Film Difficulty 2

Enamorada Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Enamorada is one of Mexico’s most iconic films, released at the height of the Mexican Golden Age of cinema. It’s also one of the most entertaining owing to the screwball romance of two stars at the height of their powers (Maria Felix and Pedro Armendariz) filled with slapstick gags. In the 10 years following the release of Alla en el Rancho Grande, Mexican dramas had: established a distinct style owing to cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, developed a star system inspired by Hollywood, and continued to construct Mexican identity in the post-revolutionary years.

From: Mexico, North America
Watch: JustWatch, IMDb
Next: Doña Bárbara, Maria Candelaria, The Taming of the Shrew

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The Director: Emilio Fernandez

It was a roller coaster journey that led Emilio Fernandez to become one of the most prolific directors of the Mexican Golden Age. He was born in Coahuila, closer to the U.S. than to the Mexican capital, but was brought into the political craziness by fighting alongside the northern generals in the Mexican revolution. As the revolution cooled down, Fernandez become disillusioned with the pro-U.S. actions of the Obregon government and revolted alongside de la Huerta. His participation in the uprising forced him into exile alongside de la Huerta in the U.S. After working odd-jobs in Texas and Chicago, Fernandez settled in Los Angeles, finding work as a stonemason for Hollywood studio construction and appearing as an extra in the occasional Hollywood film. His big moment came with the arrival of revolutionary filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein (Battleship Potemkin, October) from the USSR. Screenings of Eisenstein’s films and the fragments of Que Viva Mexico! (cobbled together posthumously in 1978) that Fernandez saw with his own eyes on the cutting room floor set his course for the Mexican film industry.

Fernandez was welcomed back to Mexico and to a film industry that was growing owing to the government of President Lazaro Cardenas which saw film as an opportunity to build national identity. Before taking to directing, he starred in Janitzio as the lead actor – one of the first sound films made in Mexico, and even appears in Alla en el Rancho Grande as a dancer. His directorial debut, La Isla de la Pasion, caught the eye of the Mexican film studio Films Mundiales, who brought him into the Mexican star system.

Five years later, and fresh off international success at Cannes with Maria Candelaria – a tragic tale from pre-revolutionary Mexico that won top prize at the Cannes film festival – Fernandez was one of the most sought after directors in town. To cement his reputation, he brought Mexican star system superstars Maria Felix (Dona Barbara) and Pedro Armendariz (Maria Candelaria) to Enamorada, and most importantly, the iconic style of one of the most important cinematographers in film history, Gabriel Figueroa.

The Iconic Style of Gabriel Figueroa

Sure, Enamorada recruited some of the biggest stars to make it an assured success. However, the secret sauce was cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa. He was the cinematic cornerstone behind the Mexican Golden Age, providing the cinematic visuals for all the big films from the start to the end, from Alla en el Rancho Grande (1936) to Macario (1960).

So where did an orphan that grew up in Mexico City at the height of the Mexican revolution find his style? One piece of the puzzle is legendary cinematographer, Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane). When the family fortune bequeathed to Figueroa ran dry, he was sent to the darkroom to make a living from still photography. His work caught the eye of a prominent politician who gave him a scholarship to study in Hollywood under Toland. It was here that he developed his chiaroscuro style from the deep focus and lighting Toland was known for (see below for a perfect example of Figueroa’s chiaroscuro style in Maria Candelaria below)

Maria Candelaria (1944)

To build his own style, Figueroa incorporated the powerful and bold images of the Mexican muralists. This integrated a distinctly Mexican artistic legacy that linked Figueroa’s style to the pre-Colombian Mayan artists at Bonampak (see here) and the modern, politically charged murals of Rivera, Orozco, and Siquieros amongst others. Compare the two images below and you can see how Figueroa used the bold dynamic styles of the modern muralists in his work to great effect.

Orozco, Zapatistas (1931) vs. Figeuroa, Maria Candelaria (1944)

Lastly, a quick shout-out to Figueroa for the following two incredible musical numbers in Enamorada.

1. Ave Maria sung by the church choir as General enters the church. Instead of just showing the choir or the General, Figueroa cuts between the two with images of the lavishly decorated cathedral ceiling to show the power of the church over everyone in Mexico regardless of class.
2. My personal favorite – La Malaguena Salerosa sung by a few mariachi hired by the General. The editing in this scene is gold – the extreme close up of the eyes of Maria Felix (Beatriz) as the music starts, and a camera which gradually pulls away from her as she loses her conceit. Then the shots of the General sweating and seen down below through the balustrades of Maria’s balcony – a class below, that Beatriz must descend for the future of Mexico!

Simply put, Gabriel Figueroa is a genius that is well worth his reputation amongst the greats.

Reinforcing Mexican identity

Just as Alla en el Rancho Grande romanticized the Porfirian haciendas of pre-revolutionary Mexico, Enamorada romanticized the revolution itself. The revolutionary trauma was still fresh and the brutality portrayed in earlier films like Vamonos con Pancho Villa (1936) brought back the horrors of the endless war. Instead of depicting the honest brutality of the revolution, Fernandez used it to evoke national pride, adding to the identity building that de la Fuentes started with Alla en el Rancho Grande.

How does he do it? He ties together the lives of a rough revolutionary general with a spoiled daughter of a wealthy landowner in Cholula in a light-hearted comedy and shows that when the classes unite, Mexico will march forward (as shown in a powerfully patriotic final shot). Two bonuses additions further reinforce Mexican pride in this film:

1. Lower class General Juan Jose wins Beatriz’ hand from an American. Big patriotic bonus points for this, as the U.S. was never well regarded in Mexico after the invasions of 1846 and 1914, as well as for controlling many of Mexico’s natural resources (Mexico was its most united in 1938 when Cardenas nationalized Mexican oil).
2. The catholic church is the glue that brings the General and Beatriz together, ironing out their differences and miscommunication. As a fiercely catholic nation – seeing the church as the mediator promoted the role of La Guadalupana moving forward especially in recent presidencies which were fiercely anti-clerical.

Through it’s narrative, Enamorada reframed the Mexican revolution as a war that united the country and set it on course for a positive future.

What to Watch Next

For more films from the prolific director Emilio Fernandez, go back in time and check out Flor Silvestre (1943) and Maria Candelaria (1944) and then go forward in time to watch La Perla (1947) and Rio Escondido (1948).

If you’re looking for more comedy from the Golden Age, the answers are Cantinflas, Ahi esta el detalle (1940), and Tin Tan, El Rey del Barrio (1950).

For more high profile films that captivated the nation, try the most popular film from the Mexican Golden Age – Nosotros los Pobres (1948) – featuring Pedro Infante. You could also watch Infante rap battle Jorge Negrete in Dos Tipos de Cuidado (1953).