Delia Casanova Movies
- 2006
- PG13
Filmmaking duo Andres Leon Becker and Javier Solar took home top prize at the Guadalajara and Montreal Film Festivals for this visually inventive tale the warm relationship shared between a seven-year old girl and her single mother, and what becomes of their bond when the imaginative daughter becomes convinced that mom has been possessed by a vampire. Alicia and her mother live alone in a small apartment, yet despite the absence of a father figure, their close relationship between the pair provides all the emotional nourishment that a mother and her daughter could ever hope for. When mom unexpectedly comes home with one boyfriend, and then another, however, Alicia becomes convinced by a classmate that the depression and romantic problems that her mother are currently experiencing are a surefire sign that that a nefarious supernatural force is at work. Soon convinced that her sickly old neighbor is in fact a devious bloodsucker who has cast an evil spell on her once-happy mom, Alicia boldly determines to sneak into the apartment of the "vampire" and break the curse by placing a crucifix on the old man's chest. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Cervantes, Julia Urbini, (more)
Luis Estrada directs this groundbreaking and extremely controversial satire about Mexico's long-ruling political party, the PRI. Set in the late 1940s in the remote, thoroughly backwards village of San Pedro de los Saguaros, the film focuses on Vargas (Damian Alcazar), a petty politician who had the dubious honor of being appointed town mayor after his predecessor was decapitated for corruption by an angry mob. At first, he tries to balance the books and to bring the 20th century to the backwaters. When he is visited by slick PRI politico Lopez (Pedro Armendariz), however, he learns the officially sanctioned way of running the town: at gunpoint while pilfering the bank vaults. Soon Vargas becomes a power-mad despot, more than willing to steal or kill to further his goals. Though his PRI bosses try to reign him in, the lynch mob soon appears to be the inevitable end of Vargas' political career. The first film to criticize the PRI by name, Estrada's bitter farce savages the ruling party, the church and U.S. intervention. Cult director Alex Cox plays a small role as a seedy gringo. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Damián Alcázar, Pedro Armendariz, Jr., (more)
- 1996
Mexico's most famous bandito rides again only to find himself defeated in the war between the sexes in this romantic comedy from debuting director Sabina Berman, the author of the play on which the screenplay is based. Gina, a forty-something year-old divorcee is ready to settle down again. Unfortunately, her free-thinking intellectual of a boy friend Adrian wants commitment free sex and nothing more. It just so happens that Adrian is writing a book about Pancho Villa and has come to embrace the outlaw's macho values when it comes to women. Finding his macho attitudes decidedly unfulfilling Gina dumps Adrian in favor of a sensitive, New Agey and much younger man, Ismael. To staunch the copious bleeding of his wounded pride, Adrian immediately embarks upon a campaign to win Gina back. The spirit of Villa comes to Adrian's aide, giving him advice at every turn. Unfortunately, Villa's attitudes died many years ago and every time his suggestions fail, a horrible, bloody wound appears on his ghostly body. Will Adrian ever learn his lesson and let his macho posturing die with his hero? ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Diana Bracho, Arturo Rios, (more)
- 1996
Unnerved by having heard a neighbor being killed, Dolores (Susana Zabaleta) is not easily reassured. Though her husband Andres (Alejandro Tommasi) discounts her concerns about nefarious goings on in their apartment building, whatever confidence she had disappears when he mutters the murdered woman's name in his sleep. When witchy neighbor, Madame Endor (Delia Casanova) says she is in danger, Dolores believes it. Then the psychologist her husband sends her to becomes convinced that she is correct in her concerns. Dolores believes Satan is involved in the unsettling events around her, and she gets the chance to find out. This film is in the Spanish language. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Susana Zabaleta, Alejandro Tommasi, (more)
This Mexican drama is a faithful adaptation of Nobel-laureate Naguib Mahfouz's novel, only it is set in contemporary Mexico City instead of 1940s Cairo. The film is comprised of three overlapping "chapters" that come together in the fourth chapter. Each segment, centering on a different character, takes place at the same time in a rundown neighborhood. The disparate characters all have one thing in common--none of them get what they want. Chava, the son of tavern-owner Rutilio, wants to go to the US. The fiercely independent and beautiful Alma is thinking about marrying a wealthy shop keeper. The impoverished young barber Abel is in love with Alma. Then there is the spinster Susanita who owns an apartment house and spends her spare time involved in unhealthy love affairs. After killing his father's mistress in a fit of moral outrage, Chava ends up on the lam for two years. Abel takes off for a long time and Alma ends up becoming a drug-addicted prostitute whom Abel cannot save. Susanita gets married to young Guicho and learns that he is robbing her. She is just about to toss him out when she discovers that her really loves her after all. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
In the late 1960s and early '70s, the Mexican government endured a number of student riots, which it put down with overwhelming military force. Many were killed, and many more were injured. Only now is this long-suppressed history being allowed to be alluded to in Mexican movies. In this story, Lauro was a journalist covering the riots in 1971 when he is hit on the head and goes into a coma for almost twenty years. During that time, his children scathingly refer to him as "el bulto," (the baggage). However, despite the evident temptation to do so, they don't pull the plug on him, but visit his hospital room to bathe him, wash him, and cut his nails and hair on a regular basis. Somewhere near the end of that period, Lauro gradually awakens, and painfully undergoes the physical rehabilitation and, what is worse, an education in what has happened in the intervening years. When he went under, he was a leftist with liberal views. Now that he is awake, he wants everyone to obey him and takes a dim view of his wife's having had a boyfriend all these years. Needless to say, his old-line attitudes set him up for a rocky re-entry into his life. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gabriel Retes, Hector Bonilla, (more)
- 1990
In this experimental variation on the action-thriller theme,all the action elements are retained, only the story is discarded. As a consequence, most viewers will have considerable difficulty figuring out what is going on. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arturo Beristain
- 1989
Alonso Echanove tops the cast of Mentiras Piadosas as a Mexican grocer and family man. The poor grocer has grown weary of his responsibilities, both on the job and at home. His life is turned around when he meets a pretty health inspector (Delio Casanova). As luck would have, the woman is likewise disenchanted with her lot in life. Love blooms, and never mind who gets hurt in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Delia Casanova, Alonso Echanove, (more)
Police Captain Balbuena (Mario Almada) is taken off the case when he uncovers police involvement with notorious drug smugglers in this action drama. When he loses his job, Balbuena gathers a group of outlaws to go after the gangsters. El Loco Ordonez (Jorge Luke) is recruited to lead the vigilantes after the captain and his family are gunned down. The feature contains effective slices of comedy and violence and is a good action programmer. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mario Almada, Hugo Stiglitz, (more)
- 1983
- NR
This tantalizing blend of eroticism and mysticism was adapted from a novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Erendira (Claudia Ohana) has a strange and wondrous vision; shortly afterward, her grandmother's house burns down. The grandmother (Irene Papas) gets her revenge by forcing Erendira to become a prostitute. As the "johns" become increasingly prosperous (along with grandma), Erendira keeps her wits about her by experiencing even more bizarre visions. Veteran European character actor Michel Lonsdale has an effective cameo as a hypocritical senator. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Irene Papas, Claudia Ohana, (more)
- 1982
Adeptly manipulating images and scenes, director Claudio Isaac has fashioned an existential story about the aspirations of Pablo Rueda (Humberto Zurita), born on the day that Pedro Infante died. (Infante was a popular, well-loved Mexican singer and actor who died in a 1957 plane crash.) Rueda's birth on that day, as a mythical star went out, was symbolic in itself but in that same year, the angel of the Independence Monument also fell down during an earthquake. As Rueda reaches adulthood, he is dedicated to drawing and writing and in his relationships with friends, relatives, lovers, and editors, the full scope of his vision of the world and himself is revealed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Humberto Zurita, Delia Casanova, (more)
- 1982
Alsino & the Condor is a multinational production, utilizing financing from Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba and Costa Rica. The film is related from the point of view of Alsino (Alan Esquivel), an impoverished Nicaraguan lad. While his country and its rotting buildings crumble all around him, the idealistic Alsino imagines himself to be a condor, flying far above his deprivations. It is during one of his hallucinations that Alsino jumps from a tree; the fall cripples him, turning him into a hunchback. He will only straighten out to his full proud height upon joining a guerilla band, fighting the corrupt government armies. Significantly, Alsino & the Condor was the first production to be filmed in Nicaragua after the Sandinista revolution and the overthrow of Somoza ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dean Stockwell, Alan Esquivel, (more)
A prison drama full of juvenile-delinquent blood and violence. Spanish. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- José Carlos Ruiz, Delia Casanova, (more)
