El hombre de los hongos

Clearly this adaptation of a novel by Mexican writer Sergio Galindo, was an ambitious co-production between México and España. It sought a prestige similar to that enjoyed by most of the creators involved, from director Roberto Gavaldón to his distinguished cast, plus the co -authors of the script, that included Mexican writer Emilio Carballido, Chilean director Tito Davison and Spanish Fernando Vizcaíno Casas, writer of Francoist affiliation. However, the 1970s were not the best years for Gavaldón, whose style was akin to the films of the golden age of Mexican cinema, and outdated when compared to the most freewheeling products of that time, signed by Paul Leduc, Arturo Ripstein and Felipe Cazals. "The Man of Mushrooms" is artificial and very formal in the way it approaches a story that contains elements that are always thorny, such as racism, incest, the use of hallucinogens and adultery. The story focuses on the family of a ruthless Spanish landowner (Adolfo Marsillach) who one day finds a mulatto child in a place full of mushrooms, names him Gaspar and gives him to his youngest daughter. However, the boy's entrance in his life will bring out all the vices and injustices that he commits, as well as his Mexican mestizo wife (Isela Vega) and his depraved elder sons (Ofelia Medina, Fernando Allende). In addition to the presence of a black panther that terrifies almost all the characters, now there is the disturbing presence of Gaspar, played in adulthood by Philip Michael Thomas, who spends much of the film naked, before he became popular in "Miami Vice." But the erotic tone that Gavaldón achieved with freshness and naturalness in "Sombra verde", one of his most disturbing films, is not perceived here. Although the twists of the plot keep the interest, the film does not have the vigor of the previous works by Gavaldón, who, by then, for his constant bad mood was called "The Ogre", as Ofelia Medina reveals in an interview that accompany the edition of the film on DVD. He would retire three years later.

Mexico, early 19th century. In one of his hunts, the rich Spaniard Everardo (Adolfo Marsillach) , owner of the Rivera hacienda, suddenly sees a naked black boy appearing in front of a large waterfall . Everardo baptizes the black boy Gaspar and gives it to one of his daughters , the girl Emma. Friendly and good-natured , the boy quickly becomes a new member of the family. Along the way the eccentric family occasionally has noisy receptions with fine dining . One of Don Everardo's favorite mushroom dishes is prepared with an old family recipe. As time goes by, at the hacienda living the grown-up Gaspar ( Philip Michael Thomas) , Emma (Sandra Mozarowsky) and brothers, Lucha (Ofelia Medina) and Sebastián (Fernando Allende) , become wealthy adults. Everardo returns very old from a trip to Europe with Elvira (Isela Vega) , his fiery wife. Emma and Gaspar are lovers and it is finished off , after all the previous ups and downs of the couple , in an inconsistent way . Sebastián, anxious to leave the place, manages to get his father to send him with Lucha to the capital when the young man is wounded by a panther that Everardo has in his house despite Elvira's hatred for the animal.

This peculiar soap opera contains silly messes , incredible romances , incestuous relationships , family drama and evocative scenarios , but it does not have very deep characters or too much psychological complexity . There is a lot of nudism , erotic scenes and some sexual elements prevail during the cinematic narration . This co-production with a good Mexican/Spanish cast adapts homonymous novel 'El hombre de los hongos' by Sergio Galindo and script from Tito Davison , Fernando Vizcaíno Casas and Roberto Gavaldón himself , taking place in Mexico at the beginning of the 19th century. It is an acceptable and passable tale , though mediocre , at times . However, it has a successful atmosphere of temptation , seduction , forbidden love, betrayal , jealousy , vengeance and competition for Philip Michael Thomas/Gaspar's sexual favors in a rare love triangle completed by Isela Vega and Sandra Mozarowsky . The threatening and constant presence of a black panther is also used as a symbol of the danger that the growing tension within the family entails . At the same time , the film has hallucinogenic traces of romantic ecstasy supported by overacting and resulting in a situation of bewildering that turns the pageantry of the delicacy into a grotesque spectacle of death and destruction . Stars the future actor of the popular TV series "Miami Vice" starred by Philip Michael Thomas and Don Johnson. Co-stars Mexican idol Isela Vega , who from her beginning in small roles in Mexican films in the early 1960s , her career grew and Isela became very popular as a sex symbol in the late 1960s , being her most popular film : Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and others as Deadly Trackers , Las siete cucas , Mujeres de Jeremias, The black Widow or Joshua . Alongside the prestigious Spanish player Adolfo Marsillach , Ofelia Medina , Fernando Allende and special mention for teen Sandra Mozarowsky who died early when fell from a fourth-floor balcony at her apartment in Madrid ; Sandra was one of the foremost "Lolitas" of the co-produced Spanish Genre and/or "exploitation" cinema of the late seventies. At the time of her death, she was only 18 years old.

It displays a colorful cinematography by Raúl Pérez Cubero , though a perfect remastering being really necessary . Shot on location in Parador San Javier, Guanajuato, Catemaco, Veracruz, Hacienda San Gabriel de la Barrera, Guanajuato , Las Estacas, Morelos, Mexico and Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico . Well produced and uneven but professionally directed by prolific filmmaker Roberto Gavaldón who realized some good films , such as : Macario , La Escondida , Flor De Mayo , Gallo De Oro , Don Quijote cabalga de nuevo and Rosa Blanca , most of them starred by the Mexican Divos Maria Felix and Ignacio Lopez Tarso or Cantinflas . Rating : 5.5/10 . Decent but twisted drama that will appeal to Mexican/Spanish cinema buffs .

When I purchased this movie there was a synopsis printed on the back of the video box. After reading it, I was disappointed to get an obvious spoiler. But I watched the movie anyway, and found the synopsis to be only somewhat correct. I suspect the reviewer was not paying attention?

So, without spoilers, here is my review: This story concerns a very wealthy family living in Mexico in the middle of the 19th century. While out hunting in the woods one day, the father discovers a young black orphan by the river. He brings the boy back to his large estate and names him Gaspar. Friendly and intelligent, the boy quickly becomes a new family member. He runs around and plays with their two young daughters as if they were his own sisters.

In a separate storyline, this family throws lavish dinner parties. One of their favorite dishes is mushrooms cooked with an old family recipe from Spain. How does the family know if the current batch of picked mushrooms is edible? Simple! They get a volunteer to eat a few first. If the volunteer keels over and dies, then the family does not serve mushrooms later at the party.

The family has one other flirtation with danger: They keep a vicious black panther chained up in the main courtyard. On occasion he is freed and chases after people. For all their seeming sophistication and nobility, this family seems a little wacky to me!

Some years pass, and Gaspar grows up to be a handsome young man, and the daughters become beautiful women. They continue to go on outings to the woods and swim in the river. But what had formerly been child's play has become flirtatious. Along the way, Gaspar reveals knowledge of different species of mushrooms growing in the woods.

The family unit unravels as the daughters grow jealous for Gaspar's attentions and the parents become unhappy seeing their white daughters spending time with a black man. Family members scheme against each other...