Redes (film)
| Redes | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Secretaría de Educación Pública) |
| Starring | Silvio Hernández David Valle González Rafael Hinojosa Antonio Lara Miguel Figueroa David Valles Gonzales |
| Cinematography | Paul Strand |
| Edited by | Emilio Gómez Muriel Gunther von Fritsch |
| Music by | Silvestre Revueltas |
Release dates | 1936 Mexico, 1937 USA |
Running time | 65 minutes |
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
Redes is a Mexican film, released in 1936, about the fishing community of
Production
Paul Strand began work on the project, which was originally conceived as a documentary, in 1933. He had come to Mexico at the invitation of the Mexican composer Carlos Chávez, who had a government job promoting the arts under the socialist education minister Narciso Bassols.[1] The film developed into a work of fiction with a scenario by Strand and Agustín Chávez, nephew of the composer.
Towards the end of 1933, Henwar Rodakiewicz, a friend of Strand's from the Camera Club of New York, arrived to assist in the production. Rodakiewicz determined that the scenario was ragged and incoherent.[2] Before returning to the US for a few months, he wrote a shooting script for the film and made arrangements for his friend, Fred Zinnemann, to travel to Alvarado to take on the role of director.[3] Zinnemann did not speak Spanish, while his co-director Emilio Gómez Muriel worked directly with the actors. The crew included still photographer Ned Scott. Filming was done on location in Alvarado, and the sound was added later.
Strand had left-wing views and was influenced by Eisenstein (whose
The production was affected by political developments in 1934. Bassols resigned as minister of education in May and Carlos Chávez was replaced. Work on Redes continued under Chávez' successor, Antonio Castro Leal. However, Strand was warned that funding could not be guaranteed beyond the end of the year, when a new president was due to take office. He left Mexico early in 1935 with the film still unreleased.
Film music
The Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas, who had not previously written film music, was commissioned to provide the score in 1934. Revueltas was a protégé of Carlos Chávez, who had appointed him as assistant conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico: however, the two men fell out around the time of the commission (possibly because Chávez had expected to write the music).[4] Revueltas visited Alvarado during the shooting, and composed quickly.
The score is considered a classic of film music. As the music rarely overlaps with dialogue, it has been possible to show the film with live orchestral accompaniment.[5] Redes is one of the few pieces of Mexican film music to have entered the concert repertory. Revueltas made an orchestral suite from the Redes score, which he premiered in 1936. However, in concert performance the music is usually heard in an arrangement by Erich Kleiber, made in the 1940s after the composer's death. Kleiber's version is in two parts and lasts about 16 minutes.[4]
Release
Despite the problems in making the film, it appears to have been more or less finished in 1935. More editing was done before its release in Mexico in 1936. The film was released in France and the US in 1937. It was restored in 2009 by the
Critical reception
The
References
- ^ Paul Strand in Mexico by James Krippner, Aperture Foundation, New York, 2010 pp. 69-100
- ^ Letter, Henwar Rodakiewicz to Ned Scott, November 8, 1933:http://www.thenedscottarchive.com/redesfilm/redes-film-letters.html
- ^ Letter from Henwar Rodakiewicz to Ned Scott, 17 December 1933: http://www.thenedscottarchive.com/redesfilm/redes-film-letters.html#l3
- ^ a b "Program Notes" (PDF). Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ Horowitz, Joe (2 April 2013). "The Greatest Film Score You've Never Heard". Unanswered Question.
- ^ "REDES | World Cinema Foundation". Archived from the original on 2012-03-26. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
- Frank S. Nugent (April 21, 1937), The Wave (1937), The New York Times
- ^ Copland, Aaron (May 1937). "Mexican Composer". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
External links
- Redes at IMDb
- Redes, World Cinema Foundation
- Redes Film, The Ned Scott Archive
- Redes: El cine mexicano an essay by Charles Ramírez Berg at the Criterion Collection
