Dance of the 41

My Review- "The Dance of the Forty One " on Netflix My Rating 8/10 A historical Biography Drama based on true events

This Film from Mexico is important in my opinion for the simple reason that it intelligently portrays the persecution and harassment and social attitudes that Gay men who held influential Political positions endured at the conclusion of the 19th Century and well into the 20th Century .

The catalogue of GLBTQI historical movies depicting events of these times when great and talented men like Oscar Wilde had to hide their true nature with painful marriages of conveniences to keep their place in Society and in the process ruined both the husband and wife's life when their deception was exposed by authorities is rarely told authentically in films.

Gay men at that time lead covert secret lives outside their marriages meeting in underground clubs or male brothels was the only way to express their sexuality where bacchanalian party's and orgies often took place so if male nudity or mild depictions of sodomy offend perhaps "The Dance of the Forty One ."is not for you but these few scenes are necessary to explain the story and the times.

Based on the Dance of the Forty-One which was a society scandal in early 20th-century Mexico. The incident revolved around an illegal police raid carried out in 17 November 1901 in a private home in Mexico City. The scandal involved the group of men who attended, 19 of whom were dressed in women's clothing. Despite the government's efforts to hush the incident up, the press was keen to report the incident, since the participants belonged to the upper echelons of society (including the son-in-law of the incumbent President of Mexico). This scandal was unique in that it was the first time homosexuality was openly spoken about in the Mexican media and had a lasting impact on Mexican culture.

A translation of the Press release at that time- On Sunday night, at a house on the fourth block of Calle la Paz, the police burst into a dance attended by 41 unaccompanied men wearing women's clothes. Among those individuals were some of the dandies seen every day on Calle Plateros. They were wearing elegant ladies' dresses, wigs, false breasts, earrings, embroidered slippers, and their faces were painted with highlighted eyes and rosy cheeks. When the news reached the street, all forms of comments were made and the behaviour of those individuals was subjected to censure. We refrain from giving our readers further details because they are exceedingly disgusting.

• Contemporary press report.

This is a big budget beautifully produced film directed by David Pablos and Screenplay by Monika Revilla . I would have preferred to see it in its original language rather than dubbed in English but got used to it after a few minutes . The cast are all very fine actors it stars Alfonso Herrera as Ignacio de la Torre y Mier, the gay son-in-law of then-president of Mexico Porfirio Díaz, Mabel Cadena as Amada Díaz, his illegitimate daughter, and Emiliano Zurita (son of Christian Bach) as Ignacio's fictional lover, Evaristo Rivas.

The film is a joint production by three companies Canana Films El Estudio, and Bananeira Filmes and filming locations included Mexico City and Guadalajara. It was filmed at the end of 2019 . Some fiming locations include the Rivas Mercado House, the bar La Opera in Mexico City's historic center and many of the exteriors were filmed in the streets of Guadalajara.

It may not be a film for everyone's taste but I think it's a very well produced and very interesting account of history that I had no knowledge of till I watched "El Baile de Los 41 or "Dance of the Forty One".