Mexican cinema

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The history of Mexican cinema goes back to the beginning of the 20th century, when several enthusiasts of the new medium documented historical events – most particularly the Mexican Revolution – and produced some movies that have been only recently been rediscovered.

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[edit] Silent films (1896-1929)

Cantinflas
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Cantinflas

The silent film era in Mexico produced several movies. However, many of the films up to the 1920s have been lost and were not well-documented. The first "moving picture", according to sources by film historian Jim Mora, was viewed in 1895 using Thomas Edison's kinetoscope. A year later, the cinematographe projector was introduced by Auguste Lumière. Mexico's first queues appeared in cinemas in the capital to see international one-minute films such as The Card Players, Arrival of a Train, and The Magic Hat. [1]

The origins of early filmmaking is generally associated with Salvador Toscano Barragán. Toscano compiled the country's first fictional film, titled Don Juan Tenorio. During the Mexican Revolution, Toscano recorded several clips of the battles, which would become a full-length documentary in 1950, assembled by his daughter. Other short films were either created or influenced from French film-makers.

By 1906, 16 movie salons opened their doors to accommodate the popularity of cinema in Mexico City. Carpas, or tent shows, were popular beginning in 1911 where lower-class citizens would perform picaresque humor and theatrical plays, a place for training for aspiring actors. Politically affiliated films appeared in 1908, often deemed propagandistic by today's terms. Significant battles were filmed and broadcast during the Revolution which fueled Mexicans' excitement in cinema. [2]

During the 1920s very few movies were produced, given the political climate that was still very unsettled and the resurgence of the American film industry.

[edit] The "Golden Age"

Main article: Golden age of the cinema of Mexico

In the 1930s, once peace and a degree of political stability were achieved, cinematography took off in Mexico and several movies still experimenting with the nascent medium were done. Hollywood's attempt at creating Spanish language films for Latin America failed mainly due to the combination of Hispanic actors from different ethnicities exhibiting various accents unfamiliar to the Mexican people. It is important to notice how early Mexican cinematographers were influenced and encouraged by Russian director Sergei Eisenstein's visit to the country in 1930. [3]

During the 1940s the full potential of the industry developed. Actors, actresses, and directors became popular icons and even figures with political influence on diverse spheres of Mexican life. The industry received a boost as a consequence of Hollywood redirecting its efforts towards propagandistic films and European countries focusing on the war, which left an open field for other industries. Mexico dominated the film market in Latin America for most of the 1940s without competition from the United States film industry.

The Golden Age of Mexican cinema took place during the 1940s and beyond. The most prominent during this period was Mario Moreno, better known as Cantinflas. The film Ahí está el detalle (There is the Detail) in 1940 made Cantinflas a household name and became known as the "Mexican Charlie Chaplin" to Americans. His films were ubiquitous in Spain and Latin America and influenced many contemporary actors. Only until the appearance of "Tin-Tan" in the late 1940s did his popularity wane. [4]

A movie poster of comedian Tin-Tan.
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A movie poster of comedian Tin-Tan.

Mexican actresses also were a focus in Mexican cinema. Sara García was the "grandmother of Mexico". Her career began with silent films in 1910, moved to theatre, and ultimately the film that made her famous, No basta ser madre (It's Not Enough to be a Mother) in 1937. Dolores del Río, another dramatic actress, became well-known for her roles in a couple films directed by Emilio Fernández. [5]

In 1943, the Mexican industry produced seventy films, the most for a Spanish speaking country. Two notable films released in 1943 by director Emilio Fernández were Flor silvestre (Wild Flower) and María Candelaria, both films starring Dolores del Río. The movies were triumphs for the director and for internationally acclaimed cinematographer, Gabriel Figueroa especially with María Candeleria winning the top prize at the Cannes Festival. [6]

The only other comedian with the same level of popularity as Cantinflas was German Valdez "Tin-Tan". Tin-Tan played a pachuco character appearing with a zoot suit in his films. Unlike Cantinflas, Tin-Tan never played as a pelado, but as a Mexican-American. He employed pachuco slang in many of his movies and made famous spanglish, a dialect that many Mexican residents disdained.

Other relevant films during these years include Espaldas mojadas (Wetbacks) by Alejandro Galindo, Aventura (Adventure) a melodrama, and Los olvidados (The Young and the Damned) (1950), a story about impoverished children in Mexico City. The themes during those years, although mostly conventional comedies or dramas, touched all aspects of Mexican society, from the 19th century dictator Porfirio Díaz and his court, to love stories always tainted by drama.

[edit] 1960s to present

During the 1960s and 1970s many cult horror and action movies were produced with professional wrestler El Santo and Hugo Stiglitz being the biggest stars. In the 1970s a large group of Films that were called “ Sexicomedias” later on and one Actress named Sasha Montenegro would become the Queen of these types of Films. The most important of these Films were Bellas de Noche 1 and 2 from 1975 and 1977 as well as Muñecas de medianoche from 1979, while in the 1980s these Films were also made, and they included the Films of La pulqueria and La pulqueria 2 as well as Entre Las Ficheras anda el Diablo, from 1981 and 1982 as well as 1983During 1990s the era of the Nuevo Cine Mexicano took place with high quality films by Arturo Ripstein, Alfonso Arau, Alfonso Cuarón and María Novaro. The most famous films produced at this time were Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) (1992) and Sexo, pudor y lágrimas (Sex, Shame, and Tears) (1999). Many in the film industry have transferred over to the American film industry. Most recently, several Mexican movies starring Gael García Bernal have enjoyed great popularity, including Amores perros (Love's a Bitch) (2000), Y tu mamá también (2001), the polemical El crimen del Padre Amaro (The Crime of Father Amaro) (2002), and the Latin American film, The Motorcycle Diaries (2004). Film directors Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón have been noted for both their Mexican and American films. Their works include Y tu mamá también, Amores perros, 21 Grams (2003), and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004).

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[edit] Famous people

[edit] Actors

[edit] Directors

[edit] Cinematographers

[edit] Sound

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ↑  Mora, Carl J. Mexican Cinema: Reflections of a Society 1896-1988, p. 5,6. Berkeley : University of California Press, 1989. ISBN 0-520-04304-9
  2. ↑  Mora p. 17-21
  3. ↑  A Century of Mexican Cinema by David Wilt
  4. ↑  Mora p. 56.
  5. ↑  Mora p. 59.
  6. ↑  Forging a National and Popular Art Cinema in Mexico: María Candelaria

[edit] References

  • Mora, Carl J. Mexican Cinema: Reflections of a Society 1896-1988 Berkeley : University of California Press, 1989. ISBN 0-520-04304-9
  • Maciel, David R. Mexico's Cinema: A Century of Film and Filmmakers, Wilmington, DE: SR Books, 1999. ISBN 0-8420-2682-7
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