Eréndira (1983)

Director:

Ruy Guerra

Writers:

Gabriel García Márquez (novel)
Gabriel García Márquez (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 June 1984 (Mexico)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

While Erendira, a beautiful teenage girl, has a surreal mystical vision, her grandmother's house catches on fire and burns to the ground...

Plot Keywords:

Forced Prostitution | Male Nudity | Fire | Female Nudity | Prostitution

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Irene Papas	...	The great-mother
Claudia Ohana	...	Erendira
Michael Lonsdale	...	Senator Onésimo Sanchez
Oliver Wehe	...	Ulysses
Rufus	...	The photographer
Blanca Guerra	...	Ulysses' mother
Ernesto Gómez Cruz	...	The grocer
Pierre Vaneck	...	Ulysses' father
Carlos Cardán	...	Smuggler
Humberto Elizondo	...	Blacaman
Jorge Fegán	...	The commander
Francisco Mauri	...	The postman
Sergio Calderón	...	The truck driver
Martín Palomares	...	Escort
Salvador Garcini	...	Puppet-player

Also Known As:

Unglaubliche und traurige Geschichte von der unschuldigen Erendira und ihrer herzlosen Großmutter, Die (West Germany)

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

France | Mexico | West Germany

Language:

Portuguese | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Company:

Atlas Saskia Film

Soundtrack:

Tortuga

Surreal, enigmatic, memorable film. One of my all-time favorites.

I first rented this film many years ago, and was completely enthralled by it. Just recently, feeling a strange need to revisit some of the way-too-few films that I've immensely enjoyed in my lifetime, I decided to give "Erendira" another look. And I'm glad I did, as I soon discovered that even the passage of time has not in the least dulled the shine of this film.

The story is about a teenaged girl (Erendira, played remarkably by Claudia O'hana - in some respects she resembles Winona Ryder!) who accidentally burns down her grandmother's mansion after which the grandmother, played downright hypnotically by Irene Papas, forces the girl into a life of prostitution on the road to repay the damages.

The viewing is at once fascinating and compelling - though, inspite of the basic premise, which deals with prostitution, is tastefully void of gratuitous steamy sexual content. The story revolves more around the interactions between the girl and her grandmother, and the various other colorful characters with whom they come into contact on their sojourn - which, by the way, is in the rough and tumble part of rural Mexico.

The film is very atmospheric, arrestingly enigmatic with a decided dreamlike quality. It sometimes borders on the bizarre, but not to the point of, say, a David Lynch film. It's also worth mentioning that the film is very allegorical in nature, read the comments from previous viewers below...

Often in the background you hear the sounds of a lone accordion, quiet and melancholy, adding just the right musical accents to highlight the Mexican setting. The cinematography of the rural places, many of which are in the desert, is quite superb.

The film moves at a nice pace, neither too fast nor too slow, and after every scene I felt I had to rewind the tape and play it over again, just because it makes you want to do that. For me anyway, it really is that compelling.

Hopefully you will see the film in its Spanish language version, with subtitles. I studied Spanish in high school as well as in college, and I was happy to be able to understand much of the dialogue. Por ejemplo: "El mundo no es tan grande como pensaba." ("The world's not as big as I thought" - i.e., It's a small world.)

This film somehow reminds me of stumbling upon a dusty old bottle of vintage wine, which, upon drinking, is immensely satisfying, however, you are left with some sadness upon realizing that there aren't more bottles just like this one.