Dos monjes (1934)

User Rating:

9.0/10   

Director:

Juan Bustillo Oro

Writers:

Juan Bustillo Oro (writer)
José Manuel Cordero (writer)

Release Date:

20 January 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

In a Gothic-styled monastery, a monk named Javier sees the face of another monk, Juan, and suddenly...

Plot Keywords:

Flashback Sequence

Cast

Víctor Urruchúa	...	Juan
Carlos Villatoro	...	Javier
Magda Haller	...	Ana
H. Beltran de Heder	...	Prior
Emma Roldán	...	Gertrudis
Alberto Miquel
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Bernaldez
José Cortés
Conchita Gentil Arcos
Hugo Taboada
Sofía Haller

Also Known As:

Two Monks (USA)

Runtime:

Mexico:85 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Proa Films

Caligari à la mexicana!

Who would have known that extreme Germanic expressionism was alive and well in the Mexican cinema of the mid-30's? This remarkable macabre melodrama has only recently been rediscovered in the rest of North America (see "Video Watchdog" #85 and Fab Press's anthology "Fear Without Frontiers"); had it not appeared in such isolated circumstances and been several years out of date in its own time, it would likely be looked on today as a seminal work. The style (both visually and in mise-en-scène) is pure UFA, with strong elements of early Lang, Wiene and Dreyer, and similar in design to many highly stylized early-talkie Hollywood chillers like "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "Svengali". There are huge, high-ceilinged sets with rampant diagonal lines, thick venetian-blind style shadows, tilted angles, abrupt and shaky camera movements, strikingly artificial compositions. The performances are appropriately intense and highly mannered, as is the musical score when it intrudes. The hallucinatory climax, with the main character wildly playing a lush romantic melody on the pipe organ as a group of gargoyle-like monks looks on, is a marvel of shivery montage, reminiscent of Gance's "J'Accuse".

Equally significant is the story structure, which relates the same tale of romantic trespass and murder, in turn, from two diverse points of view, anticipating "Rashomon" by many years. In that vein, an extremely clever touch is having the first narrator dressed in white in the flashback (considering himself the "good guy") and his rival in black, then switching the colours for the rival's version of the story.

Although the print is not in the finest condition (and only available in Spanish), this is a must-see for connoisseurs.