Mexican Cinema at Caius College

Come and enjoy the best of Mexican cinema! Entry: £1.00 Place: Bateman Auditorium, Gonville & Caius College. Trinity Street. Entrance by the Porter's Lodge.

Black Bull (Toro Negro)
Directed by: Carlos Armella and Pedro Gonzalez Rubio
Year: 2005
A crudely made, vid-shot documentary about an undisciplined, alcoholic bullfighter who beats the woman he lives with in front of her puzzled children, "Black Bull" purports to show what helmers call "passion of human conflict" but becomes fixated instead on sordid personal lives at expense of drama within the ring. Beyond limited fest exposure, cablers with voyeuristic streaks may take an interest; video-life is negligible.

Love in the Time of Hysteria (Solo con tu pareja)
Directed by: Alfonso Cuaron
Year: 1991
Young yuppie and womanizer Tomas is caught in a trap when falsely diagnosed with AIDS by Silvia, a nurse who finds herself cheated by the young Casanova. Looking for a quick death (putting his head into a microwave oven) Tomas falls in love with Clarisa, a beautiful stewardess who also wants to suicide because her lover is having an affair with a blonde stewardess from Continental Airlines.

Little Saints (Santitos)
Directed by: Alejandro Springall
Year: 1999
Things are not dull at Padre Salvador's confessional, especially after Esperanza Diaz, a lovely young widow, starts dropping by so often. By the middle of ''Santitos,'' a disarmingly endearing film from Mexico, Esperanza is confessing about her activities at more than one brothel. The padre would rather be back in his room watching his favorite telenovela, but the male parishioners, who stand impolitely close to the confessional, are fascinated. It all started when Esperanza saw St. Jude through the dirty window of her oven. The saint spoke to her, informing her that Blanca, her 12-year-old daughter, was not dead after all and could be found in ''La Casa Rosa''. After St. Jude starts appearing, Esperanza will stop at nothing to find out the truth. This leads her to the hospital, to the cemetery and to a cleaning job at a local brothel. The charm of ''Santitos,'' which was shown at Sundance Film Festival, is its knowing but joyous life-affirming tone.

The Crime of Father Amaro (El crimen del padre Amaro)
Directed by: Carlos Carrera
Year: 2002
Recently ordained a priest, 24-year-old Father Amaro is sent to a small parish church in Los Reyes, Mexico to assist the aging Father Benito in his daily work. Benito--for years a fixture in the church as well as the community--welcomes Father Amaro into a new life of unseen challenges. Upon arriving in Los Reyes, the ambitious Father Amaro meets Amelia, a beautiful 16-year-old girl whose religious devotion soon becomes helplessly entangles in a growing attraction to the new priest. Amelia is quickly following into the footsteps of her mother, Sanjuanera, who has been engaged in a long-time affair with Father Benito. Amaro soon discovers that corruption and the Church are old acquaintances in Los Reyes. Father Benito has been receiving financial help from the region's drug lord for the construction of a new health clinic. As well, another priest in the diocese, Father Natalio, is suspected of assisting guerilla troops in the highlands. Meanwhile, Amelia and Father Amaro have fallen in love and have begun a passionate sexual relationship. As things become increasingly more complicated in the small community, the walls around Father Amaro begin to crumble. Torn between the divine and the carnal, the righteous and the unjust, Father Amaro must summon his strength to choose which life he will lead.