Bruno Bichir Movies

A woman bored with marriage discovers the pleasure and pain of infidelity in this stylish drama from Mexico. Zoe (Bárbara Mori) is a beautiful woman who has been married to Ignacio (Christian Meier) for nearly a decade. While Zoe still loves her husband, she feels the spark has gone out of their relationship, and she's become restless and anxious. Hoping to find the excitement she craves in forbidden fruit, Zoe falls into an affair with Gonzalo (Manolo Cardona), Ignacio's rough-edged but handsome brother. Zoe and Gonzalo's passionate affair is deeply satisfying to them both, but the adulterous couple must deal with the sharp sting of betrayal when Ignacio finds out they've been sleeping together. La Mujer de mi Hermano (aka My Brother's Wife) was the first feature length film from director Ricardo de Montreuil. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

John Sayles' Casa de los Babys tells the tale of a half-dozen American women who travel to Latin America in order to pick up their adopted children. They all stay at the same motel while they each wade through the bureaucracy. Sharing with each other their fears, hopes, dreams, and frustrations at the thoughts of becoming mothers comprises the majority of the drama in the film. The cast includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Daryl Hannah, Marcia Gay Harden, Susan Lynch, Mary Steenburgen, Lili Taylor, and Rita Moreno. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Two of Spain's biggest female stars headline this offbeat comedy about the battle of wills between good and evil. Heaven is not getting its fair share of business for the afterlife, so Lola (Victoria Abril), an angel who sings in a nightclub located beyond the pearly gates, is sent to Earth to drum up business by her boss, Marina (Fanny Ardant). Her first prospect is Manny (Demián Bichir), a prizefighter with an injury that could take his life at any time. As Lola tries to claim Manny's soul for the Lord, the wicked Jack Davenport (Gael García Bernal) believes that the Devil deserves the boxer's soul, and he sends one of Hell's waitresses, Carmen (Penélope Cruz), to seal the deal. On Earth, Lola takes the form of Manny's former love and urges him to mend fences with his mother, while seductive Carmen tries to persuade Manny to return to the ring, knowing that another fight would mean his death. While Lola and Carmen wage war over Manny's soul, they maintain their cover by working at a grocery store, where they both learn a few lessons about the pitfalls of earthly capitalism. Meanwhile, Manny is dealing with financial problems of his own -- he owes money to the city's corrupt police commissioner (Emilio Gutiérrez Caba), who is using his strong-arm men to "persuade" Manny to pay up. Released in Europe as Sin Noticias de Dios (which translates as No News From God), Don't Tempt Me was a box-office success in Spain when it was released in late 2001, though it wouldn't reach American theaters until 2003. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this atmospheric psychological thriller from Spain, Lamarca (Carmelo Gomez) is a private detective who has been haunted by vivid dreams of his own death. One day, a wealthy gentleman named Eduardo (Sergi Mateu) hires him to trail his wife, Sofia (Maria Casal), who has not been herself since the death of her mother. Lamarca monitors her activities with a camcorder for several days, then sends a cassette of highlights to Eduardo. However, the tape falls into Sofia's hands by mistake. Enraged, she contacts Lamarca under an assumed name and hires him to keep watch on her. Sofia starts playing to the camera, and draws the detective into her web, leading to a dangerous relationship between the two. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Mexican director Arturo Ripstein helmed this Mexican-Argentine-Spanish religious drama with Buñuelian overtones. Based on true events that took place in Mexico during the '70s, the film is updated to the present. Mama Dorita (Katy Jurado) leads the New Jerusalem cult with film-buff Papa Basilio (Francisco Rabal). Basilio's worship of movies explains the cult's costumes, imitative of Hollywood Biblical epics. When Dorita dies, she chooses teen Tomasa (Edwarda Gurrola) to give birth to the New Messiah. Unable to handle this sudden power, Tomasa instead proclaims herself to be the Whore of Babylon, forcing male cultists to have sex with her. Shown in the Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This Mexican film is notable for its dream-like and vivid imagery. It follows a South American literary trend known as "magical realism." Nicolas (Bruno Bichir), a mysterious but very hip botanist visits Sofia (Gabriela Roel) at her office, and leaves his card. After he leaves, she has computer problems. She is not sure there's any connection between his visit and the problems, but she is interested in him anyway, and leaves the office quickly to find him. After a series of interactions, she wakes up in a hospital only to find that there is no evidence that he ever existed. Determined to find him again, she goes off to the Mexican countryside where increasingly odd things happen to her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

This Mexican action movie represents the third episode in a ten-part series based on author Paco Ignacio Taibo II's character Hector Belacoaran Shayne, a gritty, one-eyed detective. In the film, the Phantom is a mysterious masked wrestler. He dies in the first scene and it is up to Shayne to find the murderer. He must simultaneously investigate the suicide of a teenager. Initially, the two cases seem completely unconnected. They remain unconnected, but Shayne manages to solve both of them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Those who are familiar with social movements in Mexico in the 1970s may find this simple drama significantly more compelling, as the student movements of that period form the backdrop for the main story. This film celebrates the friendship that developed between two high school girls who have each recently moved to Toluca, a provincial capital city in Mexico. Not only do they manage to retain their friendship despite their both falling in love with the same boy, but they are joined in grief when he dies. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This soapy Mexican melodrama chronicles two young women and their long-term friendship. The story is set in the city of Guanajuato after the revolution. The friends, Rebeca and Valentina have known each other since they were children. Rebeca and her mother are thrown out of their home after her father dies. It is then that Rebeca learns that she was born out of wedlock. Valentina's father Gregorio offers to help Rebeca reclaim her house. He is a gubernatorial candidate and knows much about politicking. Unfortunately, Gregorio is also a womanizer. Rebeca falls for his seduction and winds up pregnant. He eventually has to face up to his moral and political corruption. He must also confront his conflicting feelings about love and betrayal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Set entirely in the city residence of a of a notable, but not ruling-class family of Mexico, this drama explores what happened during a 1968 student uprising, which was brutally suppressed by the government. In the story, the family's two college-aged boys are ardent advocates of change. Despite the vigorous warnings of their parents, the boys have left to attend a street meeting. The family looks out onto the streets as the dramatic events of that time unfold. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide