Arturo Ripstein Retrospective
Los Heroes y el Tiempo*: Sat. April, 29
3:00pm - Oak Street Cinema: Tickets
El Imperio de la Fortuna: Fri. April, 28
4:45pm - Oak Street Cinema : CANCELLED
La Perdicion de los Hombres*: Thurs. April, 27
5:45pm - Bell Auditorium
Profundo Carmesi: Fri. April, 28
5:15pm - Oak Street Cinema : Tickets
*Please note the date & time change
See below for movie descriptions
The current resurgence of Mexican cinema, which is becoming the darling of film critics around the world, brings with it the belated recognition of one of Mexico’s eminent filmmakers of the last half-century, Arturo Ripstein.
Capturing this trend, the 2006 Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival is very pleased to host a mini-retrospective of the work of the noted director. Ripstein will be in town, April 27th through 30th, with his wife, screenwriter Paz Alicia Garciadiego, to introduce and discuss his films and the influences that made him the name that he is today. Ripstein’s contributions to Mexican film are significant. His body of work includes 26 feature length films and a number of other genres including documentaries. His inspirations are wide-ranging: from Kurosawa (whose Seven Samurai drove him to fall in love with film), to Luis Bunuel (whose Nazarin, according to Ripstein, changed his life), to Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Carlos Fuentes (who co-wrote Ripstein’s own directorial debut, a western feature called Tiempo de Morir), to Frederico Fellini (whose La Dolce Vita remains one of own personal favorites).
One of the strongest directors to emerge from Mexico in the 1960s, Ripstein broke away from an earlier Mexican cinematic tradition which emphasized folklore and fantasy, to focus instead on social reality - condemning intolerance, convention and the sexual tyranny of “machismo.” Arturo Ripstein is the brilliant Luis Bunuel’s “artistic heir”. He has, as one critic said, “fashioned an entire career out of the underclass for three decades…as historical as it is ever-present, his style has become cinematic shorthand for the current filmmaking coming out of or “hecho en México”. Ripstein, the son of a film producer, began his career in film as a teenager when he worked as Luis Buñuel’s assistant during the filming of Exterminating Angel. He has collaborated with some of Latin America’s most important writers, including Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Jose Donoso. Often set in small towns, Ripstein’s films puncture macho posturing and examine oppressive social conditions and traditions. With an uncredited Manuel Puig (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ripstein wrote and directed The Place Without Limits, which examines homophobia in a macho society.
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Ripstein in Person
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Thursday, April 27 5:45 P.M. Bell Auditorium 10 Church St. SE, U of MN Campus, Minneapolis Arturo Ripstein will introduce his latest documentary Heroes y el Tiempo before its 5:45 p.m. screening and participate in a post-film Q&A. Note: Flyers will be available throughout the fest for other Ripstein appearances. |
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Los Heroes y el Tiempo
(The Heroes and the Time, 2005)
Los Heroes y el Tiempo depicts the lives of four former political prisoners. As young men, they were members of various political movements that envisioned ideals and utopias that were going to be achieved thanks to the triumph of the Social Revolutiion. This documentary is an account of their lives for the last thirty years and how they now view their country.
El Imperio de la Fortuna
(The Realm of Fortune, 1986)
Based on a short story by Juan Rolfo, this is Ripstein’s most acclaimed film made in the literary style of magic realism. It tells the story of a humble peasant who briefly makes his fortune through cock-fighting.
La Perdicion de los Hombres
(The Ruination of Men, 2000)
This black/crime comedy takes its title from a Mexican song about women as the downfall of men. It premiered at the 2000 San Sebastian Film Festival, where it won the festival’s Golden Shell for “Best Film.”
Profundo Carmesi
(Deep Crimson, 1997)
This darkly comic drama of love and murder, based on the infamous “Lonely Hearts” murder case (which also inspired the Honeymoon Killers), won 11 awards at the Venice and Sundance film festivals in 1997.