Cantinflas: A Magia da Comédia

Encapsulating and portraying the life and talent of Mario Moreno "Cantiflas" on the big screen is indeed a challenge that probably most producers would like to avoid. Nonetheless, knowing full well the challenges ahead of them, the director and producers of the film managed to put together a compelling story that resonates with moviegoers of today. Cantiflas is simply the story of a poor and humble Mexican in the early 1930's when mostly talent, inheritance and luck were the only ways out of poverty. The story is told in such a way that those unfamiliar with Cantiflas can quickly recognize and appreciate the breadth and depth of the golden age of Mexican cinema and one of its most shinning stars, Mario Moreno.

It is obvious that the lead actor, Óscar Jaenada spent a considerable amount of time watching Cantinflas movies to be able to imitate his voice and mannerism. He does a decent job portraying one of most intricate comedians of all time, which in itself is a very arduous task.

Undoubtedly, the film pays tribute to the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema of the 1940's and 1950's, with all its splendor and flair. Hopefully, it would serve as an inspiration for a new generation of filmmakers to appreciate the rich legacy given to them.

I attended this movie without knowing anything about Cantinflas. I am pleased to report that this movie is informing and entertaining. The time zone depicted is about 1935-1956 in Mexico.

The production quality is first rate. However, understand that the lighting and camera angles approximate what was being used in the 1940s and 50s. Therefore, this film has a simple look, an historical feel about it. I particularly enjoyed the costumes and fashions of the actresses during the 40s and 50s.

I strongly suggest that you read "Wiki" descriptions of his career before you see the movie. This will cause you to understand the importance of this man to Mexico and to the U.S. In fact, when he died, Mexico had 3 days of mourning; and the U.S. Senate had a moment of silence to honor this actor.

Cantinflas was a Mexican comedian at approximately the level of a Charlie Chaplin or Bob Hope. He started from humble street origins in Mexico and slowly worked his way to Hollywood. He eventually starred in "80 Days Around the World" which featured top stars and won several Oscars.

His name is an invention that may roughly translate in Spanish to, "He who drinks too much in the Cantina".

This film has both English and Spanish subtitles which alternate at appropriate times.

Cantiflas's act might be called "family entertainment" worthy of reaching wide audiences. There is no outrageous violence, no sex, no drug usage, no monsters, no superheros, no flaming car crashes. The story is a predictable rags to riches story which makes for quality and gentle Sunday afternoon entertainment. Religious people should not be offended. This story reinforces the belief that hard focused work may be rewarded with fame and happiness.

This film is more about the events and people which brought Mario Moreno (Cantinflas) to success on stage and film. His performances are not detailed, not lengthy, only suggestions of his talent. If his performances were recreated, I think this movie would gain a higher rating. You will see Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Yule Brenner, Charlie Chaplin and others played out in this film as well.

When you read the "Wiki" description, you will understand that he created a kind of humor which allowed him to use a free form style, he was an ad lib artist. Perhaps he could be compared to the late Robin Williams. From what I heard during the show he had a light touch to his truth telling on stage.

Cantinflas is always a respectable story; and you should not be embarrassed to bring any friend to see this film with you. I am not of Mexican heritage. About 95% of those in the audience seemed to be Mexican. So, you now know that you could be broadening your education of film history to see this film. And again, I think that if you grew up seeing his films, you will enjoy this movie more and give it a higher rating here on IMDb. If not, then for you we have a predictable, simple story which may earn a 6.5 or 7.0 on IMDb.

I particularly enjoyed seeing Mexico, the buildings, the fashions, the restaurants at their very polished best. The music is romantic. I felt that if I had seen his film when I was young, this film would have provided me with the "nostalgia effect". Nonetheless, it was a nice visit to Mexico during the 1940s.

The direction of the film was conservative and never confused. There were no "tricks" of the director to distract me from the simple, linear story.

And there is the greatest value of this film: nostalgia. Older folks who witnessed his acts will gain the most benefit from this reenactment of his past. Those older people will no doubt relive their youth as they enjoy seeing Mario Moreno go through his trials to finally appear in theater and film to become a national hero.

There are very few dark moments. And no foul language that I could detect.

Cantinflas was a master comedian. However, I do not think this movie could truly reproduce the comedic timing that Cantinflas used. Therefore, Cantinflas's wit is not displayed in this movie in a manner that I could laugh at most of the time. Subtitles slow down the delivery of his jokes. The effect of surprise in his jokes is muted by the English translation and the use of subtitles. So, as a film goer I am at a disadvantage. His jokes were gentle surprise one liners that entertained families on stage in the Cantinas of Mexico and film. But I am hardly an expert on his career. All I have seen is this movie.

I think that if you wanted to treat a person to a gentle story, with only a few moments of aggressive drama, you would be safe to bring any friend to see this film. This is a "nice film." And if that friend were born around 1940, all the better. And now I want to know more about Mario Moreno's career. And I would like to experience the results of his comedic timing from the master. Charlie Chaplin is said to have considered him the most humorous man in theater. That is quite a compliment.

Mario Moreno upset the Union of Actors in Mexico. He shunned the studio system of Hollywood, too. Yet he rose from the very bottom of Mexican society to become an Oscar winning actor.

This film is safe, gentle entertainment. I feel I broadened my understanding of film history after seeing this movie. I recommend you see it too. I am sure you will leave the theater with a warm, gentle feeling.

As much as I love learning about the history of Hollywood, there can be something pretentious about the Hollywood biopic. The story of a great creative mind taking Hollywood by storm is one that's been told too many times and easily falls into repetition. Aside from that, there's always the sneaking suspicion that the screenwriter or director is co-opting his subject's story to wrestle with his own greatness.

"Catinflas" intrigued me enough at the start that I decided to throw caution to the wind hoping the plot wouldn't veer into cliché. I enjoyed seeing the trial and error process over how Catinflas discovered his true calling, I thought the setting was unique (especially the unforgiving Mexican stage where heckling is the norm) and the actor who played Catinflas had a magnetic working-man kind of presence.

The decision to intercut the story of Mario "Catinflas" Morelli's ascension to fame over the years and the trials and tribulation "Around the World in 80 Days" producer Michael Todd to get his film made, also had potential except for the fact Michael Todd seemed like a rather flat character (not to take anything away from Imperioli's performance), and while I enjoyed "Around the World in 80 Days" as a kid, I'm not sure if there's anything to celebrate in Todd's methodology of putting every actor he could find in the film.

The storyline itself is one I've seen a hundred times before, so the film was largely on the shoulders of Oscar Jaenada and to the degree he could, Jaenada did an extraordinary job. If only he had slightly better material to work with.

This is a Mexican/Spanish co-production dealing with the untold story of Mexico's greatest and most beloved comedy film star of all time, Cantinflas (Oscar Jaenada) , from his poor origins on the small stage and his acting in Mexican cinema to the bright lights of Hollywood , being hired by a powerful US producer , Mike Todd (Michael Imperioli) .In his youth, he earned money as a prizefighter and worked as an acrobat in circus tent shows. As he acted in cabarets , theatres and varietee shows . He was married to Valentina Ivanova (Ilse Salas) from 1936 until her death. He appeared in more than 55 films, including as Passepartoute in his biggest hit : Around the world in 80 days (1956) . At the peak of his career in the late 1950s, Cantinflas was earning more than $1.5 million a year and was referred to in press releases as the world's highest-paid comedian. He once described as "the world's greatest comedian" by none other than Charles Chaplin (Sedgwick) .Despite the fact that Cantinflas died a millionaire several times over, and was one of the biggest stars ever in Spanish language films, he never forgot where he came from. Much of his money was given over to charitable work, including high-quality, low-income housing for Mexico City's poor. When he died, he was hailed as a national hero, and a protracted period of official mourning followed.

The picture describes various episodes about Cantinflas life from Mexico to around the world , many of them shown in flashbacks , his hard beginings , his relationship to his understanding wife Valentina Ivanova ( Ilse Salas) , the stubborn Mike Todd (who married Liz Taylor played Barbara Mori) to hire him , the Actors Unions strike led by Cantinflas himself with appearance of notorious Mexican actors as Dolores Del Rio (Jessica Gocha) , María Félix (Ximena Gonzalez-Rubio) , Jorge Negrete (Julio Bracho) , Miroslava , Gloria Marin (Giovanna Zacarias) , Ernesto Alonso , Lupita Tovar (Flor Payán) , Pedro Armendariz , Emilio Indio Fernández (Joaquin Cosio) , cameraman Gabriel Figueroa (Carlos Aragón) , among others . In addition , here shows up some prestigious Hollywood actors in brief appearances , such as : Kirk Douglas (Juan Castelazo) , Charlie Chaplin (Julian Sedgwick) , Marlene Dietrich (Karin Burnett) , Marlon Brando ,Yul Brynner , and Liz Taylor . Furthermore , showing the shooting in the Churubusco studios of some Cantinflas films as ¨Ahí esta el detalle¨, ¨Ni sangre ni arena¨, ¨El gendarme desconocido¨, ¨Un dia con el diablo¨ and , of course , ¨Around the world in 80 days¨ . Stars Oscar Jaenada who looks exactly him , he gives an acceptable acting as the famous showman . However , this film was not well received in México, due to the decission of giving the role to a spanish actor. The general sense is that even when the acting was good, Jaenada was not capable to be funny, because he couldn't understand the mexican sense of humor. There's no real consensus on how Mario Moreno Reyes adopted his more familiar professional name. One story goes that he did not want to shame his family, who thought of show business as a less than respectable profession, and so created his name. Another is that, at one of his first nightclub engagements, a heckler taunted him with, "¡En la cantina inflas!" ("You get drunk in the bar room!"). Other stories say the name came from phrases like "¡Cuanto inflas!", (you really get drunk!) "¿Cantas o le inflas?" (you sing or get drunk?), or "ya calláte cantinflas" (shut up, cheap singer) For some reason, this amused him, and he shortened the taunt into the professional name of Cantinflas. In 1936 Cantinflas made his first "film," a two-reel advertisement for a trucking company. A year later, he appeared in his first movie for the nascent Mexican film industry, "Asi Es Mi Tierra" ("That's My Country"). He scored his first international success in 1940 with what also was his first full-length feature, "Ahi Esta el Detalle" ("There Is the Detail"). In his second major film, "Ni Sangre, Ni Arena" ("Neither Blood Nor Sand"), Cantinflas plays dual roles - an arrogant matador and a humble, devoted fan. The comedy begins when, through a classic mix-up of identities, the lowly fan is mistaken for the vain bull fighter. Cantinflas was to perfect the bull-fight into one of his most famous routines, performed again and again in arenas in Mexico, Europe and the United States.

The movie has enough budget , including big production design , fastuous scenarios , and luxurious sets . As well as a colorful and brilliant cinematography by Carlos Hidalgo . It contains an evocative and atmospheric musical score by Roque Baños . The motion picture was professionally directed by Sebastian del Amo who plays a cameo as Yul Brynner . It had a great world wide premiere in Mexico D.F. and it was Official submission of Mexico to the best foreign language film category of the 87th Academy Awards 2015. In Spain was released in 2016, 2 years later, in 36 theaters and thanks to Óscar Jaenada who personally secured it a Spanish released trough his connections, which ended up happening on April the 15th 2016.

Expectations were just to have a nice time at the movies...I grew up watching Cantinflas movies...so, will it be in Spanish, will it be in English? When casting was in progress, Controversy ensued when the actor playing the Mexican icon would be from Spain...not just Spain, but from Catalunya! Just having been to Barcelona and hearing first hand the marked difference between Castillian and Catalan...I didn't think the actor could even pull off sounding a bit from the Western Hemisphere. I stand happily corrected. What an amazing portrayal. Hat's off to the principal actor, all actors, director and everyone that had a hand in this tour de force, magical, moving movie. No spoilers here, but it tugged at my heart. The power of immense, unfathomable fame vs. the true, crystal clear power of love. The hysterical man/myth that some of us were lucky enough to grow up with has been presented to new generations as the man only a handful really knew. I couldn't be happier coming home from the movies.