A classic Mexican Film but to my modern, untrained eye it seemed a bit dated - although it was meant to be a portrayal of the turn-of-the last-century in rural Mexico. The reason it seemed dated was that the heroine got stoned over a portrait of herself allegedly naked. At times the acting seemed a bit exaggerated and the raising of the Eyebrow, like in OLGA (http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5508529562803453554#editor/target=post;postID=8398002714402943806 ) seemed to be a tad bit overused.. How times have changed- when I left Guyana to study overseas, there was an equal Public disapproval over overexposure of too much skin in spite of the country being located close to the Equator ... by the time I returned it was open flaunting of flesh on local TV.. all thanks to the pervasive influence of the outside media-- got to love Globalisation for eroding Values!!
Mind you - back to the Film - the locals all shunned her because she was the daughter of a prostitute but more-or-less made it difficult to for her to do anything else since they would not support and positively barred her efforts to raise money any other way. She was also very beautiful although the actress portraying her had distinct Caucasian features and very much more polished compared to the other actors who had more Indigenous features. It was a good portrayal of grinding poverty with no end in sight but I was impressed by the lines spoken by the actress when being urged to leave by her lover - that they belonged to the region like the rich dark soil and she picks up a handful of dirt and lets it crumble through her fingers -- sigh -- how could the director have known that less than two Centuries later that will be a resource the world will be fighting over!
Mention in other reviews has been made about the irony of Maria Candelaria's story being narrated by the artist who brought about her downfall, being obviously a Mexican of the Conquistadores blood and lauding the values of simplicity and virtue of the Native peoples while inadvertently bringing about their downfall - must be the moral of the story there?
Mind you - back to the Film - the locals all shunned her because she was the daughter of a prostitute but more-or-less made it difficult to for her to do anything else since they would not support and positively barred her efforts to raise money any other way. She was also very beautiful although the actress portraying her had distinct Caucasian features and very much more polished compared to the other actors who had more Indigenous features. It was a good portrayal of grinding poverty with no end in sight but I was impressed by the lines spoken by the actress when being urged to leave by her lover - that they belonged to the region like the rich dark soil and she picks up a handful of dirt and lets it crumble through her fingers -- sigh -- how could the director have known that less than two Centuries later that will be a resource the world will be fighting over!
Mention in other reviews has been made about the irony of Maria Candelaria's story being narrated by the artist who brought about her downfall, being obviously a Mexican of the Conquistadores blood and lauding the values of simplicity and virtue of the Native peoples while inadvertently bringing about their downfall - must be the moral of the story there?
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