos, exquisitas haciendas, agitadas ciudades y a todos los lugares intermedios.
Take Me in Your Arms
The King of the Neighborhood
The Unknown Policeman
Introduction by Cecilia Barrionuevo on July 27
The classic “grotesque farce” that launched a widely adored 33-film collaboration between the legendary Cantinflas (Mario Moreno) and director Miguel Melitón Delgado, The Unknown Policeman is a marvelously joke-a-minute comedy about mistaken identity.
Amok
The Three Garcías
Introduction by Cecilia Barrionuevo on July 27
A seminal masterpiece of the comedia ranchera, The Three Garcías follows Luis Antonio (iconic singer Pedro Infante), José Luis (Abel Salazar), and Luis Manuel (Víctor Manuel Mendoza) as a trio of quarrelsome cousins who compete for the attention of a beautiful American.
Corner Stop!
May God Forgive Me
Introduction by Cecilia Barrionuevo on July 28
María Félix and Fernando Soler star in this moody World War II-era espionage-melodrama that unfolds in a Mexico City teeming with dapper con artists, double agents, and refugees on the run.
The Great Champion
Pueblerina
Introduction by Cecilia Barrionuevo on July 27
Pueblerina, a key film from Emilio “el Indio” Fernández, is among his most eloquent variations on the rural melodrama, underpinned by themes of injustice, revenge, and redemption.
The Suave One
Introduction by Cecilia Barrionuevo on July 28
Fernando Méndez’s wildly entertaining gangster melodrama captured the magnetic on-screen presence of Víctor Parra (Wetbacks) and the hip gestures and jargon of an entire generation.
Sensuality
Introduction by Naief Yehya on August 6
Alberto Gout, perhaps the master of the Rumberas film, reached the genre’s apex of depravity with Sensuality: a deliriously kitsch-smitten melodrama of sexual subjugation and perverse pleasures starring Ninón Sevilla.
Streetwalker
Introduction by Cecilia Barrionuevo on July 28
This strikingly nuanced portrayal of sex work was the third and final feature film by Matilde Soto Landeta, one of the first women to helm a feature in Mexico.
The Night Falls
The Sword of Granada – in 3-D
The River and Death
Introduction by Cecilia Barrionuevo on July 29
Writing in his autobiography, Buñuel recalled the basis of The River and Death, a bloody and scathingly contrarian pueblo-western made in the middle of his filmmaking career in Mexico (1947-65): “I’ve always been fascinated by the ease with which certain people can kill others, and this idea runs throughout the film in the form of a series of simple and apparently gratuitous murders.”
Wetbacks
The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales
The Mind and the Crime
The Witch’s Mirror
Santo vs. the Vampire Women
Autumn Days
Introduction by Cecilia Barrionuevo on July 30
For their third B. Traven adaptation together, Roberto Gavaldón and lead Ignacio Lópes Tarso recruited the frequent Luis Buñuel scenarist Julio Alejandro to craft this unsettling, surrealist-tinged melodrama with a certain Hitchcockian fondness for double lives.
The Batwoman
Introduction by Carlos Gutiérrez, Executive Director of Cinema Tropical, on July 31
Perhaps the pinnacle of Mexican camp, The Batwoman is a zippy, action-packed, delightfully deranged comic book movie that draws on everything from Batmania and The Creature from the Black Lagoon to the world of lucha libre to Mexico’s tourism industry. Starring Maura Monti.Tickets are $17; $14 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $12 for FLC Members. See more and save with a 3+ Film Package ($15 for GP; $12 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and $10 for FLC Members).
El precio de las entradas es de $17; $14 para estudiantes, adultos mayores de 62 años y personas con discapacidad; y $12 para los miembros del FLC. Vea más y ahorre con un paquete de 3+ películas (15 $ para público general; 12 $ para estudiantes, mayores de 62 años y personas en condición de discapacidad; y 10 $ para miembros del FLC).
See more and save with the $129 All-Access Pass or the $99 Student All-Access Pass. Please note that All-Access Passes can only be purchased online.
Complimentary tickets for FLC Members and Patrons are eligible for standard-priced screenings and events in this series.
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