Cuando tejen las arañas

Cuando tejen las arañas (When the spiders weave) is one of several under-rated and under-appreciated Mexican films from the 1970's. Beyond the many nude scenes by the beautiful Alma Muriel, this film (as several others of the same period) tries to provide an account of how the Mexican society was changing moral codes under the authoritarian regime than finally collapsed in the late 90s. One revealing paradox, however, is that much of those films, which were highly critical of the Mexican status quo, were funded with public monies, following what was during the 70's and 80's a rather feeble attempt from the Mexican government to legitimize itself following the pattern of some European countries when dealing with cultural issues. "Cuando tejen...", is the story of a young model "trapped" or "freed" from her own sexual repression when she enters the modeling scene in Mexico City, and the many negative trade-offs happening during such process. The movie, despite its minor short-comings, provides an interesting description of the Mexican society at the time, its contradictions and paradoxes. Alma Muriel's character represents on many levels not only young Mexican women, but Mexican society at large, its awakening to a liberal approach to sexuality, the double standards that most usually appear in such processes, and ultimately the kinds of tensions that such changes produce.

Roberto Gavaldón's last film is among the less satisfactory works in his career. It is true that it does not fare the lowest score, compared to «La casa chica» (1950) or «Historia de un amor» (1956), two weepy tales dominated by extremely melodramatic performances by Dolores del Río and Libertad Lamarque, respectively. In the last phase of his career, during the permissive seventies, Gavaldón had to deal with Cantinflas, charro Tony Aguilar and sordid tales as «La madrastra» and «El hombre de los hongos». Here Gavaldón has a rather efficient cast that delivers the highly erotic story with zest, although he was more at home keeping passion and lovemaking under control, as in his intense classic «Sombra verde». Alma Muriel is the weakest actor in the cast, and she plays the leading role, an upper middle class virgin obsessed with the memory of her deceased father. When her hot, young mother (sexy Raquel Olmedo, stealing every scene she is in) reveals dad's "dirty secret", the girl loosens up, has an affair with a macho photographer (Jaime Moreno), becomes pregnant, and cheats her previous boyfriend (bland Carlos Piñar) into marriage. From then on, everything turns ugly, with an ending that may rise more than one or two eyebrows among the LGBTetc crowd. The version I saw seems "fumigated", as if almost all nudity in the movie had been cut, when it is obvious that all the players were more than willing to take their clothes off. I believe that Gavaldón was fed up with what cinema had become worldwide, and retired after completing this motion picture.

Even when best years of director Roberto Gavaldon had pasted away, this is his way for adopting new tendencies in Mexican cinema, which topics, in 1970s, became more sexually open and tried to be critic about this and other social matters.

Alma Muriel plays Laura, a similar character to others she played later in more famous films like "Amor libre" or "Retrato de una mujer casada". The apparent stability of young and rich Laura is disturbed by her sexual attraction for handsome photographer Alex (Jaime Moreno).

People around Laura, mother and friends, feels more natural in that ambient pictured by Gavaldon sometimes liberated sometimes corrupted, and in certain manner they are the spiders trying to introduce Laura in that new (and now kind of normal) situations.

At the end, Cuando tejen las arañas, is moralist for Laura, showing risks as a punishment for experimenting with new and prohibited things, like pre-marital sex or the use of drugs.

A little slow and showing abundant nudity always from long distance, Gavaldón is not fully convinced in his style applied to this topics.