Eréndira (1983)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

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:

Grandmother's House | Fire | Prostitution | House | Female Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Irene Papas	...	Grandmother Amadis
Claudia Ohana	...	Erendira
Michael Lonsdale	...	Senator Onésimo Sanchez
Oliver Wehe	...	Ulysses
Rufus	...	Photographer
Blanca Guerra	...	Ulysses' mother
Ernesto Gómez Cruz	...	Grocer
Pierre Vaneck	...	Ulysses' father
Carlos Cardán	...	Smuggler
Humberto Elizondo	...	Blacaman
Jorge Fegán	...	Army commander
Francisco Mauri	...	Postman
Sergio Calderón	...	Truck driver
Martín Palomares	...	Escort
Salvador Garcini	...	Puppet-player

Also Known As:

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

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

France | Mexico | West Germany

Language:

Portuguese | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Les Films du Triangle

Trivia:

Based on the story "La increíble y triste historia de la cándida Eréndira y su abuela desalmada" ("The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother"), by Nobel Prize-winning Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez.

Soundtrack:

La chanson de Margaret

Strange and Wonderful

Read Eric's review again. He perfectly described my own feeling for this film so more eloquently than I ever could. I'm only writing here to further encourage you to look for and see it.

I saw it many years ago on TV, the IFC I think. It is such a unique film I hesitate to make comparisons. It was filmed in northern Mexico, somewhere in the relentless badlands of Coahuila/Zacatecas/San Luis Potosi. This isn't the Sedona-like Durango,Mexico (of the John Wayne films) but a truly stark and wild place. I have to find the novel now to check on the original location of the story. Like the location, this movie is strange and wild and wonderful and weird and absolutely not for everyone. It is the kind of production that almost motivates me to study film.

I hadn't actually forgotten this movie, it is indelible. Yet, over the years, I had forgotten of its existence. I know nobody who has seen it, had never read of it, nor seen any reference to it. Erendira is such an unusual name, I'd even forgotten the title. Well, I'll be looking to buy a copy now.

**I have since the above posting become a huge fan of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and so regret not having read him before.

Relative to MsMyth's comment below; the movie was filmed in Mexico but the author is Colombian and was not commenting on Mexico or Mexican history in any way, although Marquez now lives in Mexico for "political" reasons. This story is universal.

I am still trying desperately to find a copy of this film for my library. Liked the movie? You have to read the story and then everything else Garcia Marquz wrote. And, by the way, the original location in the story was Colombia.