Angélica Aragón Movies

A author preparing to pen her masterwork returns to her small Mexican town in search of inspiration, only to discover just how her secret-shrouded past has molded her into the woman she became in this Spanish-language drama from director Oscar Blancarte. Minerva (Angelica Aragon) has achieved great fame thanks to talented abilities as a writer, but upon stumbling into a series of facts that would have changed her life considerably had she been aware of them as a young child, she soon finds herself questioning everything, and everyone, she ever knew. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Poverty-stricken women struggle with hardships at the lowest levels of Mexican society in this low-budget drama. Middle-aged Esperanza (Adriana Roel) has a mute son, two daughters, and an abusive husband. Esperanza and her friend Nicolasa (Angelica Aragon) recall past dreams and desires, before they were confronted by economic realities. Begun in 1987, this film was halted by a different incoming administration at IMCINE (Mexican Institute of Cinematography) but eventually completed in 1994. Shown at the 1998 Guadalajara Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The world of Mexican hippies is explored in this interesting drama. The story moves between the present and the years 1969, and 1975. Alberto is an aging hippy who works at a radio station specializing in "classic rock." The film opens as he is having a bad day. His latest relationship is crumbling and his radio station is closing. He finds an old photograph and begins reminiscing about Laura, his first love, and about the life they lead in a primitive commune. As a young man, Alberto was forced by his parents to marry. He immediately burns his marriage certificate. He and Laura make love beneath a stage while a band plays "Purple Haze". Later he goes to a commune with Laura's best friend. He tries to have Laura simultaneously. Like many old flower-children, Alberto has never outgrown the Sixties. Like a cosmic gypsy, he wanders about chasing his ideals of happiness and freedom. While playing Cream and Traffic albums, he calls to Laura, pleading with her to call the station. It is his last chance at living his former dream. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

It may come as quite a surprise to people living elsewhere that Mexico (and Mexico City in particular) has a small but thriving Jewish community. In this story, set in the 1960s, the daughter of Ladino-speaking immigrants from Turkey is attempting to cope with their very conservative attitudes towards young women, and her own desires for her life. They believe that the only career for a girl is marriage, whereas she wants to be an artist, and doesn't care about being a bride. A compromise is briefly achieved when she announces her engagement to a Jewish boy who is a doctor, but the conflict resumes when she calls it off. Meanwhile, she has a friend who is the daughter of Eastern European Jews: her life is much freer, but she, too, is able to shock her parents. In her case, the shock is that she has become romantically involved with a gentile boy who is active in liberal political circles. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This filmed biography explores the life of the Mexican artist Francisco Goitia (played by Jose Carlos Ruiz), whose internal struggle with what he perceived to be a conflict between art and religious faith worked itself out in his many paintings. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

One of the more offensive, poorly scripted "comedies" to come out of Mexico in any era, the "hot Mexicans" of the title are sexually fixated men who either rape women, commit incest, practice adultery, or otherwise engage in supposedly comic expressions of their sexual urges. Roberto (Alfonso Zayas) is such an "accomplished" rapist that no victim presses charges against him and he symbolizes the ultimate goal for the rest of the men he knows. Next time, director and co-scripter (Gilberto Martinez-Solares) should aim a little higher, which should not be difficult at all. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A priest discovers the path of virtue can be steep, and temptation can demand a heavy price, in this controversial drama from Mexico. Father Amaro (Gael Garcia Bernal) is a young Catholic priest whose mentor, the Bishop (Ernesto Gomez Cruz), expects great things from him. However, like all priests, Amaro must first be assigned where he is needed most, which leads him to the small rural community of Los Reyes, where Amaro is to assist Father Benito (Sancho Gracia). To his shock, Amaro discovers Benito is hardly following Holy Law -- he's having an affair with Sanjuanera (Angelica Aragon), a woman who runs a local restaurant, and he's been helping a drug dealer launder his profits in exchange for large donations to the church, which Benito feels is justified as the funds are being used to build a hospital and orphanage for the poor. Amaro is disgusted with Benito's actions, but he soon discovers his own weaknesses when he falls in love with Amelia (Ana Claudia Talancon), Sanjuanera's teenage daughter. As Amelia finds herself falling for Amaro, she breaks off her relationship with Ruben (Andres Montiel), a reporter. Ruben responds by publishing a story which reveals the details of Benito's dealings with the drug dealers; Benito in turn tries to lay the blame at the feet of noble Father Natalio (Damian Alcazar), whose work with local peasants has been wrongly interpreted as supporting armed revolutionary factions. As Amaro tries desperately to distance himself from the growing scandal, he receives shocking news from Amelia when he learns she's pregnant with his child. The Crime of Father Amaro's portrayal of corruption within the Catholic Church led to an outcry from Catholic organizations, both in Mexico and the United States, where they attempted to organize a boycott of the film. However, the tactic failed in Mexico, where the controversy helped to boost ticket sales, making it the highest-grossing Mexican film ever in its native country. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In yet another slick, formulaic Charles Bronson vengeance film (they would continue until the actor was in his mid-70s, still playing the morally insulted friend/husband/lover), Bronson is Holland, an assassin for hire who has just come out of retirement to finish off a Guatemalan thug by the name of Moloch (Joseph Maher). Moloch tortures and terrorizes the good guys and is protected by a misguided American government agency -- though nothing can stop Holland once he starts killing his way to the chief villain. No one except the wife of one of Moloch's victims -- and perhaps a few viewers now and again -- raises any questions about Holland's trail of corpses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A man whose life is about to be changed forever discovers that sometimes it takes losing it all to finally appreciate the things that truly matter in director Alejandro Monteverde's emotional tale of self discovery. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this atmospheric romantic drama, Keanu Reeves plays Paul Sutton, who has just returned home from a stretch in the Army during World War II. Still reeling from the horrors of war, Paul wants to settle down and start a farm, but his wife Betty (Debra Messing), whom he met and impulsively married shortly before shipping out, has arranged for him to take a job as a salesman peddling chocolates. While taking a sales trip to another town, he befriends a beautiful but distraught young woman, Victoria Aragon (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon). While away at college, Victoria met and fell in love with a young man and soon became pregnant; however, when her boyfriend discovered she was expecting, he abandoned her. She returns home full of shame and fearful of her father's reaction. But Paul gets an idea -- he'll pose as her husband and leave after a day or two, so when she's left alone with the child, the disgrace will be on him, not her. Victoria agrees, and Paul joins Victoria as she arrives at her family's estate in the California wine country. Most of the Aragon family take to Paul readily enough, especially Grandfather Don Pedro (Anthony Quinn), but Victoria's father, Alberto (Giancarlo Giannini), senses something amiss between the young couple. A Walk In The Clouds was the first American film from director Alfonso Arau, who previously made the international hit Like Water For Chocolate. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Screen legend Ben Gazzara (Husbands, Saint Jack) headlines this gentle, amiable comedy drama. He stars as Jake Palladin, a famed Hollywood actor (and two-time Oscar winner) self-exiled to Guatemala. Jake's life gets shaken up with the arrival of young and conceited Hollywood talent agent Josh Ross (David Moscow), who has been shuttled off to Jake's Central American small town to retrieve the aging actor and pull him out of hiding. Unfortunately, locating Jake proves far more difficult than Josh anticipates, and he must rely heavily on the assistance and support of the local community -- which he resents -- to find the great thespian. Though Josh eventually succeeds in locating his man, neither he nor Jake can anticipate the journeys of self-discovery that their encounter will engender, forcing each man to reconfront his long-abandoned past. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide