Movies - Cinema of Mexico

Home > Listing Index > Movies > Cinema of Mexico

	Movies - Cinema of Mexico

The history of Mexican cinema goes back to the beginning of the 20th century, when several enthusiasts of the new medium documented historical events – most particularly the Mexican Revolution – and produced some movies that have been only recently been rediscovered.

Silent films (1896-1929)

The silent film era in Mexico produced several movies. However, many of the films up to the 1920s have been lost and were not well-documented. The first "moving picture", according to sources by film historian Jim Mora, was viewed in 1895 using Thomas Edison's kinetoscope. A year later, the cinematographe projector was introduced by Auguste Lumière. Mexico's first queues appeared in cinemas in the capital to see international one-minute films such as The Card Players, Arrival of a Train, and The Magic Hat.

The origins of early filmmaking is generally associated with Salvador Toscano Barragán. Toscano compiled the country's first fictional film, titled Don Juan Tenorio. During the Mexican Revolution, Toscano recorded several clips of the battles, which would become a full-length documentary in 1950, assembled by his daughter. Other short films were either created or influenced from French film-makers.

By 1906, 16 movie salons opened their doors to accommodate the popularity of cinema in Mexico City. Carpas, or tent shows, were popular beginning in 1911 where lower-class citizens would perform picaresque humor and theatrical plays, a place for training for aspiring actors. Politically affiliated films appeared in 1908, often deemed propagandistic by today's terms. Significant battles were filmed and broadcast during the Revolution which fueled Mexicans' excitement in cinema.

During the 1920s very few movies were produced, given the political climate that was still very unsettled and the resurgence of the American film industry.

The "Golden Age"

In the 1930s, once peace and a degree of political stability were achieved, cinematography took off in Mexico and several movies still experimenting with the nascent medium were done. Hollywood's attempt at creating Spanish language films for Latin America failed mainly due to the combination of Hispanic actors from different ethnicities exhibiting various accents unfamiliar to the Mexican people. It is important to notice how early Mexican cinematographers were influenced and encouraged by Russian director Sergei Eisenstein's visit to the country in 1930.

During the 1940s the full potential of the industry developed. Actors, actresses, and directors became popular icons and even figures with political influence on diverse spheres of Mexican life. The industry received a boost as a consequence of Hollywood redirecting its efforts towards propagandistic films and European countries focusing on the war, which left an open field for other industries. Mexico dominated the film market in Latin America for most of the 1940s without competition from the United States film industry.

The Golden Age of Mexican cinema took place during the 1940s and beyond. The most prominent during this period was Mario Moreno, better known as Cantinflas. The film Ahí está el detalle
(There is the Detail) in 1940 made Cantinflas a household name and became known as the "Mexican Charlie Chaplin" to Americans. His films were ubiquitous in Spain and Latin America and influenced many contemporary actors. Only until the appearance of "Tin-Tan" in the late 1940s did his popularity wane.

Mexican actresses also were a focus in Mexican cinema. Sara García was the "mother of Mexico". Her career began with silent films in 1910, moved to theatre, and ultimately the film that made her famous, No basta ser madre (It's Not Enough to be a Mother) in 1937. Dolores del Río, another dramatic actress, became well-known for her roles in a couple films directed by Emilio Fernández.

In 1943, the Mexican industry produced seventy films, the most for a Spanish speaking country. Two notable films released in 1943 by director Emilio Fernández were Flor silvestre (Wild Flower) and María Candelaria, both films starring Dolores del Río. The movies were triumphs for the director and for internationally acclaimed cinematographer, Gabriel Figueroa especially with María Candeleria winning the top prize at the Cannes Festival.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Cinema of Mexico ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Cinema of Mexico; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay