“What happened to us?” It’s a question that many long-married couples don’t prepare for yet nonetheless has a custom of creeping up on them. Seldom has it been couched in tones of disgust charged with self-loathing and regret than when posed by Beatriz (Sylvia Pasquel). The object of her abjection is a nasty retired homeopathic pharmacist who answers to the name “Mister” (Alejandro Suárez). All she wanted was for the two of them to grow old together peacefully, but some things aren’t meant to be. The first person we see outside of the house is Dinorah (Greta Cervantes), the live-in maid who can’t help but take sides in the couple’s battles. (Where she leads, wasn’t where I wanted the story to follow.) Shot in widescreen and black-and-white allows ample space to accentuate the surrounding decay with the floating camera given free rein of the house. The deliberate long take that opens the picture meticulously establishes the spatial and emotional boundaries between characters and their environment. Another question looms: why don’t more directors include graphic scenes of rough trade romance between two very much sexually active 70-year-olds? Outsiders look upon Beatriz as a decent woman, but in the eyes of Mister, yesterday’s vivacious party girl is today’s cheap whore. Perhaps Mister should have followed the advice of his mistress: the reason their affair worked so well was because she neither loved him nor cared about him. If it sounds like a series of relationships founded on garbage, it is. Call it the "unrath" (German for garbage) of Arturo Ripstein who must have caught The Blue Angel when it played TCM. In it, Emil Jannings stars as Professor Unath, a prim disciplinarian who is literally reduced to playing the part of sideshow clown by a much-desired cabaret singer played by Marlene Dietrich. (That’s Dietrich singing the film’s signature song, "Falling In Love Again", under the opening credits.) Look how far the incomparable Sylvia Pasquel has come from the Mexican wrestling pictures that first introduced her to movie audiences in the 70’s. Performances don’t come much more fearless than her Beatriz. Screens as part of the San Diego Latino Film Festival Virtual Edition. Showtimes: Sunday, September 20th, 7:00 PM & Friday., September 25th, 7:45 PM. Visit: https://sdlatinofilm.com/ (2019) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.