Own the rights?
I have the most respect for Bunuel's Mexican period. It is during those years that he directed what is in my opinion his masterpiece, after Un Chien Andalou, that is Los Olvidados. Unlike the pessimistic nature of that movie that seems to say Mexican life ruins itself from the inside, La ilusion viaja en tranvia looks almost like a Fellini movie in being understanding of people's idiosyncrasies. As a movie you shouldn't expect much, the purpose of the film when it was created was merely to entertain, Bunuel didn't get much out of these films, neither financially nor in terms of recognition. The fact that Subida al Cielo was nominated for the Cannes awards left me quite puzzled at some point. As entertainment this movie works pretty well even now, and I don;t think that people watching this could get bored at any point.The real virtue of the film, although, lies in the image it gives us of the Mexican life in the mid fifties. I mean why would anyone actually watch such a movie today, after more than half a century. This is a "piece of evidence" showing us what Mexico looked like back then, it was interesting for me to see the people, clothes, cars, general poverty and occasional richness, the street lighting etc.The funniest scene of the film, if I got it right, I think was the one when one of the characters accidentally makes the acquaintance of some smugglers that were transporting corn in bags disguised to look like fertilizer made in the U.S.A. Think for a moment: American fertilizer imported by Mexico given its hyperinflation?!... Now that's funny! The best part is that even if you could "read" this movie as being essentially leftist, Bunuel does manage to keep a balance between justice the worker's cause and their impotence in doing anything for it. Unlike Wajda's A Generation (a movie also dealing with the worker's condition and their need to rebel) released the next year, Buneul is never overtly Marxist and there are moments when I almost tend to think he is criticizing the idea of people's rebellion.The script is good, the actors do a fairly good job, especially Agustin Isunza who interprets a character who dedicated his whole life for the company and is frustrated at seeing the tram "stolen" by a bunch of newcomers. Lilia Prado is even prettier than two years back in Subida al Cielo. Plenty of stuff to be enjoyed here 8/10
You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.
