Ignacio Tarso Movies

This historical drama, set in the '20s examines the strange, brief reign of a Latin American dictator. It was alternately shot in Havana and Mexico. The story is set in an unspecified Latin country and chronicles the daily life of the tyrannical dictator. One of his day's highlights is the signing of execution orders. His insane daughter must be physically restrained and is tied to her bed. Also included in the tale are a group of picked on Spaniards, a psychic woman, and effeminate Spanish ambassador, and a rebellious general. The film contains no violence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A strange, hallucinatory adaptation of the Malcolm Lowry novel of the same name, John Huston's bleak drama is set during the Mexican "Day of the Dead" ceremony in 1939. Albert Finney stars as Geoffrey Firmin, the booze-besotted former British consul to Cuernevarca, who has cut himself off from his loved ones, the better to drink himself to death while surrounded by all manner of skull-and-skeleton decorations. At the urging of his wife Yvonne (Jacqueline Bisset), his half-brother Hugh (Anthony Andrews) goes on a "heart of darkness" search for his missing sibling. Novelist Lowry was himself a suicidal alcoholic, who poured every drop of his embittered philosophy into the Firmin character. If any director could bring Lowry's difficult novel to life, it was Huston, whose own record for drunken self-destruction is the source of legend. (Huston was actually the seventh director to tackle the novel, which had originally been optioned in 1957 by actor Zachary Scott.) Artists contributing to the fascinating Under the Volcano include the brilliant Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, screenwriter Guy Gallo, composer Alex North, and director Emilio Fernandez, cast in a significant cameo as a bartender. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

When a worker is found murdered on the construction side, the investigation swiftly turns from things criminal to the political circumstances surrounding the building itself. Widespread corruption and neglect by the builder himself are seen to have brought the situation about. Much of the movie is filmed using hand-held cameras, and the majority of the dialogue is in the difficult-to-understand and very slangy Spanish dialect of Mexico City's bricklayers. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A woman sets out to avenge the death of her brother after the Mexican Revolution. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

Highly symbolic and allegorical, this drama takes the search of a son for his father in the chaotic times of the Mexican Revolution and the early 1900s as its basis. Stereotypical (or archetypal) figures from early Mexican cinema appear from time to time, and the violence of the revolutionary period is not glossed over. As the son searches for the father, scenes of the father and his earthy way of living are screened. Given that it relies so heavily on knowledge of Mexican history and Mexican cinema in addition to being something of an art-film, non-Mexican viewers will need to be both erudite and patient. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Cockfights are an important aspect of Mexican tradition as illustrated in this story of two competitors who gamble everything on a big cockfight. ~ All Movie Guide

This effective drama about vengeance and its results is loosely based on practices in the Mexican boondocks where the law can be ignored when it comes to seeking revenge. The tale concerns two brothers who decide to avenge their father's death, as would be expected. But this ill-considered decision leads to a set of problems that continue to spiral downward until both brothers are in way above their heads. The difficulty with vengeance, they discover, is that it never ends. Popular cinematic stars Julio Aleman and Antonio Aguilar star, along with the well-known Emilio "El Indio" Fernández. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This drama is adapted from a novel by B. Traven and contains a potent anti-capitalist message as it tells the story of a peasant who truly loves the land he lives upon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The life of a powerful actress is examined in this tragedy. The film begins with her demise during a plane crash. Later, the men who loved her try to figure out why she was always so unhappy. Her story is told in flashback. It begins in a small town where she was a dress shop model. She used the money from that job to pay for her acting lessons. Later she is seen meeting the director of a theater group. This encounter eventually gets her involved with a Mexican film studio. As she becomes increasingly popular, she has a series of men in her life. Though she has become rich, powerful, and sought after, the woman still feels a great void in her life. To begin a new life, she takes a plane to Europe. Unfortunately the plane crashes and her life tragically ends. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide