Josefina Echanove Movies
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)
- 1993
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
- Starring:
- Hector Bonilla, Diana Bracho, (more)
- 1991
- R
With little dialog and exquisite, almost documentary-like images, Cabeza de Vaca offers a fascinating (if not mystical and at times just plain puzzling) foray back to early 16th-century America as it chronicles the exploits of the explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca as he spends eight years traversing the wild lands surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. The story itself is based on the book Naufragio, Cabeza de Vaca's personal account. Cabeza de Vaca was the ship's treasurer on an ill-fated expedition to America. Marooned on the densely jungled Florida coast he becomes the unwilling guest of the Iguase Indians (for added realism and to help audiences understand how Cabeza de Vaca felt, the Native speech is not translated). He is enslaved and much of the story centers on his coming to grips with his strange new life and the people around him. Eventually he is taken to a powerful Iguase shaman who teaches him the healing arts, skills he is able to put to amazing use during his amazing journey. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juan Diego, Roberto Sosa, (more)
- 1991
- PG
This wacky buddy comedy was the fifth in a series of Hollywood remakes of films by French director Francis Veber, none of which were box office successes. Sheila Kelley is Valerie Highsmith, an heiress who, despite her family's wealth, suffers from horribly bad luck. On a vacation to Mexico, she takes a fall, causing amnesia, then is mugged and kidnapped for ransom. When her father (Sam Wanamaker) becomes frustrated with the failed attempts of a detective, Ray Campanella (Danny Glover) to find his daughter, he teams a very reluctant Ray with Eugene Proctor (Martin Short), an accountant whose bumbling bad luck is even worse than Valerie's. The theory is that perhaps two such incredibly unlucky people will act like magnets, with Eugene leading Ray to Valerie's location. Although Ray finds Eugene irritating, the unlikely partners eventually begin making surprising progress in the case, despite Eugene's never-ending screw-ups and pratfalls. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Short, Danny Glover, (more)
Por Tu Maldito Amor tells the tale of a man in love with two very different women, one mature and responsible, the other more extroverted. Complicating the situation is the fact that the women are sisters. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Romelia's granddaughters have always believed that granny (Dolores Beritain) was a widow. When they accompany her to her hometown to look over a property she has recently inherited, they are surprised to discover that for all those years she was only separated from from her husband, Dr. Roman (Pedro Armendariz, Jr.), and that it is he who has only recently died and left her the inheritance. There is a mystery here that goes back to the 1930s, and through a series of flashbacks, the story is told. This multi-generational drama of revenge and honor is based on Roman, The Widower, by Rosario Castellanos. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diana Bracho, Pedro Armendariz, Jr., (more)
In this historical drama based on Carlos Fuentes' novel, Harriet Winslow (Jane Fonda) is a naive woman who, hoping to broaden her horizons, accepts a job as a governess in Mexico in 1913. However, Harriet unknowingly finds herself thrown into the middle of the Mexican revolution, where she attracts the attentions of two very different men: an elderly American gentleman (Gregory Peck) who has come to Mexico to die, and Tomas Arroyo (Jimmy Smits), a general with Pancho Villa's army of rebels who is fighting for the freedom of his people. The American's attraction to Harriet is more intellectual (though he unmistakably finds her attractive), while Arroyo holds a greater romantic allure to Harriet, who is still a stranger to the ways of love. In time, she gains a new sense of freedom and self-knowledge in Mexico, but while the victories of Villa's forces bring out an unseemly arrogance in Arroyo, Harriet makes a surprising discovery about the Old Gringo -- that he is in fact the fabled author Ambrose Bierce, who vanished years before. Old Gringo was the first American film for director Luis Puenzo, and the next-to-last for star Jane Fonda. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Fonda, Gregory Peck, (more)
The original title of this film was The Border. It tells the story of one border guard's desire to put an end to the practice of hauling truck loads of illegal Mexican workers across the border and into California where they are forced to work for a mere pittance. Mexico provided the background for the outdoor shots. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Telly Savalas, Eddie Albert, (more)
Hall Bartlett directs the rural drama The Children of Sanchez, based on the novel The Children of Sanchez: Autobiography of a Mexican Family written by Oscar Lewis in the '60s. Anthony Quinn stars as the widowed Jesus Sanchez, a poor farmer struggling to provide for his family in Mexico City. Also starring Lupita Ferrer as Consuelo and Stathis Giallelis as Roberto. This is the last film in the 50-year career of international star Dolores del Rio, who plays the Grandma. Jazz-pop performer Chuck Mangione was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a Grammy award for his original musical score. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Lupita Ferrer, (more)
