Media Type: Film Year: 1946 Who wrote / made it : Julio Bracho Plot summary: Set in 1912 during the brief presidency of Francisco I Madero (1911-1913), the Revolution does not feature in the plot. However, it casts a shadow as it is centred around military men. María Félix gets first billing as María alongside…
Category: Conflict in Mexican Film
Mexican Films centred on conflict and violence
Cinco de mayo, la batalla [The Battle]
Media Type: Film Year: 2013 Who wrote / made it : Rafa Lara Plot summary: Cinco de mayo, la batalla [The Battle] deals with the run up to and the battle on the fifth of May/cinco de mayo, when the Mexican army defeated the invading (mostly) French army. When it was made, it was the…
La Generala
Media Type: Film Year: 1966 Who wrote / made it : Juan Ibáñez Plot summary: María Félix’s last Revolutionary film, La Generala, was a disaster on a lot of fronts, particularly financially and aesthetically. The plot is absurd. It includes an incestuous relationship, a love triangle representing the class struggle, a bizarre surrealistic dream sequence,…
La Cucuracha
Media Type: Film Year: 1958 Who wrote / made it : Ismael Rodríguez Plot summary: The opening sequence of La Cucuracha (Ismael Rodríguez, 1958) follows a grand mass of people moving through the mountains, the music is reminiscent of that of a US Western. Over this movement of people is written: “…Y abandonaron sus casas…
La Bandida
Media Type: Film Year: 1962 Who wrote / made it : Roberto Rodríguez Plot summary: In La Bandida María Félix plays a prostitute, María/La Bandida, represented as a ‘bad’ woman. The film focuses on a love triangle, which, at times, dwells more on the homosocial relationship between the two men. The film opens with two…
Juana Gallo
Media Type: Film Year: 1960 Who wrote / made it : Miguel Zacarías Plot summary: The protagonist, Ángela Ramos’ (María Félix) father and husband are killed by the Federal army. In revenge she changes her name to Juana Gallo, takes up arms and leads an army. In the first act, and nearly single-handedly, she defeats…
El compadre Mendoza
Media Type: Film Year: 1933 Who wrote / made it : Fernando de Fuentes Plot summary: This is one of a trilogy of the Revolutionby the director Fernando de Fuentes of which ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! is the best known. The other one is Prisionero 13 (1933) . El compadre Mendoza recounts the experiences of a hacendado…
Prisonero 13
Media Type: Film Year: 1933 Who wrote / made it : Fernando de Fuentes Plot summary: It is one of the trilogy which also includes ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! (1936) and El compadre Mendoza (1933) by the director Fernando de Fuentes. Prisionero 13 tells the story of Colonel Julián Carrasco [Alfredo del Diestro], a Huertista, who…
¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa!
Media Type: Film Year: 1936 Who wrote / made it : Fernando de Fuentes Plot summary: ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! is the best known of a trilogy of films of the Revolution. The other two are Prisionero 13 (1933) and El compadre Mendoza (1933) by the director Fernando de Fuentes. He is best known as…
Cananea
Media Type: Film Year: 1977 Who wrote / made it : Marcela Fernández Violante Plot summary: Cananea is set in a clearly defined historical moment. The final titles tell us that four years and five months after the events portrayed in the film the Revolution begins. The film represents the experiences which moulded the anarchist,…