10. Y tu mamá también – Alfonso Cuarón (2001)
With this movie, Cuarón and the charolastras (Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal) made a big splash in the world. Luna and García played Tenoch and Julio, the bests of friends, ready to have the summer of their lives, they invite Luisa, the wife of Tenoch`s cousin, who decides to go with them. That trip to a beach in Oaxaca, changes everything forever. It was nominated for several awards in the world like the Oscar.
Cast: Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, Maribel Verdú.
9. Cuando los hijos se van – Juan Bustillo Oro (1941)
This film is an adaptation of a radio soap opera made famous in 1940, staring three of the most important actors in that decade, Sara García, Fernando Soler and Joaquín Pardavé. When Raimundo is wrongly accused of stealing, gets out of his childhood home, then his brother Jose makes everyone in the family and Raimundo´s girlfriend think he is actually a bad guy, but the only one that believes in his innocence is their mom Lupita.
Cast: Fernando Soler, Joaquín Pardavé, Sara García, Emilio Tuero, Marina Tamayo.
8.- Amores perros – Alejandro González Iñarritú (2001)
Three stories, one movie. If we have to talk about the “New Mexican Cinema” we have to talk about Amores Perros. With a profound, dark and intense drama, Iñarritú showed what he is capable of, and his great talent telling stories. This film is one of the favorites of the youngest generations.
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo Murray, Emilio Echeverría, Adriana Barraza.
7. Santa – Antonio Moreno (1932)
Santa is a treasure in Mexican cinema, is the very first Mexican narrative sound film in history and it is based in the novel of the same name by Federico Gamboa. Santa is a gorgeous young woman who gets involved with a solder that betrays and leaves her, and because of that her family expels her from Chimalistac, her town, so the only place she finds to live is a brothel and there she will experience a very different life.
Cast: Lupita Tovar, Carlos Orellana, Juan José Martínez Casado, Donald Reed, Mimi Derba.
6. Aventurera – Alberto Gout (1949)
A musical considered the most important film of the rumbera´s cinema, that shows the life of Elena (Ninón Sevilla), whom after her mother runs away with a lover and her father dies, has to find a job, but the only one she finds it`s in a cabaret. From there everything goes out of control and her life start spinning around. In México there is a play based in this story, which was México´s most successful musical for fifteen years.
Cast: Ninón Sevilla, Andrea Palma, Tito Junco, Rubén Rojo.
5. La Montaña Sagrada – Alejandro Jodorowsky (1973)
The surreal and master piece of Jodorowsky is one of the best productions of that decade. It was produced by the Beatles manager Allen Klein. The movie follows a Christ-like person to the Holy Montain, taken by an alchemist with seven materialistic figures, to find enlightenment for them. It wasn’t very well accepted for the conservative public, because it contains nudity and criticizes religion in a very harsh way.
Cast: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Horacio Salinas, Zamira Saunders, Juan Ferrara, Adriana Page.
4. Ahí esta el detalle – Juan Bustillo Oro (1940)
The best film of the incomparable Mario Moreno, known as “Cantinflas”, in which Cantinflas (Mario Moreno) goes to the house where his girlfriend works as a maid and she needs him to kill a dog, but everything gets complicated when her boss thinks his wife is having an affair. In this movie, Moreno, gets the attention he deserved and starts to work solo after he breaks up with Manuel Medel. One of the funniest Mexican movies ever.
Cast:MarioMoreno, Joaquín Pardavé, Sara García, Sofía Álvarez, Dolores Camarillo, Manuel Noriega.
3. La tercera palabra – Julián Solér (1956)
Two of Pablo`s aunts decide to hire Margarita as a teacher for him, and she teaches him to read and to write, meanwhile Pablo teaches her other things like horse riding. When his family tries to declare him as mentally ill to get his part of the heritage Margarita tries to help him and prove that he is not. This movie contains one of the greatest interpretations of Pedro Infante, and Marga López, probably one of the best casts of that decade.
Cast: Pedro Infante, Marga López, Sara García, Prudencia Grifell, Rodolfo Landa.
2. María Candelaria – Emilio Fernández (1943)
Directed and written by Emilio “Indio” Fernández, it won the Palme d`Or, in Cannes in 1946. A reporter asks an artist the story behind a portrait of a naked woman, which he has never wanted to talk about. The artist starts to talk about María Candelaria, a girl from the starts of the twenty century. It is an amazing story of love and destiny. It is also know as Xochimilco, the name of a Mexican place, where the movie was filmed.
Cast: Dolores del Río, Pedro Armendáriz, Alberto Galán, Miguel Inclán.
1. Enamorada – Emilio Fernández (1946)
Another film directed and written by Emilio “Indio” Fernández, one of the most known movies of the called Mexican Golden Cinema. It’s a great drama in revolutionary days which the troops of the zapatist general Jose Juan Reyes, take Cholula, Puebla. There, the general falls in love with the gorgeous Beatriz, the richest girl in the city, and they will live one of the most epic Mexican love stories. It was nominated for the Palme d´Or in 1947.
Cast: María Felix, Pedro Armendáriz, Fernando Fernández, Miguel Inclán.
