The ''Revolution Trilogy'' (
Spanish: ''Trilogía de la Revolución'') is a series of 1930s movies about the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
by
Fernando de Fuentes: ''
El prisionero trece'' (1933), ''
El compadre Mendoza'' (1934) and ''
Vámonos con Pancho Villa
''Let's Go with Pancho Villa'' (Spanish: ''Vámonos con Pancho Villa'') is a Mexican motion picture directed by Fernando de Fuentes in 1936, the last of the director's ''Revolution Trilogy'', besides ''El prisionero trece'' and ''El compadre Mend ...
'' (1936). All three share a disenchanted view of the conflict, in opposition to the more common romantic, folk, and heroic viewpoints present in more well-known productions.
Three portraits of the same conflict
According to Mraz,
[Mraz, John cited in Perla Scwarz]
La trilogía de la Revolución de Fernando de Fuentes, remasterizada y disponible en DVD
Retrieved on September 17, 2012. De Fuentes dedicates each film to one theme of conflict and loss:
* ''El prisionero trece'':
Huertistas
This is a list of factions in the Mexican Revolution.
Carrancistas
Revolutionary followers of Venustiano Carranza from 1913 to 1914, and thereafter the Government army from 1914 until his death in 1920. In 1915, an insurgent group known as th ...
are represented in the figure of Colonel Julián Carrasco, who descends into alcohol abuse and violence against his family, whom he ultimately destroys.
* ''El compadre Mendoza'':
Zapatistas
Zapatista(s) may refer to:
* Liberation Army of the South, formed 1910s, a Mexican insurgent group involved in the Mexican Revolution
* Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), formed 1983, a Mexican indigenous armed revolutionary group based ...
appear in the form of General Felipe Nieto, a fictitious cousin of
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the in ...
who enjoys the friendship of Rosalio Mendoza until the last years of the conflict. The only empathy shown by De Fuentes in the trilogy is demonstrated by the Zapatism in this movie.
* ''Vámonos con Pancho Villa'':
Villistas
Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...
are depicted as cruel and cowardly, demystifying
Pancho Villa
Francisco "Pancho" Villa (, Orozco rebelled in March 1912, both for Madero's continuing failure to enact land reform and because he felt insufficiently rewarded for his role in bringing the new president to power. At the request of Madero's c ...
himself and his closer group of soldiers, the ''Dorados''.
Reception
The three movies were not well received by audiences. Particularly ill-met was the 1936 ''Vámonos con Pancho Villa'', which only lasted one week in theatres and ultimately led to the production company's bankruptcy.
Nevertheless, thanks to critics and
cineclub A film society is a membership-based club where people can watch screenings of films which would otherwise not be shown in mainstream cinemas. In Spain, Ireland and Italy, they are known as "cineclubs", and in Germany they are known as "filmclubs" ...
s, the trilogy was rediscovered and reevaluated during the 1960s as a milestone in Mexican cinema.
In 2010, to commemorate the war's centenary,
Filmoteca de la UNAM released a DVD edition of the restored version of the trilogy, the first attempt to popularize these films since their initial release in the 1930s.
[''El compadre Mendoza'' (1933)](_blank)
Retrieved on September 17, 2012.
Retrieved on September 17, 2012.[Memoria de actividades 2010 de la Dirección General de Actividades Cinematográficas de la Filmoteca de la UNAM](_blank)
Retrieved on September 17, 2012.
See also
*
Factions in the Mexican Revolution
This is a list of factions in the Mexican Revolution.
Carrancistas
Revolutionary followers of Venustiano Carranza from 1913 to 1914, and thereafter the Government army from 1914 until his death in 1920. In 1915, an insurgent group known as t ...
References
External links
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Mexican film series
Films directed by Fernando de Fuentes
Films set in the 1910s
Films set in Mexico
1930s Spanish-language films
Mexican Revolution films
Films shot in Mexico
Mexican black-and-white films
Trilogies
Historical epic films
1930s Mexican films
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