Alonso Echanove Movies

Death and the Compass is a loose adaptation of a Jorge Luis Borges short story from eccentric British writer-director Alex Cox (Repo Man). Treviranus (Miguel Sandoval), disheveled and haunted by the past, narrates the story of the last great case of a famous detective, Lonnrot (Peter Boyle). In a vaguely futuristic unnamed metropolis (most of the film was shot in Mexico City), Lonnrot investigates the case of a murdered rabbi, who was a Kabala scholar. Treviranus, Lonnrot's commander, quite rationally believes the murder was a botched robbery, and the work of the insane masked local crime lord Red Scarlach. But Lonnrot finds the last words the rabbi wrote, "The first letter of the name has been spoken," and thinks there was a more complex, kabalistic motive to the crime. Lonnrot asks a journalist, Zunz (Christopher Eccleston), to help him unravel the mystery. Soon, another murder and a disappearance lend credence to Lonnrot's mystical theory, and the clever detective believes he can predict and prevent the next crime. As the disgraced Treviranus tells the story, his jealousy and resentment of Lonnrot's powers of deduction and his popularity with the public become evident. After making El Patrullero (Highway Patrolman), Cox was commissioned by the BBC to do a short Borges adaptation for television. He later got additional funding (partly for directing The Winner, which he later disavowed after the producers made changes without his consent) to expand Death and the Compass into a feature. He added all the scenes of Treviranus' narration, and an elaborate scene in which he himself plays a blind detective cut down by Red Scarlach. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

Forty years in a very dysfunctional marital relationship are covered in this curious black comedy. Beginning the morning after their wedding ceremony, Jacqueline (Socorro Bonilla) and Nicolas (Alonso Echánove) found that they were at odds with each other. Nicolas is irritated to discover that Jacqueline can't cook, and Jacqueline is apalled to discover that Nicolas doesn't want children - now or ever. They drift apart but don't divorce. Nicolas had devoted all his energies to his hardware store business and has moved into real estate, growing shiftier with each passing year. Each of them takes lovers. Jacqueline tries to inspire her lovers to kill her now-despised husband, but somehow every one of their dastardly schemes falls through. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Lorenzo O'Brien wrote this scathing black comedy about a naive Mexican highway patrolman who is irresistibly drawn into corruption and violence. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

Years before, Carmen had a disastrous affair with her own brother which, when it was discovered, resulted in a rash of family suicides. Since then, she has been living a solitary, loveless existence on the remains of the family fortune, working from time to time as a radio announcer. One day, she finds out that she only has about a month to live. She finds a driver for her classic Cadillac and tools around the city with him. As they become acquainted, she shows him the city's cultural high points: museums, fancy restaurants, etc. In turn, he takes her out to some of the more exciting salsa clubs, and they dance and party into the wee hours. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Guerilla wars against the major powers have been a factor in Central American politics for a long time. This biographical drama is based on the life of Nicaragua's prototypical 20th century guerilla, Augusto C. Sandino (born as Augusto Nicolás Calderón Sandino). His name and life were the inspiration for the anti-U.S. forces in that country fifty years after his death: they called themselves the Sandanistas. It is helpful to remember, and this movie demonstrates, that the U.S. military has been actively involved with the domestic politics of Nicaragua many times in this century, most notably during the 1912 invasion which resulted in over twenty continuous years of U.S. military intervention. In the story, Sandino loves two women: his wife, who remains at home, and his warlike mistress, a guerilla who accompanies him into the jungle. He has a tendency (common at the time) of wanting to trust politicians. As a result, he was betrayed by Anastasio Somoza in 1933, and vanished from sight. Somoza soon became the sole ruler of Nicaragua (from 1936 to 1956). The free-thinking rebel, who renamed himself Augusto César Sandino in the late 1920s, identified strongly with the indios or indigenous people of the region, and proposed a political agenda under which the countries of the Central America would unite against European exploitation. ~ 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

In this story, a group of citizens of the town of Culiacan have proposed their local hero, Jesus Malverde, for sainthood. Of course, to qualify, they have to prove that he existed, and that the stories which depict him as a kind of Robin Hood figure in 19th century Mexico are true. A series of flashbacks takes us into the 19th century, and the hero's shenanigans on behalf of the poor and the oppressed. In one episode, the whole population of the town get together to keep him from being captured by the corrupt, cruel governor of the state of Sinaloa. Many of the tales told about Malverde contradict themselves, and while his historical reality becomes less and less credible, his importance as a symbol of just rebellion against oppression grows more and more apparent. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This slow-paced drama wears the appearance of a documentary to better put across its message of desperation among the poverty-stricken denizens of Mexico's worst barrios. A mother of four (Martha Aura) has been arrested for strangling her children to death. Two social workers spend time with the murderess and her neighbors, grilling them to try to find out why such a universally heinous crime was committed. As conditions in prison and in the slums are brought to the fore, the question almost answers itself though not quite. Everyone in these barrios is desperate, though not everyone murders their children. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide