Mexican Beauty

The movie Midaq Alley follows different characters to show everyday life for a small community in Mexico while the viewer sees the same story from a different perspective. I think the same scene placed at the beginning of each synopsis that shows some older men playing dominoes in Don Ru's cantina is symbolic because it is representative of an ordinary day and also shows how people in the community gather together and share stories and get to know one another. I feel that it represents the culture in Mexico and emphasizes how everyone looks out for one another, like how Ubaldo looks out for Eusebia's sadness and how Dona Cata looks out for Susanita's feelings, and also how Abel looks out for Chava's well being. By making this scene the establishing shot for each time the viewer sees a different point of view begin, the director is trying to portray how significant gathering for a game of Dominos in the cantina is in the daily lives of those in Midaq Alley. There are also some street scenes where it seems everyone knows one another. I wonder if it is a custom to be so close to neighbors and care for them like family, or if it has to do with the small size of their community. I was not really surprised that the ending was not extremely dramatic. I think it was very fitting to leave things the way they were because the movie was a portrayal of everyday life. I feel that the scenes of the men playing Dominos at Don Ru's cantina are the most important scenes of the film because it tells the viewer that although the characters presented have complex lives, the actions they take to reach their individual happiness are mundane when you take a look at the bigger picture, especially when you realize the men playing dominoes are older and have gone through many life experiences, perhaps they are trying to tell us to relax and not take life so seriously.

Midaq Alley is the best foreign movie of 1995. The movie take place in Mexico's Downtown in a street named: " Midaq Alley". Basically the film show us the stories of three people from that neighborhood.

Mr Ru whom after 30 tears of marriage is feeling homosexual falling in love with a young guy the same age as his son, making his wife's life miserable.

Susanita and old lady whom never been married and doesn't know what is love, finally she falls for someone not very honest. The other one is Alma , played for Salma Hayek a young, beautiful virgin girl whom is interested in everything about sex and drugs. I highly recommend this movie to everyone. It's worth the money!!

A film of surprising depth and frankness, this is no Mexican soap opera. The film is told in chapters, one about each major character. They all come from the same neighborhood and their lives intertwine. For the most part the stories wind up in disappointment, with few moments of sweetness, and some real tragedies. It's not quite a slice of life, but compares very favorably to the similar American film Short Cuts by Robert Altman. Without going into too much detail, it follows a late mid-life 'crisis' of a bar owner named Rutilio who finally allows his inner yearnings to surface, almost at the cost of his family. The second chapter follows Alma (Salma Hayek, the only recognizable name from the cast) as a lovely ghetto girl who is torn by the absence of her fiance who is in America and the desires, needs and temptations of being young, lovely, and inexperienced. The third chapter is about Susanna, the local landlord, middle-aged, homely, and never-been-loved and the trials she puts herself through after a fateful tarot-card reading predicting the imminent appearance of a man in her life. The last chapter, the Return, ties all the strings together as best they can be, because this is life and the strings simply don't tie together that well.

I didn't expect a Mexican film of this frankness - not just sex, but characters having real conversations, smoking grass, getting mixed up in an underworld with a sheen of decency and the expected rotten core - all rotating around the table in the neighborhood bar where the men play dominoes. These comments may not have convinced you to see this movie, but if you did see and liked Short Cuts then I highly recommend this film. And if Short Cuts is gobbledegook to you then I recommend both. Nine out of Ten.

This film was not made for Americans, or even with the thought of marketing outside the USA. Just like Hollywood remakes will redo a story for the US, this took a story written for Cairo and transplanted it to Mexico City without a trace of the original setting. It is framed and acted much like a stage play, and the focus is on the people. It's painful to watch at times, because the story grinds your nose against stories of people who are getting through some unpleasant times in some unpleasant ways and the pace does not let you escape - it is clear they want you to endure something of what the characters are going through. The acting is generally good, there are convincing portraits of a half dozen main characters and the supports aren't bad. Yep, the overall ending is predictable, but not unbelievable and a few of the side stories might surprise you along the way.

I watched the DVD version. It has no extras or options. You get dialog in Spanish, English subtitles, in 4:3 format - no choices. Sound is stereo, color is ok and picture is competent.

She quickly went on to fame in Desperado and From Dusk Til Dawn, but this, Salma Hayek's second film role, shows her acting talent.

In the first of four tales, she is just window dressing. An object of desire for a young boy (Bruno Bichir). While she is sitting, Don Ru (Ernesto Gómez Cruz) is yelling at his son (Juan Manuel Bernal) for acting like "a queer" while he himself pursues Jimmy (Esteban Soberanes); and Susanita (Margarita Sanz) is getting her fortune told by Almita's (Hayek) mother, Catalina (María Rojo).

After Don Ru's son runs away thinking he has done something awful, and he buries his head in his wife's lap moaning. the story starts all over with an emphasis on Almita. She, tragically, ends up with Jose Luis (Daniel Giménez Cacho) and disappears.

Susanita is growing older and desperate to find a man. She fancies Don Ru's son, but ends up with Guicho (Luis Felipe Tovar).

So, does the prodigal son return? Does Almicita come home? How are things to end? The story is first rate and it has you on the edge of you seat wondering how it all ties together.