Alfonso Arau Movies

Mexico City does not hold jobs for two actors as related in this story. ~ All Movie Guide

This violent and allegorical Mexican western attracted a cult following in its day. It is the story of El Topo, a gunslinger who sets out for revenge against the outlaws who slew his wife. He ends up getting his revenge and saving the life of a woman who is being terrorized by bandits. She leads El Topo (which means "the Mole" in English) on a search for the region's top four gunfighters. But before they set off, Topo leaves his young son in a monastery. He and the woman hook up with another female and begin their search. During one battle, El Topo is wounded and the women leave him to die. His comatose body is found by a strange group of cave dwelling people who take him to their subterranean home. He does not wake up for many years. When he does, he is enlisted to help the clan dig an escape tunnel. Later they come to a tiny town where the residents belong to a weird religious cult and El Topo's son has become a monk. The townsfolk are terrorized by a sadistic sheriff. When the clan members come into the town, the stage is set for a blood-soaked tragedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this nature adventure, a courageous cougar must struggle to survive after a cruel human hunter kills her mate. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In rural Mexico, during the silent-film era, people who could read were delegated to narrate the films' story cards. In this film, Lucas Lucatero not only performed that chore, but traveled around with a charismatic peddler, Anacieto Morones (Emilio Fernandes) who at some point began to pass himself off as a miracle worker. The film begins as a group of women land on Lucas' doorstep requesting his help in having the now-deceased wonder-worker considered for sainthood by the Roman Catholic church. Flashbacks tell Anacieto's true story, which is as far from pious notions of sainthood as is possible, for his miraculous accomplishments were mostly of a sexual nature. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Adeptly manipulating images and scenes, director Claudio Isaac has fashioned an existential story about the aspirations of Pablo Rueda (Humberto Zurita), born on the day that Pedro Infante died. (Infante was a popular, well-loved Mexican singer and actor who died in a 1957 plane crash.) Rueda's birth on that day, as a mythical star went out, was symbolic in itself but in that same year, the angel of the Independence Monument also fell down during an earthquake. As Rueda reaches adulthood, he is dedicated to drawing and writing and in his relationships with friends, relatives, lovers, and editors, the full scope of his vision of the world and himself is revealed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Alex Cox directed this hallucinatory bio-pic starring Ed Harris as 19th-century American adventurer William Walker, who abandoned a series of careers in law, politics, journalism, and medicine to become a soldier of fortune and eventually a Nicaraguan dictator. When his deaf wife (Marlee Matlin) dies of cholera (but not before she utilizes sign language to tell Walker "To Hell with Manifest Destiny"), Walker is backed by multi-millionaire banker Cornelius Vanderbilt (Peter Boyle) to lead a band of mercenaries to Nicaragua in 1855 to make the country safe for Vanderbilt's steamships. When Walker subdues the Nicaraguan opposition, he sets himself up as president and rules the country with unfeeling repression. Finally the Nicaraguans rise up against him, figuring out that "the mad gringo is ripping us off." ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Lila (Patricia Pereyra) is a teenaged heroin addict who is on the run from some rough customers. It doesn't matter to her that these unpleasant characters were hired by her parents to drag her back to her home. She stumbles into an auto junkyard and is befriended by the manager, Juan (Pedro Armendariz, Jr.), an older man with a daughter about her age who has run away from him and is living in one of the U.S./Mexico border towns. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Based on the best-selling novel by Laura Esquival, this internationally popular romantic fable from Mexico centers on a young woman who discovers that her cooking has magical effects. The tale's heroine, Tita, is the youngest of three daughters in a traditional Mexican family. Bound by tradition to remain unmarried while caring for her aging mother, Tita nevertheless falls in love with a handsome young man named Pedro. Pedro returns her affection, but he cannot overcome her family's disapproval, and he instead marries Tita's elder sister. The lovestruck young woman is brutally disappointed, and her sadness has such force that it infects her cooking: all who eat it her feel her heartbreak with the same intensity. This newly discovered power continues to manifest itself after the wedding, as Tita and Pedro, overcome by their denied love, embark on a secret affair. Director Alfonso Arau, Esquival's husband at the time, presents the acts of love and cooking with the same glossy, sensual sheen. Indeed, despite occasional digressions into a magical realist tone, the film often takes on the gloss of Hollywood romance. This combination of traditional melodrama and exotic fairy tale proved extremely popular with audiences, particularly in the United States, where it became one of the highest grossing foreign language films at the time. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide