The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955)
"Ensayo de un crimen" (original title)

The delirious journey of a mental disordered man, who is obsessed in making the perfect crime.

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (screenplay), Eduardo Ugarte (screenplay),

Stars:

Miroslava, Ernesto Alonso, Rita Macedo

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Miroslava	...	Lavinia
Ernesto Alonso	...	Archibaldo de la Cruz
Rita Macedo	...	Patricia Terrazas
Ariadna Welter	...	Carlota Cervantes
Andrea Palma	...	Mrs. Cervantes
Rodolfo Landa	...	Alejandro Rivas
José María Linares-Rivas	...	Willy Corduran (as J.M. Linares Rivas)
Leonor Llausás	...	The Governess
Eva Calvo	...	Señora de la Cruz, Archibaldo's mother
Enrique Díaz 'Indiano'	...	Señor de la Cruz, Archibaldo's father (as Enrique Indiano)
Carlos Riquelme	...	The Commissioner
Chabela Durán	...	Sister Trinidad
Carlos Martínez Baena	...	Priest (as Carlos M. Baena)
Manuel Dondé	...	Colonel at wedding
Armando Velasco	...	Judge

Storyline

A bizarre black comedy about a man whose overwhelming ambition in life is to be a renowned serial killer of women, and will stop at nothing to achieve it - but not everything goes according to plan...

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Plot Keywords:

black comedy | high heels | stockings | dead woman on floor | confession | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

19 May 1955 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alianza Cinematográfica Española

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie was shot in the middle of a big economic crisis for the Mexican cinema. Production was about to be shot down a few times and the famous scene with the mannequin being cremated was filmed only once because they couldn't afford another mannequin.

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Connections

Featured in Speaking of Bunuel (2000)

User Reviews

"Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action."

I don't understand why some reviewers call "Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz" (1955) - "minor" Bunuel. The only "minor" about this (and many his films) is its running time, only 89 minutes but all his films are enigmatic, odd, charming, and always brilliant. I consider Bunuel one of the best and original filmmakers ever and nothing he had done is minor for me.

"Criminal Life of Archibaldo De La Cruz is B/W comedy of Don Luis' Mexican period which is surreal, disturbing, erotic and funny satire about a perverted young wealthy man, an amateur sculptor. Since he was a boy, and one evening witnessed the sudden death of his young attractive governess and became sexually exited by it, Archibaldo De La Cruz dreams of committing a perfect crime of an attractive woman to recreate the feeling but something always prevents him from fulfilling his dreams. It does not mean that the deaths would not occur -it is just that Archibaldo can't take a credit for them. As he often did with his even unlikable and perverse characters, Bunuel gives some of his own sexual fantasies, fetishes, and dreams that he freely admits to Archibaldo thus making him more human and sympathetic.