Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz / This Strange Passion ( Ensayo de un crimen / El )

Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz / This Strange Passion (DVD) (*)

$34.99

Original Title: Ensayo de un crimen / El
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Mono )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
191 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Filmographies
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1952 - 1955 and produced in:
Mexico ( Latin America, Mexico )

Directed By:
Luis Bunuel

Written By:
Mercedes Pinto (novel)
Luis Bunuel
Eduardo Ugarte

Actors:
Miroslava Stern ..... Lavinia
Ernesto Alonso ..... Archibaldo de la Cruz
Rita Macedo ..... Patricia Terrazas
Ariadna Welter ..... Carlota Cervantes
Eva Calvo ..... Señora de la Cruz, Archibaldo's mother
Enrique Díaz 'Indiano' ..... Señor de la Cruz, Archibaldo's father
Carlos Riquelme ..... The commissioner
Chabela Durán ..... Sister Trinidad
Carlos Martínez Baena ..... Priest
Manuel Dondé ..... Colonel at wedding
Armando Velasco ..... Judge
Rodolfo Landa ..... Alejandro Rivas
Andrea Palma ..... Mrs. Cervantes
Leonor Llausás ..... The governess
Armando Acosta ..... Man at Gordo's
Eduardo Alcaraz ..... Gordo Azuara
Janet Alcoriza ..... American tourist
Rafael Banquells hijo ..... Archibaldo as a boy
Antonio Bravo ..... Antiques dealer
Emilio Brillas ..... mannequin maker
Lupe Carriles ..... Maid at Carlota's home
Jorge Casanova ..... draftsman
Ángel Di Stefani ..... police agent
Enrique García Álvarez ..... Chucho
Jesús Gómez ..... Lopez, policeman
Elodia Hernández ..... dress shop owner
Francisco Ledesma ..... Antique shop asst.
José María Linares-Rivas ..... Willy Corduran
Salvador Lozano ..... Gambler
Ángel Merino ..... handwriting expert
Roberto Meyer ..... Doctor
José Peña ..... Esteban
Ignacio Peón ..... wedding guest
Arturo de Córdova ..... Francisco Galvan de Montemayor
Delia Garcés ..... Gloria Milalta
Aurora Walker ..... Esperanza Peralta
Carlos Martínez Baena ..... Father Velasco
Manuel Dondé ..... Pablo
Rafael Banquells ..... Ricardo Lujan
Fernando Casanova ..... Beltran
José Pidal
Roberto Meyer
Luis Beristáin ..... Raul Conde

Synopsis:

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955)

The delirious journey of a mental disordered man, who is obsessed in making the perfect crime.

This Strange Passion (1953)

Francisco is rich, rather strict on principles, and still a bachelor. After meeting Gloria by accident, he is suddenly intent on her becoming his wife and courts her until she agrees to marry him. Francisco is a dedicated husband, but little by little his passion starts to exhibit disturbing traits. Nevertheless, Gloria meets with scepticism as she expresses her worries to their acquaintances.

Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz
The film begins with Archibaldo (Ernesto Alonso) being triggered by a music box into a lengthy reminiscence of his childhood. It was an average, everyday incident, one that undoubtedly has occurred to us all: Archibaldo was caught dressing up in his mother's clothes by his governess, who was then instantly killed by a revolutionary's bullet before she could tell on him. The experience proved to be Archibaldo's 'first rush,' and he spends the rest of his life trying to re-create the sexual euphoria of that moment - by murdering attractive women. Buñuel's characteristic perverse black humor then adds a twist, which prevents Archibaldo from fulfilling his desires.

This Strange Passion
In El, it is director Luis Bunuel's contention that uncontrollable insanity can grow within even the most rational of men. Spanish aristocratic Arturo de Cordova, outwardly the picture of courtly charm, marries lovely Delia Garces, who is much younger than he. From the honeymoon onward, Cordova imagines that his bride's former lover is spying on them. At first his jealousy manifests itself in short bursts of violence against phantom intruders. But the middle-aged groom's lunacy blossoms, until he is prepared to literally sew his young bride up lest she be accessible to others. Bunuel alternates Cordova's disintegration with his standard attacks upon Catholicism; the church can offer nothing to this unhappy man but empty homilies, leaving him no choice but to lie to himself that he is 'cured'--knowing deep down that he never will be. Historian William K. Everson hit the nail on the head when he described El as 'the most clinical dissection yet of a paranoic's descent into total madness'. Another critic has succinctly described the protagonist as 'an Othello with the hero as his own Iago.' El, which literally translates as 'He', has been released in some markets as This Strange Passion.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 15 November, 2005.

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