Mexico

Mexico’s intensely rich cinematic tradition goes back to early last century. It was certainly affected not only by a proximity to Hollywood, but also through the influence of the Soviet emigré Sergei Eisenstein and the Spanish ex-patriate Luis Buñuel. But these external influences only enriched the unique quality of an already-present Mexican cinema. All of the country’s popular cinematic genres are infused with regional flavor, often with a zest of class struggle to help revive the memories of the revolution, and a good spoonful of latin drama and romanticism. Together with the Open Doek Film Festival and Marcel vzw, we’ve selected three cult "vintage" films to help you discover the variety of popular Mexican cinema.

The friendly taxidermist Dr. Pablo Morales is married to a prudish, bigoted hypocrandiac beast. With the patience of an angel, he tries to bring her back to reason. But when she wrongly accuses him of abuse, his patience runs out. Exasperated, he comes up with a plan for the "perfect murder". Luis Alcoriza was the screenwriter for many of Luis Buñuel’s Mexican films and transforms this macabre story into a highly-amusing satiric black comedy.

Elena is alone in the world. Her mother ran away with another man, her father committed suicide, and Elena is left working as a cabaret dancer in the big city, immersed in a nocturnal world of crime, prostitution, luxury and obscenity. A perfect example of the "cabareteras" genre that was so popular in Mexico in the 40s and 50s: a strange mix of film noir, Busby Berkeley-style musical glamour, and sappy melodrama. The star of the film is a rhumba-dancing Ninón Sevilla, who embodies Elena and her thirst for vengeance with a passion to make Rita Hayworth and Carmen Miranda fill with envy.

Beta and Gamma, two appetizing pin-ups from Venus, fly to Mexico in their spaceship. With their cube-shaped robot buddy Tor in tow, they set off in search of a man to help repopulate their planet. In fact, their spaceship is full of male specimens collected from the four corners of the galaxy, creating what is quite possibly the finest collection of rubbery monsters in the history of cinema! The first Earthling they come across is Lauriano, a singing Mexican cowboy, the perfect victim...
"The Ship of Monsters" is a hilarious and refreshing Mexican take on the American science fiction B-movies of the 50s.