17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a small treasure, September 2, 2000
A sadly neglected masterpiece from 1960, this black and white gem is one of my favorites. This wonderful tale, based on Bruno Traven's short story, directed and with a screenplay by Roberto Galvedon, has an attractive cast (Pina Pellicer is exquisite)and is beautifully acted.
This film is so simple, yet profound, and it satisfies because it's so well written. I love the scene with Death in the candlelit cave, it's magical.
Give this film 91 minutes of your time, and it will reward you...and thank you amazon.com for making this rare film available to the world.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bravo for this DVD!, June 6, 2004
This review is from: Macario (DVD)
Regarding the film, this is an old Mexican classic released in 1960, a little bit after the Golden era of Mexican cinema, from director Roberto Gavald?n, who also did Flor de Mayo starring American Jack Palance (who performed in Spanish!). For an American viewer, I would say this film is sort of a Mexican It's A Wonderful Life, only you would watch it every Day of the Dead instead of Christmas. Its a good film, with touches of surrealism and good old fashion morality (a la Capra), but definitely lacks the shine of earlier Epoca Dorada films. It shows a slight taint of fifties cornyism as well as the influence of the new medium of television. But by all means I don't want to sour you on this film. The cinematography is done by the famed Gabriel Figueroa, and he gets an occasional chance to shine. If you haven't seen it, you should definitely check it out, especially if you have an interest in M?xico or D?a de los Muertos.
Regarding the DVD, I can only say WOW! This is part of the new apparently Televisa-backed Vive M?xico collection, and the production is first rate. The image quality is top notch, it has marvelous trailers for other films in the collection including Ahi Est? El Detalle (comedian Cantiflas' most revered film) and El Rapto (an Emilio Fernandez flic with Jorge Negrete and Maria Feliz), and it also has English and Spanish subtitles, which have been lacking on other recent DVDs. I see that a number of rare classics like Maria Candelaria, Dona Barbara, Bugambilia, La Perla, Salon Mexico, & Los Olvidados have already been released south of the border in this collection, let's hope somebody gets smart and starts selling those up here sooner rather than later. Otherwise I'll have to take a trip down to Tijuana just to buy some DVDs!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cultural Richness, June 28, 2000
By A Customer
We studied Macario in our Latino Film Studies Club at our high school. The black and white film richly weaves a good vs. evil plot while showcasing Mexican culture and traditions. The celebration of Dia de Los Muertos allows us to observe the holiday as it is practiced in Mexico, and to make that important distinction beween it and the United State's traditon of Halloween.
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