''Two Monks'' (Spanish: ''Dos monjes'') is a 1934 Mexican

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

film directed and co-written by

Juan Bustillo Oro Juan Bustillo Oro (2 June 1904 – 10 June 1989) was a Mexican film director, screenwriter and producer, whose career spanned over 38 years. Among his works there are ''In the Times of Don Porfirio'', ''Here's the Point'', ''Arm in Arm Down the ...

and starring

Víctor Urruchúa Víctor Urruchúa (30 December 1912 – 1981) was a Mexican actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 24 films between 1926 and 1951. He also directed 15 films between 1944 and 1953. Selected filmography * '' Two Monks'' (1934 - ...

and Carlos Villatoro.

Production

Filmed in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

on 35 mm

Academy ratio The Academy ratio of 1.375:1 (abbreviated as 1.37:1) is an aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio of a film frame, frame of 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film when used with negative pulldown, 4-perf pulldown.Monaco, James. ''How to Read a Film: The A ...

film. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

Carlos Toussaint.

Plot

In a Gothic

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, an ailing

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

, Brother Javier, has been acting out with violent emotions. The prior, fearing that he might be possessed by evil spirits, asks a new monk, Brother Juan, to tend to him. When Juan enters Javier's cell, the two recognize each other, and Juan runs out, followed by Javier, who strikes him with a

crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...

and retreats back to his cell. Questioned by the prior, Javier reveals that he and Juan had once been best friends but that Juan had betrayed him. He then relates this story through a flashback. Some time before, Javier is a consumptive composer working on a song. Ana, a young woman who lives in the next house, sings along with him but is forced away from the window by her parents. When a prospective suitor calls on Ana, Javier is pleased to see that she has driven him away, but she is cast out by her parents. Javier and his mother take Ana in, and Javier eventually proposes marriage. Javier is happy to see his friend Juan return from a long voyage, but as the two friends and Ana spend time together, Juan seems attracted to Ana while Javier's illness becomes more severe. Apparently recovering, Juan is surprised when Javier tells him that he must go away again and asks Javier one evening to help his lawyer review some business matters. Feeling ill, Javier returns to home early only to find Ana pushing herself away from Juan's embrace. Javier strikes Juan, who pulls out a pistol. When Juan shoots, though, Ana rushes between the two men and is killed. In his monastery cell, Javier concludes his story and asks the prior for

absolution Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Priest#Christianity, Christian priests and experienced by Penance#Christianity, Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, alth ...

. The prior, though, tells Javier that he must seek it from Juan. Juan also confesses and relates his version of the events described by Juan. He reveals that he and Ana had been in love before she met Javier, but the two were forced to part. Ana is still in love with Juan, but she feels obligated to marry Javier in gratitude for his support of her. When Javier becomes gravely ill, Ana believes that a marriage to him will be a short one, but Javier's apparent recovery leads Juan to plan to go far away from Ana. Sending Javier to his lawyer's office, Juan uses the occasion to see Ana one last time, but he is overcome by his emotions and tries to kiss her. Just then Javier returns, and in Juan's version of the story, it is Javier who accidentally shoots and kills Ana. Javier, now gravely ill and mentally overcome, runs out of his cell to the monastery's pipe organ, where he plays a

dissonant In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness, unple ...

version of the song he had earlier been composing. Turning around, he sees the prior and other monks gathered and envisions them as primitive grosteque figures about to attack him, and he collapses. Juan rushes to him and holds his former friend as Javier dies. The last image is of a cross above the door, suggesting some redemption.

Cast

as Juan * Carlos Villatoro as Javier *Magda Haller as Ana *Beltrán de Heredia as Prior *Emma Roldán as Gertrudis

Reception

In 2020 ''Two Monks'' was added to the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...

, spine #1048. Its visual style was compared to

German Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

by Criterion, who praised it as "vividly stylized, broodingly intense." Charles Ramírez Berg called it an "

existential Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...

mystery ��a brooding meditation on why things happened the way they did and an inconclusive inquiry into whether they could have happened some other way." The use of flashbacks giving contradictory accounts of the same event has been compared to ''

Rashomon is a 1950 Japanese ''jidaigeki'' film directed by Akira Kurosawa from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shinobu Hashimoto. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura, it follows various people who describe how a ...

'' (1950), which ''Two Monks'' preceded by 16 years. On the other hand, Carl J. Mora dismissed it as a "timid experiment" in his ''Mexican Films: A General History, 1896-1976'' (1981).

References

External links

* * *
''Dos monjes: Expressionism a la Mexicana''
an essay by Elisa Lozano at the

{{Juan Bustillo Oro 1934 drama films Mexican horror drama films 1930s Spanish-language films Films directed by Juan Bustillo Oro 1930s Mexican films 1930s horror drama films