Cinema of Mexico
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Cinema of Mexico | |
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No. of screens | 5,303 (2012)[1] |
• Per capita | 4.6 per 100,000 (2012)[1] |
Main distributors | Paramount Int'L 20.3% Warner Bros Int'L 16.2% Fox (Disney) Int'L 14.6%[2] |
Produced feature films (2011)[3] | |
Fictional | 51 (69.9%) |
Animated | 6 (8.2%) |
Documentary | 16 (21.9%) |
Number of admissions (2012)[4] | |
Total | 228,000,000 |
• Per capita | 2.0 |
National films | 10,900,000 (4.79%) |
Gross box office (2012)[4] | |
Total | $779 million |
National films | $36 million (4.62%) |
Part of a series on the |
Culture of Mexico |
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Mexican cinema dates to the late nineteenth century during the rule of President
During the
The Guadalajara International Film Festival is the most prestigious Latin American film festival and is held annually In Guadalajara, Mexico.[citation needed] Mexico has twice won the highest honor at the Cannes Film Festival, having won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film for María Candelaria in 1946 and the Palme d'Or in 1961 for Viridiana, more than any other Latin American nation.[citation needed]
In 2019, Roma became the first Mexican film and fourth Latin American film to win the Oscar for best foreign language film. Roma also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film at the 72nd British Academy Film Awards.
History
1896–1911: Silent films; the Porfiriato
Shortly after the first moving picture was viewed in 1895 using
Film in México continued to expand quickly after its arrival in Mexico. On 6 August 1896, President Porfirio Díaz invited Bon Bernard and Veyre to his residence at Chapultepec Castle, and eight days later, the first projection for the press was made in what is now Madero Street. This projection included films by the Lumierè brothers such as L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat, and on 15 August, a projection was made for the general public.[10]
President Díaz recognized the importance of cinema and appeared in many films placing him at the center of action with his cabinet ministers; in a parade; and in the zócalo.[11] In 1906, he is seen in La entrevista de los presidentes Díaz-Taft, the first-ever meeting of a U.S. president with Mexico's, one of the first filmed reportages produced in Mexico. It was filmed by the Alva brothers.[12] The first fiction film to be created in Mexico was based on a recreation of the duel between two deputies, called Duelo a pistola en el bosque de Chapultepec (Gun duel in the Chapultepec forest).
Mexican cinema continued to become more available across the country, thanks in part to businessmen such as Guillermo Becerril, Carlos Mongrand and Salvador Toscano.[13] The origin of early Mexican film-making is generally associated with Salvador Toscano Barragán, who introduced the filmed reportage. In 1898 Toscano made the country's first film with a plot, titled Don Juan Tenorio. During the Mexican Revolution, Toscano recorded several clips of the battles, which would become a full-length documentary in 1950 under the title Memories of a Mexican, assembled by his daughter. Other short films were either created or influenced from French film-makers.
By 1906, 16 movie theaters opened their doors to accommodate the popularity of cinema in
1911–1917: The Mexican Revolution
The popularity that cinema had experienced in the early 20th century continued to grow, and by 1911 fourteen new movie houses were built. During this period documentary techniques were mastered, as is evident in the Alva brothers' production entitled Revolución orozquista (1912). The film was shot in the camps of the rebel and federal forces during the battle between General Victoriano Huerta and the rebel leader Pascual Orozco.
The rise of cinema plateaued due to the lack of distributors and the difficulty to make new material. This in addition to the dangers that the inflammability of film resulted in the closing of many of the Carpas. The cinematic industry was reduced to small companies, with Carlos Mongrand standing out because of films such as Desfiles de tropas en San Luis Potosí, Carnaval de Mérida and Aventuras del sexteto Uranga.[16]
Despite the relative advancement of cinema during this period, the moralistic and paternalist ideology of President Madero led to his campaign to save the lower classes from immorality through censorship. In late September and early October 1911, city council members appointed additional movie house inspectors, whose wages would be paid by the exhibitioners. Furthermore, the head of the Entertainment Commission, proposed the implementation of censorship; however, Victoriano Huerta's coup d'état in the Ten Tragic Days of February 1913 prevented the move to legislate censorship.
Although Huerta's rule was brief, from February 1913 to July 1914, Mexican cinema experienced significant changes within this period such as the further establishment of censorship and a shift away from documentary films to entertainment films. The Alva brothers' production of Aniversario del fallecimineto de la suegra de Enhart ("Anniversary of the Death of Enhart's Mother-in-Law") is indicative of the change in the aim of Mexican cinematographers. The Alva brothers produced films such as La entrada de Madero a la capital ("Entry of Madero in the Capital) with the use of Indalecio Noriega Colombres's inventions, which allowed for a phonograph to be synchronized with the images projected.[17]
In regards to censorship, the Huerta government imposed a moral and political decree of censorship in approximately June 1913. This decree was imposed a few days after convencionista soldiers shot at the screen during a viewing of El aguila y la serpiente. The decree stated that films that showed the following were prohibited: "views representing crimes, if they do not include punishment of the guilty parties, views which directly or indirectly insult an authority or person, morality or good manners, provoke a crime or offence, or in any way disturb the public order (Mora 70)."
As a result of the limitations placed on film content as well as the radicalization of the parties involved in the armed conflicts, cameramen and producers began to display their opinion through the films they produced. For instance, favoritism towards the Zapatistas was illustrated in the film Sangre Hermana (Sister Blood, 1914). Due to the sensational content of this film, it is evident that the producers had no interest in displaying the events in such a way that the audience could come to their own conclusions.
1917–1936: Post-revolutionary film making and first sound film
The cinematic productions of this period were reflective of the Italians style film d'art, which were fiction-based melodramas. The film La Luz (The Light, Ezequiel Carrasco, 1917, starring Emma Padilla) was the first film that attempted to adopt this style, even though it was viewed as a plagiarism of Piero Fosco's Il Fuoco. Paranaguá attributes the influence that the Italian had on the Mexican cinema with the similarities between the situations of both countries. Both countries were in a state of chaos and disorder – there was a war in Italy and a revolution in Mexico (Paranaguá 70). Once again censorship was re-established on October 1, 1919. Films which illustrated acts of immortality or induced sympathy for the criminal were prohibited.
In 1917, the former vaudeville star Mimí Derba, founded the Azteca Studios, which produced notable films between 1917 and 1923. The most successful of these was En defensa Propia (1921).
Government budget had to be trimmed as a result of the rebellion and cinematographic departments of the Ministry of Education and Agriculture were cut. By 1924, narrative films were at an all-time low since 1917.
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 after World War I. Notable Mexican movie stars moved to the United States. Stars such as
In 1994, the Mexican magazine Somos published a list of "The 100 best movies of the cinema of Mexico" in its 100th edition. The oldest film selected was "
In the 1930s, once peace and a degree of political stability were achieved, the film industry took off in Mexico and several movies still experimenting with the new medium were made. 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. Early Mexican cinematographers were influenced and encouraged by Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein's visit to the country in 1930.[18]
In 1931 the first Mexican talkie movie, an adaptation of the Federico Gamboa's novel Santa, directed by Antonio Moreno and starred by the Mexican-Hollywood star Lupita Tovar, was realized.[19] Until Sergei Eisenstein's ¡Que viva México! (1931), Mexican audiences were exposed to popular melodramas, crude comedies, as well as Spanish-language versions of Hollywood movies.
Eisenstein's visit to Mexico inspired directors like Emilio Fernández and cameraman Gabriel Figueroa, and the number of Mexican-made films increased and improved. During the 1930s the Mexican film industry achieved considerable success with movies like La Mujer del Puerto (1934), Fred Zinnemann's Redes (1934), Janitzio (1934), and Dos Monjes (1934).
1936–1956: The Golden Age
The so-called Golden Age of Mexican cinema began in 1936 with the premiere of Allá en el Rancho Grande, and ended in 1956.[20]
During the 1940s the full potential of the industry developed. Actors 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 World War II, 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. During World War II, movie production in Mexico tripled. The fact that
The Golden Age of Mexican cinema took place during the 1940s and beyond. The most prominent actor during this period was
Mexican actresses also were a focus in Mexican cinema. Sara García was the "grandmother 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 after her Hollywood career in the 1930s and for her roles in a couple of films directed by Emilio Fernández.[22]
Stock characters also began to form during the Golden Age. The charro, plead, and the poor peasant are common characters throughout many films.
María Félix (well known as "La Doña"), was a big star after her role in the movie Doña Bárbara in 1943. She gained a higher popularity in European countries.
In 1943, the Mexican industry produced seventy films, the most for a Spanish speaking country. Two notable films released in 1943 by director
In 1948 there was another "first" for Mexican cinema: The trilogy of
The only other comedian with the same level of popularity as Cantinflas was German Valdez "
In the middle of the 1940s, the Spanish director Juan Orol started the production of films with Cuban and Mexican dancers. This cinematographic genre was named "Rumberas film", and was very popular with the Latin American audiences. The stars of this exotic genre were María Antonieta Pons, Meche Barba, Ninón Sevilla, Amalia Aguilar and Rosa Carmina.
Other relevant films during these years include Espaldas mojadas (Wetbacks) by
The themes during those years, although mostly conventional comedies or dramas, touched all aspects of Mexican society, from the 19th century dictator Porfirio Díaz and his court, to love stories always tainted by drama.
1960s through 1980s
See: Luchador films, Ficheras films
During the 1960s and 1970s many cult horror and action movies were produced with professional wrestler El Santo among others.
Luis Buñuel released his last Mexican films:
In the late 1960s and early 1970s the work of notable Mexican young directors flourished:
What is now
The 1961 film
Nuevo Cine Mexicano (New Mexican Cinema)
Mexican cinema suffered through the 1960s and 70s, until government sponsorship of the industry and the creation of state supported film helped create Nuevo Cine Mexicano (New Mexican Cinema) in the 1990s.[citation needed] The period spanning the 1990s to the present has been considered as the prime era of the New Mexican Cinema.
It first took place with high quality films by
More recent are
In the latest years it was noticed the increasing success of a group of Mexicans in Hollywood cinema, specially with directors
For the other side the success of the films Nosotros los Nobles and Instructions Not Included in 2013, gave way to the development of similar projects trying to focus on the use of known Mexican TV stars such as Omar Chaparro, Adal Ramones or Adrian Uribe. The majority of them are romantic comedies focused on telenovela-style stories.
This, however, should not prevent the success of other directors in the development of dramatic films, such as Carlos Reygadas and Alonso Ruizpalacios.
In 2017,
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Ariel Award Mexican Academy of Film Award.
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Cineteca nacional (National Film Library)
Mexploitation subgenre
A Mexican cinema subgenre is the Mexploitation subgenre, itself part of the Mexican action films genre. A second sub-genre within this sub-genre is the
Role of women
Women filmmakers in Latin America, specifically Mexico suffered from absolute neglect by the film industry and audience.
Movies in this period often featured strong maternal characters, while maintaining the idea of feminine inferiority to men. This perpetuated the belief that women could only reach the same level of agency as men in the process of aging and becoming a mother or grandmother. This is seen in movies such as
Many of the female characters in these films were powerless. Not only inferior to male characters, they were easily put down by communities as a whole and easily shunned. A prime example of this story is in María Candelaria (1944). In this specific film, María was an innocent character who was shamed for the reputation of another character. A miscommunication occurred that cost her her life. This is a common pattern in Cinema of Mexico at this time because of the belittlement of women.
In the 1980s and 90s, things started to take a turn. Women filmmakers in Mexico finally got the opportunity to create and produce professional feature films.[28] The most popular two would be El secreto de Romeila (1988) directed by Busi Cortés and Los pasos de Ana (1990) by Marisa Sistach.[28] These two feature films were considered the doors that opened opportunity for women filmmakers in Mexico as well as created a new genre that people were not familiar with, labeled as 'women's cinema'.[28] The phenomenal growth of 'women's cinema', not only meant that there would be an infinite expansion in the list of female names as filmmakers or creators; in reality, it created a daunting cinematic genre by objectifying women as well as displacing them within the film industry.[28]
Most of the female filmmakers in Mexico identify as feminists. The primary reason for many of them to commit to being filmmakers was to depict stories of women in their original and true essence as well as to strive in readapting roles of females on the Mexican screen.
Mariana Chenillo became the first female director to win an Ariel Award for Best Picture back in 2010 for the film Nora's Will. The Ariel is the Mexican Academy of Film Award. In cinema, it is considered Mexico's equivalent to the Academy Awards ("Oscars") of the United States. The film gives a mysterious photograph left under the bed will lead to an unexpected outcome which will remind us that sometimes the greatest love stories are hidden in the smallest places. Issa López wrote the scripts for several film features, three of them produced in Mexico by the Major Hollywood Studios, and two of those directed by herself; Efectos Secundarios (Warner Bros., 2006) and Casi Divas Almost Divas (Sony Pictures, 2008). Casi Divas is the only Mexican movie to be scored by acclaimed Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer. Makes her a Mexican filmmaker, one to watch.
Active Mexican cinema personalities
Actors
- Elsa Aguirre
- Amalia Aguilar
- Alma Rosa Aguirre
- Rosa Carmina
- Rosita Quintana
- "Tongolele"
- Silvia Pinal
- Anabelle Gutiérrez
- María Victoria
- Ana Luisa Peluffo
- Lorena Velázquez
- Elsa Cárdenas
- Ignacio López Tarso
- Angélica María
- Aurora Clavel
- Isela Vega
- Hugo Stiglitz
- Julissa
- Lucha Villa
- Enrique Guzmán
- Jacqueline Andere
- Alberto Vázquez
- Eric del Castillo
- César Costa
- Ana Martín
- Andres García
- Enrique Rocha
- Valentín Trujillo
- Jorge Rivero
- Elpidia Carrillo
- María Rojo
- Ofelia Medina
- Carlos Bracho
- Carmen Salinas
- Verónica Castro
- Delia Casanova
- Diana Bracho
- José Alonso
- Lucía Méndez
- Patricia Reyes Spíndola
- Héctor Bonilla
- Alma Delfina
- Manuel Ojeda
- Jose Carlos Ruíz
- Gonzalo Vega
- Tina Romero
- Blanca Guerra
- Sylvia Pasquel
- Angélica Aragón
- Lumi Cavazos
- Arcelia Ramírez
- Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez
- Daniel Giménez Cacho
- Bruno Bichir
- Demián Bichir
- Salma Hayek
- Eugenio Derbez
- Adriana Barraza
- Jesús Ochoa
- Cecilia Suárez
- Damián Alcázar
- Gael García Bernal
- Ana de la Reguera
- Bárbara Mori
- Diego Luna
- Martha Higareda
- Diego Boneta
- Alfonso Herrera
- Ana Claudia Talancón
- Sandra Echeverría
- Karla Souza
- Eduardo Verástegui
- Kate del Castillo
- Kuno Becker
- Lupita Nyong'o
- Jaime Camil
- Marina de Tavira
- Yalitza Aparicio
- Eiza González
- Tenoch Huerta Mejia
Directors
- Antonio Chavez Trejo
- César A. Amigó
- Carlos Carrera
- Felipe Cazals
- Alfonso Cuarón
- Carlos Cuarón
- Guillermo del Toro
- Gonzalo de la Torre
- Fernando Eimbcke
- Jorge Fons
- Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Julián Hernández
- Carlos Hernández Vázquez
- Antonino Isordia
- Alejandro Jodorowsky
- Leopoldo Laborde
- Paul Leduc
- Rodrigo Plá
- Fernando Méndez
- Mauro Mueller
- Maria Novaro
- Miguel A. Reina
- Gabriel Retes
- Carlos Reygadas
- Arturo Ripstein
- Carolina Rivas
- Carlos Salces
- Antonio Serrano
- Alejandro Springall
- José Antonio Torres
- Alfredo Zacarías
- Michel Franco
- Alejandro Gómez Monteverde
Gallery
Cinematographers
Composers
Deceased Mexican Cinema Personalities
Actors
Directors
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The Dictionary of Mexican Cinema Directors[31] published by the Cineteca Nacional México provides an archive of Mexican filmmakers since silent movies to actuality, and provides data, investigations, information and news.
Cinematographers
Composers
See also
- Ariel Award
- List of highest-grossing Mexican films
- Lists of Mexican films
- Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas Mexican Academy of Film
- Horror films of Mexico
- Oaxaca FilmFest
- Expresión en Corto International Film Festival
- Television in Mexico
- List of cinema of the world
- List of film festivals
- Lost film
References
- ^ a b "Infraestructura de exhibición y festivales" (PDF). Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía. Retrieved 13 November 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production – Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ a b "Exhibición y distribución" (PDF). Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía. Retrieved 13 November 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ De los Reyes, Aurelio. "Motion Pictures: 1896–1930" in Encyclopedia of Mexico. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, pp. 957–964
- ^ "6 things you may not know about Oscar statuettes". forevergeek.com. March 2010. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- ^ Alvarez, Alex (22 February 2013). "Meet the Mexican Model Behind the Oscar Statue". ABC News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
- ISBN 0-520-04304-9.
- OCLC 37403415.
- OCLC 37403415.
- OCLC 37403415.
- OCLC 37403415.
- OCLC 37403415.
- ^ Mora p. 17–21
- OCLC 37403415.
- OCLC 37403415.
- OCLC 37403415.
- ^ "A Century of Mexican Cinema by David Wilt". 28 October 2003. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
- )
- ^ Gobierno de México #AGNResguarda documentos de la Época de Oro del Cine Mexicano (in Spanish)
- ^ Mora p. 56.
- ^ Mora p. 59.
- ^ Forging a National and Popular Art Cinema in Mexico: María Candelaria. Archived November 5, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "The 34th Academy Awards (1962) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Always Further On". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
- ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ^ "Bancomext financiará películas mexicanas, incluso con tema de narcos". 24 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rashkin, Elissa. J (2001). Women filmmakers in Mexico: The country of which we dream. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.
- ^ Blake, Alfonso Corona (1 January 2000), The Road of Life, retrieved 9 March 2016
- .
- ^ "Diccionario de Directores del Cine Mexicano". diccionariodedirectoresdelcinemexicano.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
Further reading
- Agrasánchez Jr., Rogelio (2001). Bellezas del cine mexicano/Beauties of Mexican Cinema. Archivo Fílmico Agrasánchez. ISBN 968-5077-11-8.
- Agrasánchez Jr., Rogelio (2006). Mexican Movies in the United States. McFarland & Company Inc. ISBN 0-7864-2545-8.
- Ayala Blanco, Jorge (1997) La aventura del cine mexicano: En la época de oro y después ed. Grijalba ISBN 970-05-0376-3
- Dávalos Orozco, Federico (1996). Albores del Cine Mexicano (Beginning of the Mexican Cinema). Clío. ISBN 968-6932-45-3.
- De los Reyes, Aurelio. Los orígenes del cine en México (1896-1900). Mexico City: UNAM 1973.
- De los Reyes, Aurelio. Un medio siglo de cine mexicano (1896-1947). Mexico City: Trillas 1987.
- De los Reyes, Aurelio, David Ramón, María Luisa Amador, and Rodolfo Rivera. 80 años de cine en México. Mexico City: UNAM 1977.
- García Riera, Emilio (1986) Época de oro del cine mexicano Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) ISBN 968-29-0941-4
- García Riera, Emilio (1992–97) Historia documental del cine mexicano Universidad de Guadalajara, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA), Secretaría de Cultura del Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco y el Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE) ISBN 968-895-343-1
- García Gustavo y AVIÑA, Rafael (1993) Época de oro del cine mexicano ed. Clío ISBN 968-6932-68-2
- Herschfield, Joanne (1996) Mexican Cinema, Mexican Woman (1940–1950) University of Arizona Press ISBN 0-8165-1636-7
- Maciel, David R. Mexico's Cinema: A Century of Film and Filmmakers, Wilmington, Delaware: SR Books, 1999. ISBN 0-8420-2682-7
- Mora, Carl J. Mexican Cinema: Reflections of a Society, 1896–2004, Berkeley: University of California Press, 3rd edition 2005. ISBN 0-7864-2083-9
- Noble, Andrea, Mexican National Cinema, Taylor & Francis, 2005, ISBN 0-415-23010-1
- Paranguá, Paulo Antonio (1995) Mexican Cinema British Film Institute (BFI) Publishing en asociación con el Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE) y el Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA) ISBN 0-85170-515-4
- Paxman, Andrew. "Who Killed the Mexican Film Industry? The Decline of the Golden Age, 1946-1960." Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe 29, no. 1 (2018): 9-33.
- Pick, Zuzana M. Constructing the Image of the Mexican Revolution: Cinema and the Archive. Austin: University of Texas Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-292-72108-1
- Pineda Franco, Adela. The Mexican Revolution on the World Stage: Intellectuals and Film in the Twentieth Century. Albany: SUNY Press 2019. ISBN 978-1-4384-7560-8
- Ramírez Berg, Charles. Cinema of Solitude: A Critical Study of Mexican Film, 1967-1983. Austin: University of Texas Press 1992.
- Reyes Nevares, Beatriz. The Mexican Cinema: Interviews with Thirteen Directors. Trans. by Carl J. Mora and Elizabeth Gard. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1976.