| Director: | Luis Buñuel |
|---|---|
| Production: | Alianza Cinematográfica |
| Running Time: | 89’ |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Country: | Mexico |
| Year: | 1955 |
| Main Cast: | Ernesto Alonso, Miroslava, Rita Macedo |
| Screenplay: | Eduardo Ugarte Pagés, Luis Buñuel |
| Cinematographer: | Augustín Jiménez |
| Editor: | Jorge Bustos |
| Production Designer: | Jesús Bracho |
| Music: | Jorge Pérez Herrera |
| Sound: | Rodolfo Benítez, Teodulo Bustos, Ernesto Caballero |
| Restoration: | Cineteca Nacional México |
Cinema
Ensayo de un crimen (The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz)
Venice Classics
Synopsis
Buñuel gave life to a dark comedy story (“a joke, a divertimento” he called it) about visual and auditory obsessions, childhood memories, the idea of death linked to eroticism and guilt. Wealthy Archibaldo de la Cruz tells a judge why he should be considered a murderer. As a child, during the Mexican Revolution, his parents gave him a musical box that according to his governess had the power to cause the death of any enemy who heard its melody. The child, curious, opened the box and as he heard its melody, a stray bullet killed the young woman, revealing her attractive blood-stained thighs. From that moment on several violent deaths took place, people close to Archibaldo whom he had wanted to kill, died violently, as did his wife Carlota. He talks to the judge about his attraction to Lavinia, a beautiful woman who did not allow herself to be seduced by him, thus becoming an unattainable object he must destroy.
Director’s Statement
Archibaldo wants to kill... Possibly killing will liberate him from a sexual point of view, but if he really did kill, who knows what he would do next. He is a murderer. But obviously, he also likes the frustration, loves it. He seeks to kill a woman and fails. Tries to kill another and fails again. One could say he wanted to fail, so as to try once more. Does he do it to free himself? Maybe he does it for the opposite reason. I know this seems dark. I am attracted to the darkness in a character. If you try to build a character too rationally, he will not become alive. There must be a grey area.
José de la Colina y Tomás Pérez Turrent, Luis Buñuel. Prohibido asomarse al interior, Imcine, 1996.
Producers/Distributors
PRODUCTION: Edgar Torres - CINETECA NACIONAL
Avenida Mexico Coyacan 389
03330 – Ciudad de México, Mexico
Tel. +52 55 41551217
Mob. + 52 55 3659 3885
etorres@cinetecanacional.net
http://www.cinetecanacional.net
PRODUCTION WHEN THE FILM WAS MADE: ALIANZA CINEMATOGRÁFICA S.A.
UFFICIO STAMPA/PRESS OFFICE: Alejandro Pelayo - CINETECA NACIONAL
Avenida Mexico Coyacan 389
03330 – Ciudad de México, Mexico
Tel. + 52 55 41551201
direcciongeneral@cinetecanacional.net
