Alvaro Guerrero Movies
- 2004
A naïve young couple are drawn into a dangerous plot that reaches to the highest levels of politics and law enforcement in director Jorge Ramirez Suarez's tense political thriller. Antonio and Julie never expected to be forsaken by the law, but when everything begins to fall apart for the pair and they can't determine who to trust, they prepare to put their lives on the line and pray that they will live to see another day. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruno Bichir, Lorraine Pilkington, (more)
Acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Dana Rotberg returns to the screen following an eight year absence with this hypnotic drama about love and revenge. Set in a small village during the beginning of the 20th century, Otilia (Gabriela Canudas) is both blessed with a body that is the epitome of feminine perfection and cursed by an ugly mole that mars her beautiful face. The juxtaposition between fabulous beauty and disfigurement proves unsettling for the villagers and she grows up friendless, save the family's hired hand Melquíades. Though most figured she would end up as a prostitute, she is married off to Isidro, the local police chief. Cruel and petty, this ogre of a man brutalizes her and eventually infects her with venereal disease, rendering her sterile. With the help of Melquíades, Otilia takes a series of lovers to spite her husband. One day, the wounded Ruben -- a wanted outlaw -- staggers onto her doorstep and immediately she is in love. Much to Melquíades' chagrin, she harbors and tends to the criminal as her husband is out hunting for him. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriela Canudas
- 1999
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In this Mexican comedy, a business man with shady ties named Enrique is kidnapped and his wife, Elena, is is sent a video tape of him with his mistress. The mistress, Rita, after speaking with Elena decides that Enrique is not worth the trouble of rescuing and the two women become friends. Now the big question that hangs in the air is who will take care of Enrique's money laundering activities while he is held prisoner? ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jorge Galvan
In this historical drama from Mexico, Damian Delgado plays Topilzin, a writer and the illegitimate son of Montezuma, who finds himself at odds with his nation's new leadership after Tenocchititlan's rule is put down by the Spanish Army in 1520. Topilzin refuses to adopt the new state-imposed religion and, after narrowly avoiding arrest following an incident in which he throws a rock at a friar, he's turned over to the police by his brother, and arrested in the presence of Hernando Cortes (Inaki Aierra) and his lover, Tecuichpo (Elpidia Carrillo), the daughter of Montezuma. Thanks to the pleas of Cortes and Tecuichpo, Topilzin's life is spared, and instead he is flogged in public by Capt. Quijano (Honorato Magaloni). After his punishment and an ensuing spiritual epiphany, Topilzin gives up his career as an author to become a monk, and he joins an order led by Fray Diego (Jose Carlos Rodriguez), the friar he once attacked. La Otra Conquista proved to be a big box-office success in Mexico, enjoying the biggest opening weekend of any Mexican film in history on its home turf. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Damian Delgado, Jose Carlos Rodriguez, (more)
While films about polygamous men who don't bother telling their wives about their other wives are not uncommon, those concerning polyandrous women doing the same thing are rare. This featherweight romantic comedy from Mexican director Jaime Humberto Hermosillo is one of those films. Esmeralda is passionate about life and simply has too much love in her heart to be monogamous. She is just about to marry her sixth husband, a student named Pedro, when one of her other five husbands calls the police and she is arrested. She tells her story to the stern judge Solorio, and her reasons for marrying each husband are revealed in flashback. It doesn't take long for the judge to become as enchanted by her as the others. Like other Hermosillo films, this one is filled with inside-jokes for film buffs. For example, one of Esmeralda's husbands is a gay man masquerading behind the marriage to appease his overbearing mother. This is a direct reference to Hermosillo's Doña Herlinda and Her Son. In the story's final segments, the director pays tribute to Gene Kelly's famous dance scene from Singing in the Rain via the song "Amorcito Corazon." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- María Rojo, Claudio Obregón, (more)
A Mexican wedding provides the setting for this gentle satire of middle-class values and behaviors. Disaster strikes when auto mechanic Don Carlos discovers that someone has stolen the money he was using to finance the nuptials of his daughter Alejandra to Alfonso, the son of Paulina, a snobby widow who thinks that Alfonso is marrying beneath his station. As the preparations continue, Alejandra's brother Carlos, an aspiring filmmaker, records everything on video tape. While the happy couple is off on their honeymoon, Carlos begins editing his movie and discovers that he filmed the theft. His evidence nearly causes WW III following the return of Alfonso and Alejandra. ~ Sandra Brennan, 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
- Starring:
- Socorro Bonilla, Alonso Echanove, (more)
- 1990
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Intimate details in the lives of five family members become extremely clear from the vantage point of their bathroom mirror, in this innovative drama. Bertha (María Navarro) is the mother of the clan, and spends her afternoons away from the house with her lovers. Her husband Juan (Emilio Echeverría) takes those times more or less in stride - he locks himself in the bathroom with his girlie magazines. Their daughter Gabriela (Gabriela Roel) and her impecunious husband Roberto (Alvaro Guerrero) also live there. The final member of the household is the maid, Esperanza (María Rojo). The entire film takes place in the family's only bathroom. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gabriela Roel, Alvaro Guerrero, (more)
Featuring a majestic score by Ennio Morricone and lush Oscar-winning cinematography by Chris Menges, Roland Joffé's The Mission examines the events surrounding the Treaty of Madrid in 1750, when Spain ceded part of South America to Portugal, and turns this episode into an allegory for the mid-'80s struggles of Latin America. Two European forces are on hand to win the South American natives over to imperialist ways. The plunderers want to extract riches and slaves from the New World. The missionaries, on the other hand, want to convert the Indians to Christianity and win over their souls. Mendoza (Robert De Niro) is an exploiter dabbling in the slave trade. But after he kills his brother Felipe (Aidan Quinn) in a fit of rage, he seeks redemption and calls upon the missionaries to assist him. After repeatedly climbing a cliff with a heavy weight as penance, Mendoza finds redemption and becomes a devout missionary at a settlement run by Gabriel (Jeremy Irons). The missionaries want to promote a new society in which the natives will live together in peace with the Spanish and the Portuguese. But this concept frightens the royal governors, who would rather enslave the natives than encourage peaceful coexistence between the Europeans and the Indians. They order the mission to be burned to the ground. But this event causes a rift between Gabriel, who wants to pray and pursue peaceful resistance, and Mendoza, who wants to take up arms and fight the Europeans. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, (more)
- 1986
This historical drama is set in the 19th century Colombia and traces the construction of the railroad linking Medellin to the Magdalena River. On the ground, the terrain is a constant challenge as swamps alternate with jungles that seem to grow back as fast as they are cut. Politically, military coups and civil wars constantly threaten the progress of the railway. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manuel Restrepo, Ana Maria Ochoa, (more)
