Review by jesusib

La Virgen que forjó una patria (The Virgin that forged a country) is a masterpiece of Mexican cinema. Directed by Julio Bracho, one of the greates film makers of Mexican Cinema Golden Age, this movie shows the two main envents in Mexican History, that forged the unity of all Mexicans, two events in which The Virgin of Guadalupe, the symbol of Mexican Catholicism, took part. The first fact is when The Virgin Mary appeared as a Mexican dark skin young lady, to Juan Diego, a young Aztec Indian, in 1531 (it is said that Juan Diego was not so young when he saw the Virgin, but in the film he looks young). The Virgin took the name of Guadalupe and became the "Mother of all Mexicans". The second event is when Miguel Hidalgo, the priest who began the movement for Mexican Independence in 1810, took a flag with image of The Virgin of Guadalupe as a symbol for his troops. The two events, separated in time for almost 300 years, are linked by director Bracho by the narration Priest Hidalgo makes to one of his soldiers, Allende, of the story of the Virgin's aparition to Juan Diego. Hollywood's silent film idol, Mexican Ramon Novarro, makes his only aparition in a Mexican film, as a sweet innocent Juan Diego: a great performance. A film all Mexican film lovers and Ramon Novarro's fans must see.