Fernando Becerril Movies
At a time when the growing chasm between the rich and the poor appears to be slowly tearing Mexico - and many other Latin countries - apart, first time filmmaker Rodrigo Plá highlights just how isolationism breeds fear in many wealthy communities. Alejandro (Daniel Tovar) lives with his father Daniel (Daniel Giménez Cacho) and his mother Mariana Maribel Verdú) in an isolated community known as La Zona. La Zona is home to the most privileged citizens in Mexico, but with all of the gates and closed circuit cameras it feels more like a million dollar prison than a typical neighborhood. Eventually, a group of disadvantaged teenagers manage to break into La Zona. As the members of the community scramble to protect their families at any cost, one of the teenaged burglars, a frightened boy named Miguel (Alan Chávez), seeks cover in the basement of Alejandro's home as his friends scatter. Later, when Alejandro discovers the young fugitive, the privileged boy's growing empathy for the petty thief and murder suspect leads him to question the values imposed on him by his father as well as the many other isolationists who have taught him to fear his fellow countrymen. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Daniel Jiménez Cacho, Maribel Verdú, (more)
- 2007
Director-producer Daniel Gruener's drama Morirse en domingo follows the plight of a family that loses one of its own, Julio Salas, on a Sunday. With no burials performed on Sundays in Mexico, the family must hire the services of a 'zopilote,' (a humble funeral parlor owner) to take care of the situation, but no one can foresee the problems this will cause. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Silverio Palacios, Humberto Busto, (more)
For his sophomore effort, Drama/Mex, writer-director Gerardo Naranjo (Malachance) juxtaposes three back-to-back stories, set in the once lush and exclusive - now over-commercialized and garish - resort town of Acapulco, over the course of the same long, hot night. Naranjo mounts an experimental narrative structure, with each successive tale set backward in time just prior to the end of the last story - a "relay-style" structural experimentation that mirrors and recalls Fernando Mereilles's City of God). The first tale involves a thief Chano (Emilio Valdés who crops up and threatens the sanctity of ex-girlfriend Fernanda's (Diana García) relationship with Gonzalo (Juan Pablo Castañeda), even breaking into her house to win her back. In the second story, someone tips Gonzalo off that Fernanda has been seen kissing Chano in a crowded restaurant. In desperation, Gonzalo hires a mariachi band and serenades Fernanda outside of her house. The third tale concerns Jaime (Fernando Becerril) who, after lifting the company payroll and using part of it to rent a beachfront property, contemplates suicide - until a relationship with an equally dishonest fifteen-year-old runway and scam artist, Tigrillo (Miriana Moro) grants him a new lease on life. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fernando Becerril, Diana Garcia, (more)
- 2000
- PG13
- Add In the Time of the Butterflies to Queue Add In the Time of the Butterflies to top of Queue
Based on the book by Julia Alvarez, this fact-based drama tells the story of a woman who, along with her family, found the courage to defy a corrupt dictator -- and paid a fearful price for their actions. Minerva Mirabal (Salma Hayek) and her sisters Patria (Lumi Cavazos), Mate (Mia Maestro), and Dede (Pilar Padilla) are the daughters of Enrique (Fernando Becerril), a man who owns a plantation and a small store in the Dominican Republic during the rule of the despotic Rafael LeónidasTrujillo (Edward James Olmos). When several members of her family are killed by Trujillo's forces, Minerva pledges that she will some day win revenge against the dictator, though when the leader first encounters Minerva, it's after she helps foil a friend's poorly planned assassination attempt. After completing her schooling, Minerva meets Virgilio Morales (Marc Anthony), a professor of law at a state university who also works with an underground rebel group attempting to overthrow Trujillo. The two fall in love, and Virgilio helps to open Minerva's eyes to the extent of Trujillo's crimes; when Virgilio is forced to go underground as a result of his actions against Trujillo, Minerva pledges to follow his example and become a lawyer. However, Trujillo's head has been turned by the lovely Minerva, and the more he learns about her, the more he wants to seduce her, hoping to crush her fiery spirit. In time, Minerva attends law school, hoping to challenge the system from within, but upon graduation she discovers Trujillo has been keeping tabs on her actions and isn't about to allow her to practice law; an outraged Minerva vows to fight the corrupt dictator by any means necessary. Produced for the Showtime premium cable network, In the Time of the Butterflies first aired on October 21, 2001; leading lady Salma Hayek also served as executive producer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Salma Hayek, Marc Anthony, (more)
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