Enamorada

Armendáriz was terrific in this. I won't repeat the praises from prior reviews, I concur.

My only problem with this film is that it wasn't true to the revolution. In that sense, it was indeed a Fernandez film as neither was he true to the revolution. He gave a Cristero slant to the issues of Church/State and redistribution of wealth. Just take it as a love story set in the revolutionary period and try to ignore the political bias. Jeeze, you'd think he'd have shown more gratitude having been pardoned by Lázaro Cárdenas for his treason.

Pedro Armendáriz, María Felix and the town of Cholula were the great stars of this film. The exteriors were certainly shot in Cholula.

There were some snippets of revolutionary period music (La Adelita and El Tren) and an anachronistic performance of Malageña Salerosa when he had mariachi serenade María Felix. That song is so lovely, I didn't mind.

A really exceptional movie. Maria Felix is stunningly beautiful, Pedro Armendáriz is extremely handsome, Emilio Fernandez's direction is spot on, and Gabriel Figueroa's cinematography is exceptional (he worked with Gregg Toland of Citizen Kane and Grapes Of Wrath fame - and it shows).

Often called the Gone With The Wind of Mexican cinema and with a plot that has been referred to as Mexico's Taming Of The Shrew, it's a film of many parts, all excellent. Starts as a movie about the Mexican revolution, then quickly turns into a film about class distinctions and a romantic battle of wills between a beautiful, hot-tempered, haughty, upper-class woman and a lower-class, powerful general.

The serenade scene - with close-ups of Felix's eyes and the songs of the mariachis - is one of those rare moments of cinematic perfection.

Most highly recommended.

Added note: This may be a bit hard to find with English subtitles, so look for the Alter's Collection - !Vive Mexico! DVD version.

The film is a cinematographic gem, one of the best films in Mexican cinema. Figueroa's photography is simply magical, it manages to portray the beauty of María Félix in all its splendor. Emilio Fernández as director is magnificent, he manages to awaken the romanticism of a determined and calculating Pedro Armendariz. He also directs a María Félix who manages to be comical and rude at the same time, her performance is hypnotic, she does not need to say a word to fall in love, her only presence and her gaze is enough for it. All the elements are so well constructed and directed that they make this film unforgettable.

This might or not be a Mexican "Taming of the shrew", but certainly it's a classic from the Mexican golden era. Some might remember it as a Felix/Armendariz movie, but I can assure you it is a Fernandez/Figueroa movie for two reasons; "Enamorada" and "The Torch". By this time, Fernandez, Figueroa and Armendariz were already well known in Hollywood, not only because of their recent success of "Maria Candelaria" (with the former Hollywood star Dolores Del Rio) obvious reasons to bring a lot of attention. Maybe that's why it wasn't equally distributed and popularized in USA, perhaps someone fall in love with it, to the point of buying it and redo it in an English version. An English version that excluded Maria Felix, but included a former Mrs. Chaplin (who also produced) and Pedo Armendariz with some of the original crew, and Cholula and the volcanoes of Puebla in the background. But no matter what version you see first, this one is by far better, but not much more realistic, considering what was the reality of the Revolution years.

Pedro Armendáriz is the most handsome man I ever know, he illuminated the screen, when he appear all the harts stop's and you don't think in anything just in him. In this film, he is a General or the Mexican Revolution who has an important mission, but he fall in love with Beatriz (María Félix) who is the rich woman in the town (Puebla). That confrontation with his love and the mission is so wonderful. Thats why I say that all have hart, everybody thought that the revolutionaries doesn't think in that, but love is love and the hart has reasons that the reason doesn't understand. This is my favorite film, great actors, excellent Director (Emilio Fernández), lovely photography (Gabriel Figueroa), spectacular natural stages. In this film doesn't have a lot of dialog, all is with the eyes and the feeling's of the actors. I also recommended "La Malquerida", "Las Abandonadas", "La Bandida", "Bugambilia". Thank's for all this art. Jacqueline Arch