Mexican Bus Ride

I love Bunuel, and as such I had to see this film even though his Mexican period is my least favorite. I found it at the library (the only Bunuel film they had in fact). What we get is a very sloppy, poorly edited, and VERY poorly subtitled film.

In this little Mexican town, there aren't any legal ways to get married so as long as the groom has the to-be mother-in-law's blessing, then the couple is considered married. Well, before our new couple even get a mile out of town, they are informed that his mother is on her death bed and needs him to go to town to get the man who always takes care of the family's affairs. From there, we get on the bus.

On the bus, we have the silly driver, the town femme fatale, a politician, a couple who become new parents while on the ride, and a few other odd characters. You can see some of Bunuel's surreal effects shine through, if only slightly, in the mishaps along the way. For example, the bus driver tries to make the bus go across a lake at one point which of course it cant and it ends up being a 5 year old girl leading two oxen that saves the day. We also have a scene where the bus comes face to face with another vehicle (that cant go in reverse) on a steep mountain trail. After a few moments, everything is fine again, but we don't know why. Thats Bunuel for you.

Overall, I wouldn't say the film is bad. Its great to see all the stages that a director goes through, especially someone like Bunuel who is one of the finest directors to have ever lived. The biggest flaw with this film, which will hopefully be fixed once this gets a DVD release (Criterion are you listening?), is that the subtitles are quite possibly the worst I've ever seen. the first problem is that they're white and in some cases you cant see the far left or the far right of the words because they stretch off the screen, and the worst part is that you can tell that half of whats being said isn't even translated at all. Thankfully I know a tiny bit of Spanish and the gesticulations of the actors were good enough to allow me to get at least the gist of what was going on. For the most part, you might as well be watching a silent film.

This definitely ends up being an interesting glimpse into the life of 1950s Mexico. Its such a crude life but everyone seems to be happy. Its worth seeing, but only if you're a hardcore Bunuel fan or you are studying Mexican life of the 1950s.

Attractive film about an adventurous bus-ride to a distant city to get his mom's will notarize , that's why the ill mummy wishes her little child inherits solace at a wealthy home , being well directed by the Spanish Luis Buñuel . It deals with a young and good man , justly married , called Oliverio Grajales (Esteban Mayo) finds his woman's honeymoon is cut short when he awares that his mother has fallen sick back at home . The newlywed couple rush there to discover the other brothers neglecting their mom in order to scheme their squandering of the inheritance . Then , the newlywed son bringing out to life the promise done to his mother , as he takes a journey by bus to find a public Notary . Along the way, he meets a baddie female who ruthlessly uses everyone in his purports and really seduces him , she's wayward Raquel (Lilia Prado) , who is extremely a selfish young , a manipulating babe who hates and seduces , eventually causing distresses , as well as uses her feminine wiles to tempt all around . The sultry , ambitious young attempts to break his marriage by seducing Oliverio to get her egoistic aims . Step by step she causes mayhem and discord among the members of the noisy bus . As the bus passengers become into a frenzied chaos and unrest . And to further complicate things he undertakes a race against time by taking the bus , as he drives it to his destination , while resisting Raquel's temptation.

The movie is well worthy thanks to razor-sharp performances as well as certain critical revealing the hypocrisies of modern society , in which brothers are on pins and attempt to catch their mother's inheritance , needles waiting to sort out her will , while a wayward girl uses the power of manipulation and eroticism to get her dark purports . Based on a story and adaptation by Manuel Altolaguirre , film producer too , as Luis Buñuel wrote that the script was actually adapted from the turbulent adventures that really happened to his friend Spanish poet Manuel Altolaguirre , while on a bus trip . The picture features exceptional work for Lilia Prado as Raquel , a similar role starred by Rosita Quintana in ¨Susana (1951) , she's magnificently charming as well as hateful playing the insidious girl who attempts to dissect the harmonious marriage by romancing Oliveiro . Her acting result to be a phenomenal precedent to the character who played Sue Lyon in ¨Lolita¨ or Carrol Baker in ¨Baby Doll¨ . While Esteban Mayo is acceptable as ecstatic Octavio , as he must take a long and dangerous bus trip to the city to contact a notary for his mother's last will and testament , while is faced with multiple temptations . Furthermore, a beautifully cinematography in subdued black and white by the great cameraman Alex Phillips who worked both , American and Mexican productions . Being shot on various locations in Puerto Marquez, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico and Estudios Tepeyac, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexicoc. And atmospheric and appropriate musical score by Gustavo Pittaluga, including Mexican songs.

The motion picture was competently directed by Luis Buñuel , belonging to his Mexican period . Buñuel wrote his autobiography, "My Last Sigh" in which detailed his exiled trajectory in Mexico and the troublesome shootings . After filming Spanish and French films as "Un Chien Andalou" (1929) , and ¨Age of Gold¨(1930) , ¨Hurdes tierra sin pan¨ (1936) , Buñuel went on his Mexican period in which he teamed up with producer Óscar Dancigers and after a couple of unmemorable efforts shot back to international attention with the lacerating study of Mexican street urchins in ¨Los Olvidados¨ (1950) , winning him the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival . But despite this new-found acclaim, Buñuel spent much of the next decade working on a variety of ultra-low-budget films, few of which made much impact outside Spanish-speaking countries , though many of them are well worth seeking out . As he went on filming "The Great Madcap" , ¨The brute¨, "Wuthering Heights", ¨El¨ , "The Criminal Life of Archibaldo De la Cruz" , ¨Robinson Crusoe¨ , ¨Death in the garden¨ and many others . And finally his second French-Spanish period , usually in collaboration with producer Serge Silberman and writer Jean-Claude Carrière with notorious as well as polemic films , such as : ¨Viridiana¨ , Tristana¨ , ¨The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie" and his last picture , "That Obscure Object of Desire" . Susana rating : 7/10 . Essential and indispensable seeing for Luis Buñuel aficionados.

Subida al cielo is a messy little story probably about the distractions and small miracles happening on everybody's way to heaven. It is short and seems simple, but there are sometimes strange things happening: has anybody the strength to go straight? If one does really go straight, one probably do not even have dreams. Dreams, wishful thinking and miracles like the improbable solution (by a little girl) for getting the bus out of the river with an ox instead of a tractor and the small miracle of the two vehicles that for no apparent reason suddenly CAN pass each other on the narrow path after a short meeting. Furthermore, Buñuel incorporates a few modest but funny dream sequences to emphasize that people (secretly) can think of other things, while they are on their certain way to heaven (the righteous path?). The English title 'Mexican Bus Ride' applies very well I guess: the whole is kind of low profile (probably also low budget :)

The acting is ok, but I never really got into the story, because the editing isn't good and there is no convincing mood to get into, although Buñuel uses some music in this movie. Miniature cars and sets make it fun to watch, but also do not convince. The movie feels more like an exercise than as a message from the heart, but I would like to see it again some time. 5/10

Okay Mexican era Bunuel about a young man traveling by bus to his dying mother's hometown where she has a will on record. If he doesn't recover that will and have his mother put her thumbprint on it, his oldest brother, a very greedy man, will have the legal right to divide the property amongst the family. Most of the film is about the bus ride and the adventures the people on the bus have. There are some very nice scenes and touches, but it doesn't rank as one of Bunuel's strongest. It does, however, contain probably the best surreal sequence of any of his Mexican films. I haven't seen them all, so maybe I should just say a more prominent surreal sequence than his more famous Mexican films, i.e., Los Olvidados, El, or Nazarin (not counting anything he made after he returned to Mexico from Spain after Viridiana, i.e., The Exterminating Angel and Simon of the Desert, both of which are more "pure" surrealism).

Even with the economic restrictions of his Mexican exile, Luis Buñuel proved he could turn an otherwise unassuming project into a signature film of unique wit and style. The simple story follows an unlucky young bridegroom on a long, fantastic journey by bus across the country to visit his ailing mother. With his mind distracted by thoughts of her death, he encounters on his trip a multitude of life, while the bus and its passengers careen from one diversion to another. Every encounter is underscored by the director's distinctive brand of deadpan absurdity: a peg-legged gentleman stuck in a mud puddle; a man selling mail-order chickens; a detour for a birthday fiesta thrown by the driver's mother. There's even a dream sequence loaded with the same, crazy Freudian symbolism left over from Buñuel's earlier collaborations with Salvador Dali. In its own quiet way the film has to be considered an underrated classic, directed with a surplus of humor and humanity by an acknowledged master.