This landmark film from internationally acclaimed director Arturo Ripstein explores and dissects Latin American machismo and homophobia throught the bittersweet sotry of La Manuela. Played by Roberto Cobo (star of Luis Buñuel’s Los Olvidados), La Manuela is a transvestite who lives in a seedy village brothel run by his daughter, La Japonesita (Ana Martin) possibly conceived in a brief union with La Japonesa (Lucha Villa). The brothel and its town both suffer from neglect and delapidation; Don Fernando Soler co-stars as the wealthy Don Alejo who’s driven to own the entire town. When his daughter is threatened by truck driver Pancho (Gonzalo Vega), La Manuela steps in to distract him with an erotic dance in his/her best Flamenco dress. Pancho’s impassioned response leads to a haunting end for all concerned…
Aclamado retrato de un México sórdido, patético, doloroso. En el prostíbulo de un pequeño pueblo sobreviven “la Manuela”, un trasvesti, y “la Japonesita”, una joven prostituta hija de un desliz de la Manuela con la fallecida Japonesa. Don Alejo, el anciano cacique del lugar, quiere comprar el prostíbulo para venderlo a un consorcio junto con el resto del pueblo. El regreso de Pancho, un joven camionero ahijado de don Alejo, desata las tensiones entre los personajes.
rv v jul 2009
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