Customer Reviews

Salon Mexico [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! This is a terrific movie that I was reluctant to see but very plesantly surprised and glad that I did. A remake of a classic from 1949 by the prolific actor/director Emilio Fernandez, this redo does not disappoint, then again, I never saw the original. A good movie anyway, as I really enjoyed the recreation of the time period. The story takes place in Mexico in the early 1940's at a famous ballrooom named, Salon Mexico, hence the name of the movie. The movie opens up with the murder of a couple, who apparently kill each other and who, it turns out, were dance parteners. The movie is all about how this tragedy came to be. The investigator arrives and the story is told through a series of flashbacks via the investigators interogation. What he discovers is an interesting relationship between various interelated characters that knew the two victims.The principle characters are the victims, Paco, as played by Alberto Estrella( The Last Call) and Mercedes who is portrayed by veteran actress Maria Rojo. The couple are revealed to be a hot dancing couple with a volatile relationship. They could create magic on the dance floor but the inevitable mayhem was a result of a complicated relationship. Interesting tid bits are revealed in the questioning of witnesses which keeps you guessing but the revelations are just the thing to keep the movie moving along. You might make a wrong guess as I did, then again maybe not as I'm no Sherlock Holmes. The movie was nominated for many Mexican awards and won five including Cinematography and Costume Design. These two make for a really good movie experience as the detail to the time period is perfect. There are some memorable lines in the movie as when a street whore says she "is going to Veracruz to make first communion dresses" since the Salon Mexico as been closed while the investigation is conducted. This is a very good movie, with exquisite detail to the time period, excellent acting, tragic story line with a few twists and turns, all the while staying on track for a good movie experience.

Or maybe it is not a remake. Who knows what Eliseo and José Luis were thinking when they made it? This hollow movie took only the title and three characters and changed the whole story, adding, of course, new characters. With new story and new people in it why not call it SALON GUAYAQUIL, or SALON CALCUTTA...?

María Rojo is Mercedes, and she looks like she cleans after the prostitutes, not like one of them. There's no sister here, now she has a daughter, Laurita (Tiaré Scanda), she also has a friend LA JAIBITA (Edith González) and a love rival called LA ALMENDRITA (Blanca Guerra)... God! Who came up with those names? Cri-Crí?

Alberto Estrella es Paco, and he had to be naked (like he does in ALL HIS MOVIES). He goes to bed with Mercedes, ALMENDRITA, then with JAIBITA (totally gratuitous nude scenes here).

Policeman Lupe Salazar is Manuel Ojeda and the Inspector (new character) is Demián Bichir. AAHHHH! Now I get it! This is the sequel... starts where the original left off. This is not a spoiler because by this time EVERYONE WHO IS WATCHING THIS MOVIE SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE ORIGINAL, otherwise, there's no point. Right? Why step into the unknown blindfolded? We need the reference!
OK. So Mercedes and Paco are dead and now we have to find the reason and who did it. Maybe they kill one another? Maybe ALMENDRITA kill them? She had motives.

The more I saw this movie the more I disliked it, regardless the ''homage'' to Indio Fernández, who as a character appears briefly as a judge in the danzón contest, and Mr Aaron Copland (Steven Brown), who created the musical composition with the same name, in which the first movie is based, SALON MEXICO.

If you can skip this one, do it, is not worth your time...

This 1995 film is a remake of the 1949 "Salon Mexico" directed by Emilio Fernández, which I wish was available on video, as I have not seen it. The direction by José Luis Garcia Agaraz, the glorious cinematography by Carlos Marcovich, the late '30's sets, the use of color...it's all a sumptuous visual treat, so much so that at times one can get caught up in the look of it, and get lost in the film.

The plot starts out with a double murder, and then in flashbacks and from different points of view, the story is told...but as the back of the video box states, no one ever knows what exactly has happened, only how it has affected the lives of those around the murdered couple.

The cast is gorgeous, and superb. Maria Rojo, Blanca Guerra, Demian Bichir, Edith Gonzalez, and Alberto Estrella are all great, but Manuel Ojeda is brilliant. He'll break your heart with his declaration of love to "Mercedes" (Rojo), a scene so exquisitely written and acted, you'll want to see it again and again.

The composer Aaron Copland, (wonderfully played by Steven Brown) is part of the characters, as a regular at the club, who plays the piano there and is composing "El Salon Mexico" as the story unfolds.

Anyone who knows me, knows I adore a good ending. This one made me gasp when I first saw it, with the joy of seeing something so inventive, with so much beauty, style, and character. It's set to Copland's orchestral "El Salon Mexico", and completes this fabulous film making one feel satisfied with having spent 110 minutes with a work of art.