La reina de la noche
Mexico / France,
1994, 117 min
Shown in 1995
CREDITS
- dir
-
Arturo Ripstein
- prod
-
Jean-Michel Lacor
- scr
-
Paz Alicia Garciadiego
- cam
-
Bruno de Keyzer
- editor
-
Rafael Castanedo
- cast
-
Patricia Reyes Spindola, Alberto Estrella, Blanca Guerra, Ana Ofelia Murguia
- source
-
Mercure Distribution
-
COMMENTS
Arturo Ripstein and Paz Alicia Garciadiego in person.
OTHER
Presented as an “imaginary biography of the sentimental life of Lucha Reyes,” the famed Mexican folk singer, The Queen of the Night is an exploration of l’amour fou: the neurotic passion that was the driving force in all the relationships—with both men and women—in her life. Reyes (Patricia Reyes Spíndola) was prone to destroy everything she most desired—love, family, her singing voice, her career—a tendency fueled by the painful influence of her domineering mother (Ana Ofelia Murguía). Set between 1939 and 1944, the film chronicles her descent into the hell of alcohol, sexual excess and jealousy. At the same time, Reyes managed to project her sufferings and desires into alluring songs, which the film captures in all their intensity. As in other masterworks by Mexican director Arturo Ripstein (The Beginning and the End, SFIFF 1994), melodramatic themes are filtered through a rigorous aesthetic vision, so that sentimentalism ends up becoming its opposite. An excellent film, thanks, among other things, to Paz Garcíadiego’s script and splendid photography by Bruno de Keyzer.
—Jorge Rufinelli
FACTOID #7
Governor Pat Brown welcomed the crowd at Opening Night of the Festival October 30, 1963. Other attendees included George Peppard, Willie Mays and the governor’s wife Bernice; it also happened to be the couple’s 33rd wedding anniversary.
