MEXICAN MOVIES BASED ON LITERARY WORKS

IN THIS PUBLICATION WE ARE GOING TO EXPOSE SOME OF THE FILMS THAT HAVE BEEN BASED ON BOOKS

Next we will list 3 of the films that most caught our attention:

"Macario"

"Macario" is the book written by the author Bruno Traven which this film is based.

The book was written in 1950. The name of the movie based on the literary work is the same that the book.

This film was directed by Roberto Gavaldón, who had directed other famous mexican films like "El Gallo de Oro", "Flor de Mayo", "El Conde de Montecristo", etc.

The movie was filmed in 1959 and protagonized by Ignacio  López Tarso, that film had been nominated for an Oscar for the best foreign film.

The main actors for the movie are:

• Macario.
• Felipa.
• God. 
• Death.
• Devil.

And we present you some actors from the movie.

This is Macario...

Macario is a poor person who cuts firewood to support his wife and eleven children.

His biggest dream is to eat a big turkey by himself. His biggest fear is the death.

This is Felipa (Macario's wife)
She's a working woman.
Her job is wash others people's clothes and collect cents for the family.
She's a good woman because she wants to make happy her family despite everything.

This is the Devil.
He appears like a rich man and offers to Macario some riches
 but only if he shares his turkey with him.

Curious data...???

• "Macario" is the best Mexican film of day of the Dead.
  
  
• This movie was filmed in the lagoons of Zempoala, Morelos; Puebla and the famous "Grutas de Cacahuamilpa."
  
  
• The movie was awarded in Valladolid, Boston, India, Italy, Vancouver and Edimburgo in the category of photography.

"Los de Abajo" (The Underdogs)

"Los de abajo" is a book written by the greatest medic and writer Mariano Azuela, who worked as a doctor in a camp with Pancho Villa.

The book was written during the time of the Mexican Revolution, and was published until 1916.

It received many compliments for the honesty and reality of the narrative. In addition, the novel made Mariano Azuela win the National Prize for Literature of Mexico (1942) and the National Prize for Arts and Sciences (1949).

The film, which has the same name as the novel, it was directed by Chano Urueta in 1940. Chano is the son of the diplomat and famous tribune Don Jesús Urueta (The prince of the word). He also directed the films "El Conde de Montecristo", "El Corsario Negro", "El Jinete Sin Cabeza", among many others.

The main actors are: 

• Miguel Ángel Ferriz, as Demetrio Macías
• Carlos López Moctezuma, as El curro (Luis Cervantes)
• Isabela Corona, as La pintada
• Esther Fernández, as Camila

Demetrio Macías

He is a peasant who lives in Juchipila, a town located in the south of the state of Zacatecas, involved in the revolution because of the conflict he had with a cacique, who used federal force to attack Demetrio.

La Pintada (War Paint)

She's a tough woman and a peasant who is dragged into the conflict by excuses to become Demetrio's lover. Also, she represents a real class of women that took part in the conflict, the Soldaderas.

Camila

 She is a teenager who is deceived by Luis Cervantes to join Demetrio's band. 

She is in love with Luis Cervantes and, although her kind and stoic nature represents the servile and subdued women before the revolution, she is a tragic character who ends fatally in conflict with La Pintada.

Curious data...???

• Later, the novel had a second color film adaptation, directed by Servando González and written by Vicente Leñero.
  
  
• Its first edition was published in 1916, but the most famous is the second edition, which was published in 1920.
  
  
• Despite being a novel of the Revolution, some critics consider it as a "reactionary" novel.

"Como agua para chocolate" (Like Water for Chocolate)

"Como agua para chocolate" is a romantic novel that combines fiction and realism written by Laura Esquivel.

It was published in 1989.

The novel was one of the best-sellers, first in Mexico and then around the world, with translation into more than 30 languages.

Alfonso Arau, who directed the film with the same name, is one of the best character in the Mexican Cinema, even producing with great current celebrities like Keanu Reeves in the film "A Walk in the Clouds".
It has hundreds of awards and nominations, the most prominent being Ariel Awards, Hugo Awards, Sudbury International Film Festival Awards, Golden Globe nominations and BAFTA Awards nominations.

The main actors are: 

• Regina Torné, as Mama Elena de la Garza
• Lumi Cavazos, as Tita de la Garza
• Marco Leonardi, as Pedro Muzquiz
• Mario Iván Martínez, as Dr. John Brown
• Ada Carrasco, as Ignacia "Nacha" Sosa
• Yareli Arizmendi, as Rosaura de la Garza
• Claudette Maillé, as Gertrudis de la Garza

Tita de la Garza

She is the youngest daughter of Mama Elena and sister of Rosaura and Gertrudis; because she was born last, and also because she is a woman, she is condemned to remain single to take care of her mother.

Pedro Muzquiz

A passionate man who is in love with Tita but, faced with Mamá Elena's prohibition, he marries his sister Rosaura so that he can be close to the woman he loves.

Mama Elena de la Garza

 Mother of Gertrudis, Rosaura and Tita, she is a rigid and authoritarian woman, who is in charge of the ranch and of all the tasks related to raising her daughters. She opposes the union between Tita and Pedro and, after death, appears as a ghost to reproach them about their love.

Curious data...???

• This film ranks 56 in the list of the 100 best films of Mexican cinema.
  
  
• The film was awarded 10 Ariel Awards from the Mexican Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  
  
• The book consists of chapters, whose names are recipes used in the La Garza family.
  
  
• The film is recognized as the ninth highest grossing foreign film in the United States.