Mexico Best Films

Enamorada – Melodrama at the Height of Mexico’s Golden Age

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

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.

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.
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:

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).
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).

Roma – Mexico City Bathed in Black & White Beauty

Roma Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

If you love great film or want to be guided around 1970s Mexico City, you’ve come to the right place. Roma is one of the best films you’ll see this century. It’s stream of consciousness narrative feels like life and memory, and the acting and cinematography is a visual treat. Open you’re mind and immerse yourself in Roma.

From: Mexico, North America
Watch: Trailer, Netflix
Next: 8½, Boyhood, Ixcanul

Silent Light – The Emotional Burden of Love

Silent Light Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

It’s obvious Silent Light is going to be a beautifully shot film once you take in the 10 minute opening. It’s one of the most stunning openings you could see – best saved for the big screen. Whilst the images are stunning, they never feel forced, just like the script, a simple story of a family man having an affair with another woman. It’s depth lies in it’s patience and transparency of the characters who hide nothing from their friends and family, or from us, the audience.

From: Mexico, North America
Watch: Trailer, Buy on Amazon
Next: Ordet, Tree of Life, Y Tu Mama Tambien

Towards The Battle – Spain/Latin American Competition – SBIFF

In Towards the Battle, Louis, a French photographer, gets lost in French occupied Mexico in the 1860’s. He wants to photograph the French-Mexican War, but gets lost in the Mexican wilderness trying to find it. However, his encounter with Pinto, a Mexican peasant, gives him the companion and support he needs to carry out his quest.

Louis is in Mexico as commissioned by the French army. He holds a permission slip from the French general which acts as his pass to freely travel the region without reprimand from the roaming French army. It’s the only thing that separates Louis from the rabble of the French army. If he loses it, he’d be conscripted into the army, or, if he’s lucky, sent back to France.

Whilst he can escape from the marauding French army, he can’t escape from the Mexican wilderness. As the scenery changes from mountainous scrub-land to deep rain-forest, Louis is (literally) one step away from a premature death. It’s obvious he can’t survive by himself with two horses carrying his huge amount of photography gear. Luckily for him, a Mexican peasant named Pinto finds him when he’s starving and gives him the food he needs to survive.

From that moment on, they become Don Quixote and Sancho Panza-esque partners. Louis is Don Quixote: a leader of a well off background that loses himself in the quest of one of his hobbies. Instead of chivalry, Louis drags a mountain of photographic equipment across the Mexican wilderness in search of a war that doesn’t appear to exist. When Pinto finds him, he’s already gone a bit mad in his quest to capture a photo of the elusive war. Pinto is Louis’ Sancho Panza: a Mexican peasant that knows Louis is mad, and doesn’t understand him (he doesn’t speak French), but happily goes along with Louis’ delusional quest because he’s got nothing better to do. Along the way, he saves Louis a couple of times, and subordinates himself to him to allow Louis to live out his fantasy. The Don Quixote allegory gives Towards the Battle a timeless feel, and gives an extra layer to Louis’ madness and his slow progression to his own awareness which he reaches in the final scenes.

From the scenery to the setting to the characters, Towards the Battle was one of the films that flew under the SBIFF radar. It’s a well made update of Cervantes’ Don Quixote applied to the French occupation of Mexico. It’s used to show the madness of the French in Mexico and the absurdity of the French occupation of Mexico. The French (Louis) and Don Quixote both live a world away from the reality.

Black Mexicans – Pan African Film Festival 2020

In Black Mexicans, a fisherman splits his time between two women: his wife, Juana, and his lover Magdalena.

Neri, the fisherman, is an old Don Juan. He’s known in the community for his promiscuity, which doesn’t end with Juana and Magdalena. However, the film focuses on his two lovers and their two daughters of a similar age. Whilst Nero’s two families share similarities, they have different problems. Juana has Neri, but she’s dying from a terminal illness, whilst Magdalena lives waiting on Neri and the relationship with his wife to end. Magdalena isn’t hoping for Juana to die – she regularly donates blood and even offers her donating her liver to help her – but she does want clarity from her relationship with Neri so she can move on with her life.

The other difference between the two families is their wealth. Whilst neither family is wealthy, Magdalena at least has her health to continue earning money through her restaurant. She’s able to buy a new fridge, and isn’t too worried about Neri not being able to catch any fish. Her ability to earn money, also gives her daughter the freedom to do what she wants as she doesn’t have to help support the family. In contrast, Juana is too poorly to earn, and Neri can’t support them, so her daughter has to find work to keep them afloat. Juana’s daughter therefore doesn’t have the same freedoms as her step sister and resents her absent father more for it.

Black Mexicans is set along the picturesque Oaxaca coast within the Afro-Mexican community in Costa Chica. The remote and empty setting reflects the Afro-Mexican experience in Mexico. Just like Afro-Mexicans in Mexico, the setting is hidden away from the rest of Mexico. No one makes the effort to take the boat trip there, except for the rare pair of backpackers. There’s also no sign of any non-black Mexicans here, just as the Afro-Mexicans here are hidden away from the rest of Mexico. The empty beach chairs and beach restaurants show that people just don’t care about the Afro-Mexican community. It’s isolated enough to pretend it doesn’t exist and empty enough that it doesn’t attract any attention.

It’s no surprise then that the Juana’s daughters efforts to make a life for herself appear hopeless. Her father will always be promiscuous and forget about her, her mother is terminally ill, she’s in inescapable debt, and there’s no support from the government (as indicated when a highway policeman says she’s not Mexican on a rare trip outside the community). Without her mother she’s alone. Her hopelessness is expressed through her stoic expressions. She never smiles or frowns, and never appears disappointed or angry. She’s aware of the hopelessness of her situation and her inevitable prostitution to pay off her debts.

Black Mexicans is the first feature film that tries to depict the Afro-Mexican experience with an all Afro-Mexican cast. It does have its problems: some Afro-Mexicans have called out the stereotypical depictions and the ignorantly prejudiced comments of the director. However, separating the director from the film, Black Mexicans deserves credit for depicting a community invisible to the rest of Mexico. Well constructed images and storyline might remind you of Costa Rica’s Land of Ashes or Eve’s Bayou. It’s use of setting and the stoic character of Juana’s daughter highlight the lack of opportunity and support for the black community in Mexico and their exclusion from their Mexican identity.