Maria Candelaria (1944)

To put it simply, it's brilliant: the direction by Emilio Fernández, the black and white photo by Gabriel Figueroa, the music by Francisco Dominguez and not least the acting by the legendary stars Dolores del Rio and Pedro Armendáriz. I think this film is the top peak in the career of Emilio Fernández, even if he made many other movie classics like Enamorada, Flor Silvestre or La Perla. Maria Candelaria (Xochimilco) is perhaps a Cinema Classic most people have been searching for but never found. And there are English subtitles. I am wondering why this movie never comes to discussion when film people make lists about the Best Movie of the Century. Think it's a kind of mystery.

Melodrama is not always the lecherous whore of cinema.The face and beauty of Dolores del Rio did not, does not, and will not represent Mexico. But before attempting to explain this, I must ask a simple question: What does it mean to be a Mexican? or What is a Mexican? The self-image of the Mexican culture is an intertwined root of a shattered mirror, which stares at its very image, continuously, forever falling into a void of incompressibility, desperation, violence and a self-defying and self-destructive duality. The cultural collective unconsciousness of Mexico is a field of chaos, corruption, pain, and broken images that fail to recollect themselves because they belong to two histories: The ancient, mystical and long forgotten history of indigenous cultures who worshiped the Sun and the invisible forces of nature and, their clash and ultimate convergence with the European history and the Christian force of conquest. Quoting the opening line "Since 1516 minds attacked and overseen, now crawl amidst the ruins of this empty dream" from Rage Against the Machine's song People of the Sun, , I must say that for over five centuries the poor wretched and raped people of this so-called Mexico have struggled to see their original face before their conquest occurred.The cultural duality of the Mexican mentality serves as the razor suicide malevolence that destroys and redefines its very own structure. Why was Dolores del Rio the face of Mexico then? Because she represented the powerful and conquering side of this mentality. Her European heritage and conventional beauty made her a Goddess of Mexican Cinema. However, I find quite interesting, in an ironic way, that in the film "Maria Candelaria" she represents the repressed, passive, and conquered spectrum of Mexico itself. However, this duality could be further understood, symbolically, if we separate the gorgeous piece of art that the film is: its cinematography, powerful directing, enigmatic and dialectically truthful language, and international recognition (Maria Candelaria is the only Mexican film to have ever won important prizes at the festival of Cannes); while on the other hand we see the brutal reality it depicts, and the confusion of social identity. As quoted by Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa: "An outdoor scene was carefully prepared with the snow-capped volcano Popocatepetl in the background, a cactus at the right-angle of the composition, circle of clouds crowning the peak and the open furrows of the valley in the foreground. Looking at the composition Buñuel said: "Fine, now let's turn the camera so that we can get those four goats and two crags on that barren hill". It necessary to create a balance between beauty and disgust, between the conventional and the radical, in order to balance the creation of an internationally acceptable film, while keeping the criticism or attacks of the filmmaker within the film.Although the film is extremely melodramatic, I hold this film very dearly to my heart because of the childhood memories it evokes upon me every time I watch it and because of its representation of a class struggle that haunts Mexico even to this day. Indigenous groups constitute the lower class in Mexico, and their degradation, humiliation and exploitation constitute the stupidity and psychological angst of the Mexican people. In truth these small populations are the native, the original of the country. For this very reason, I enjoyed the film very much: Maria Candelaria represented the isolation of these indigenous lower classes, and their isolation was the reason for the destructive nature, for example, Maria Candelaria being unaccepted by her community and stoned to death at the conclusion of the film. The painful truth is that the morality of those who killed her is the mentality of their once enemy and oppressor: Christianity. On the other hand, Maria's introduction as a main character into the film was extremely odd and important because she is, at the opening point, set in a hierarchy of classicism: a Mexican man of strong European decent introduces her as a memory.Although the film is a melodrama I like the film very much because it depicts a cruel reality, rather than using that cruel reality to simply emphasize the relationship of the two main characters: their love, their suffering, and their struggle constitute the melodramatic essence, but they are consequences of a greater cultural truth. Thus, the film is not only "entertaining" and conventional; it is also a critical social and cultural study of Mexico.

I saw this movie the other day, and I thought it was awesome. It never ceases to amaze me that there are good movies out there that don't have any computer animation or fancy lighting. This movie is very simple but very powerful at the same time, not only in terms of lighting and stage work, but also in the manner in which "El Indio" portrayed María Candelaria and the other characters. The supporting characters also do a wonderful job of adding authenticity and support to the movie.I highly recommend that you see this movie if you haven't already. Dolores del Río does an incredible job playing María Candelaria. Her interpretation of the story is excellent.

At first, it seems like this is going to be another standard melodrama, but within 10 minutes, you know that you're seeing really great actors at work in a very important film. Pedro Armendariz and Dolores del Rio are larger than life, absolutely perfect characters who love each other so sweetly and purely it makes everything else you've ever seen seem small in comparison. The photography is breathtaking, and the Mexico they live in - the floating gardens of Xochimilco at the turn of the century- is the stuff myths are made of. Of course there is conflict and drama and tragedy running all through the film, but the characters are so noble you can't feel sorry for them, no matter how badly they're treated. No one ever said this is supposed to be a realistic movie, but it certainly delivers an emotional jolt. It makes you not only fall in love with Maria Candelaria and Lorenzo Rafael, but with Mexico. It's like watching a beautiful dream unfold. No wonder so many Mexicans still mention this as their absolutely all time favorite film. Put it at the top of the list of films to see if you want to know more about Mexico's golden age of cinema.