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.

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.

The difficulty of adapting one of the best Mexican literary works and one of the greatest examples of surrealism was a complete challenge for this great photographer and now debuting director. The film tries and succeeds very well, with an excellent cast and a long history in Mexican cinema, they give it the necessary support to tell this magical, melancholic story that is difficult to understand for those who are not Mexican. It is not the typical Hollywood, there are no monsters, aliens, or other current inclusive themes. This film is a tribute to Mexico, to our history, to our countryside and to our people. I think Mr. Rulfo would be happy with the work done on his great novel.

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.

A wonderful film.

The acting is top notch. This movie shows that there are wonderful Mexican actors and that we CAN write a good script, so I will not be forgiving any sub par job in the future.

The movie is gorgeous. Everything is done with love and care. My only (very small) complaint would be some of the CGI. But it doesn't take away from the wonderful story-telling and the visuals.

If paying attention is not your forte, maybe the movie is not for you. By the way, the movie is magical realism, that means it combines fantastical elements with day-to-day life. The reviews that say "it does not make sense", do they also complain about other genres? Does Avengers make sense? Star Wars?

Every character has a story to tell. It's not about villains and heroes. There's no divine retribution.

En verdad me hizo pensar que los mexicanos ya estamos muertos, solo estamos esperando a que alguien nos lo diga.