coonyp

Very good film, especially considering that it was made in 1934. The Mexican Revolution was a complicated historical event. It involved a popular uprising on several fronts - Pancho Villa on the north, Emilio Zapata in the south. The political leadership changed rapidly - from Madero to Huerta to Carranza. Businessmen, such as the ranch owner who is the protagonist in this film, are caught in the middle as they try to survive the chaos and instability of the economic order.

My complaint with this movie is its English title. The Spanish title is exactly correct as Mendoza attempts to ingratiate himself as a special friend to every military strongman. But use of the term Godfather (the actual Spanish word is padrino) is way off as the film actually features a godfather who is not Mendoza. The title would have been best left in Spanish. In English it could have been "The Pal Mendoza" or "The Buddy Mendoza".

One of my favorite movies ever is John Huston's Treasure of the Sierra Madre. I have watched it so many times that I have memorized the script, much of which was lifted literally from the book. Each scene is perfectly paced. But the film does have a major deficit when compared to the source material as the novel is perhaps the most important that I have ever read. The longer I live the more I realize that our political outcomes, much of which are negative and defy logic, are the result of our unconscious human impulses. Perhaps the most significant paradox is the reality that poverty is often characterized by generosity whereas wealth generates anti-social impulses. This idea is presented repeatedly in the book. Probably due to Hollywood's need to avoid political controversy, John Huston was able to craft a film in which this idea was presented so obliquely as to be virtually lost.

In contrast Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods retelling of this story involves no such subtilty. It may be his best film ever. It is visually stunning even if its pacing and construction does not compare to the original film. But thankfully the politics are not hidden. In particular, it correctly preaches that racism is related to the effect of economics on our depressing human condition. The ultimate disintegration of the racially unified five bloods was occasioned by this truth.

Although every story is individual, the film captures a couple of important general realities about the state of modern divorce:

1) Many divorces shouldn't happen and that includes this divorce as it was portrayed.

The couple had plenty of regard for each other which was demonstrated in several portrayed interactions between them. The divorce appears to be mostly motivated by their differing professional aspirations. No matter how justified these may have been, in my moral judgment they should have been secondary to providing a stable home for their child. Perhaps the saddest aspect of our modern society is that many of us fail to realize that life is best experienced by subjugating our own needs to those around us, most particularly within our immediate family and even more particularly to our minor children. This form of narcissism seems more prevalent in show business where successful careers depend on self promotion and that may explain why people in that occupation appear to divorce at a higher rate.

2) Our legal system exacerbates the divorce experience for those who have assets

In most cases at the time that the decision to divorce is made, the ensuing pain is underestimated by the couple. Rather than the anticipated experience of freedom and removal of a burden, the loss of companionship causes considerable pain and grief which is most often redirected as anger toward the other spouse. If the couple have assets and hire attorneys, it is in the financial interest of the legal professionals who are billing hourly to take advantage of this acrimony. Many family law lawyers are like the Alan Alda character in the film and do their best to address the emotional needs of their clients despite this financial reality but there are others who do not. Too often divorces cause huge financial pain for both parties.