Pedro Páramo

A mother's last wish is for her son, Juan, to visit the father he never knew in a distant town. Juan finds the town abandoned and yet swirling with life. Nothing is as it seems. Apparitions appear and drift away. Pedro Páramo, the father, lays claim to the town and its inhabitants, and yet strangely his soul also belongs to them. Juan risks being swallowed by the miscreant spirits, the terrible deeds, and all the heartache. Not the inheritance he expected.

With intoxicating dance sequences, a profusion of light and color, flashbacks, capable acting, and the amazing cinematography of Rodrigo Prieto, the film and cast bring Juan Rulfo's 1955 masterpiece of magic realism to life. "If you want to understand who we are as a country," said one of the actors "then open the book."

The best part of the film is the characters. They are not good or bad, just human. Director Rodrigo Prieto, who was present for this world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, said that the characters fascinated him too. "Each character" he said, "has something about ourselves." Have an internal journey of your own in the magic and darkness of this film, a reflection of the Mexican soul.

Without telling me you know nothing about surrealism...

I understand that this kind of movies are not for everybody, but the scores of 1 or 2 stars just show the ignorance of the viewers.

If you have read the book, or know about surrealism in general or latinamerican magical realism in particular, you will greatly enjoy this movie!

Acting is great, photography is stunning, production is just beautiful and the original material (Juan Rulfo's work) is treated with respect.

The story telling will keep envolving you in this dreamy (or nightmarish?) fable, but If you want to see a hollywood linear blockbuster, better look somewhere else.

Pedro Páramo follows Juan Preciado, who travels to the abandoned town of Comala to find his father, the ruthless landowner Pedro Páramo. In Comala, Juan encounters spirits who reveal the dark legacy of Páramo's cruelty and power.

The movie is an exceptional adaptation of the book of the same nam by Juan Rulfo. I think its stunning cinematography, set design, and costumes truly enhance the visual experience. The acting is also solid and well-executed.

Unlike some opinions, I didn't find the movie boring at all; on the contrary, it kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

However, it's not a movie for everyone, as it requires some mental effort to follow the shifts in time. But for those who enjoy narrative challenges, it's a fascinating experience.

I live in Small city from the north of Mexico and I feel really related to this movie. My grand mother told me a few story's about our ancestries and events that happened time ago on our city. And I can tell you that the people in Mexico it really acted like that. I loved this movie I really recommend to watch!!!. Im going to tell you one of my grandmother story "one time in my city a guy wearing a charro suit was walked around the streets until he find the guy that he was looking for and he just shot him right in the chest and killed him, then he walked away disappearing in the dry river while the police and people were looking for him,but no one never knew who he was or why he kill the guy from my town.

I didn't know this was adapted from a novel until I read some of these reviews, but now that makes sense. There is a depth of pain and sorrow wrought from the passions and injustices of our human condition in every frame of this film, and I am guessing in every page of the novel, which I have not read. Some reviews seem to think it does not do justice to the book, but imo, as a film it is beautifully tragic. And very well filmed and acted. There are probably many cultural elements about the story I missed, like One Hundred Years Of Solitude, but also like that film it's a fabulous and deep work. My only complaint is I lost track of some of the characters, who they were and what time they represented. But it all came into focus later. 8/10.