Maria Candelaria
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Maria Candelaria |
| Original title | Maria Candelaria |
| Country of production | Mexico |
| original language | Spanish |
| Publishing year | 1944 |
| length | 101 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Emilio Fernández |
| script | Emilio Fernández Mauricio Magdaleno |
| production | Agustin J. Fink |
| music | Francisco Dominguez |
| camera | Gabriel Figueroa |
| cut |
Jorge Busto Gloria Schoemann |
| occupation | |
| |
Maria Candelaria is one of the most important and well-known films of the then still young film country Mexico. It was created in 1943 with the country's most popular screen stars at the time, the Hollywood returnees Dolores del Río , who played the title role, and Pedro Armendáriz as her partner.
action
The action takes place in the then still very rural Xochimilco. A young reporter asks an old painter about a painting he created a long time ago. It shows an undressed, Mexican Indian woman who nobody wants to talk about. After a while, the artist is ready to tell the story of this once beautiful, young Indian woman who earned her meager income as a flower seller. Flashback to the year 1909. The girl, her name is María Candelaria, is rejected and cut by her own people because it is said that she is the daughter of a prostitute. The only one who cares about her is Lorenzo Rafael, also an Indian. They both fall in love. But fate is constantly putting new hurdles on the two of them. Whenever they want to get married, something always stands in their way. This is mainly due to Don Damián, the influential shopkeeper of the place, who is by no means well-disposed to them, as he himself has long had an eye on the beautiful India, which he steadfastly refuses to accept. He even kills a piglet that the lovers wanted to sell in order to be able to afford their own wedding and, on principle, does not buy flowers from Maria.
When Maria falls seriously ill with malaria , Lorenzo sees no other way of helping his great love than breaking into Damián's shop one night and stealing a bottle of healing quinine that the envious and hateful merchant refused to give. In addition, Lorenzo steals a pretty skirt that he wants to give his loved one as a wedding dress. This is how the disaster takes its course: Rafael Lorenzo is arrested for burglary and theft and sentenced to one year in prison. During this time the painter approaches Maria and asks her if she would like to sit as his model. She accepts the offer in the hope of getting Lorenzo's early release with the money she has earned. The artist paints Maria's portrait and combines the portrait with the naked torso of another girl, as Maria refused the artist's request to pose naked. However, the image leads to the fact that all prejudices of the citizens of Xochimilco against Maria Candelaria, that she is an overly relaxed and immoral person, are confirmed. Out of the pseudo-moral excitement of the mob, a storm of indignation grows beyond compare. The angry villagers band together and stone those who have been reviled as "whores' daughters". Lorenzo, aware of the imminent danger of his bride, is meanwhile to break out of prison to protect Maria. But he comes too late, the victim dies in his arms.
Production notes
Maria Candelaria was composed in Xochimilco , Mexico City , in 1943 and premiered on January 20, 1944. In September 1946 the film ran as a Mexican contribution to the first post-war Cannes Film Festival. Despite its fame, the film was never shown in cinemas in Germany; it was first broadcast on ARTE on May 26, 1997 .
The same team (director Fernández, cameraman Figueroa, Stars del Rio and Armendariz) had shot the melodrama Flor Silvestre with great success immediately before .
Awards
- At the Cannes Film Festival , which was held for the first time in 1946 , director Fernández shared the main prize ("Grand Prix") with ten other film productions.
- At the Locarno Film Festival in 1947 was Gabriel Figueroa honored for his camera work.
Cinematic consequences
This film had a major impact on Mexican cinema, which had been largely slumbering until then . In Kay Weniger's Das Großes Personenlexikon des Films , it says: “ 'Maria Candelaria' and the wave of down-to-earth, socially critical and folkloric social dramas triggered by this film marked an artistic spirit of optimism in Mexican film. "
Reviews
“The film is considered the first example of an independent Mexican film art. Fernandez managed a peculiar mixture of melodrama, folklore and social criticism, which is typical for many of his films. Figueroa captured this in poetic films, the harsh black and white contrasts of which suggest desperation and hopelessness at the same time. "
“The film, which later received an award in Cannes, told in moving images of a topic that had been largely excluded in Mexican cinema, the misery of the native Indians, the campesinos . Fernandez brought Mexican cinema world renown overnight and created a short but fruitful phase of 'poetic realism'. "
"A melodrama of simple beauty and told in just a few words."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 6: N - R. Mary Nolan - Meg Ryan. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 545.
- ^ Maria Candelaria in the Lexicon of International Films
Web links
- Maria Candelaria in the Internet Movie Database (English)