Antonieta (1982)

A French psychologist investigates about famous suicidal women. She finds the case of Antonieta Rivas Mercado, a Mexican writer who died inside Paris' Notre Dame in 1931. To follow the ... See full summary »

Director:

Carlos Saura

Writers:

Jean-Claude Carrière (screenplay), Jean-Claude Carrière (story),

Stars:

Isabelle Adjani, Hanna Schygulla, Ignacio López Tarso

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Isabelle Adjani	...	Antonieta Rivas Mercado
Hanna Schygulla	...	Anna
Ignacio López Tarso	...	Vargas
Carlos Bracho	...	José Vasconcelos
Gonzalo Vega	...	Manuel Rodriguez Lozano
Bruno Rey	...	Alvaro Obregon
Fernando Balzaretti	...	Secretario Vasconcelos
Víctor Junco	...	Portirio Diaz
Víctor Alcocer	...	Orado
Narciso Busquets	...	Arq, Rivas Mercado
José Lavat	...	Esposo, Antonieta's Husband
Héctor Alterio	...	Leon
María Montaño	...	Carmen Mondragon
Fernando Palavicini	...	Amigo Vasconcelos
Enrique Beraza	...	Assistente Vasconcelos

Storyline

A French psychologist investigates about famous suicidal women. She finds the case of Antonieta Rivas Mercado, a Mexican writer who died inside Paris' Notre Dame in 1931. To follow the investigation she travels to Mexico to reveal her life.

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Plot Keywords:

mexico | psychologist | writer | mexican | french | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Details

Country:

France Mexico Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

21 October 1982 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Antonieta, to ainigma mias gynaikas

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 38,274,776 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Corporación Nacional Cinematográfica (CONACINE), France 3 Cinéma, Gaumont International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First film of Diego Luna.

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Soundtracks

"La cucaracha"

User Reviews

Antonieta (1982)

A rare dud by Saura. A French psychologist (Fassbinder regular Hanna Schygulla) is researching female suicide and travels to Mexico to study the life of Antonieta Rivas Mercado (Isabella Adjani), a writer and political activist who shot herself in Notre Dame. This wasn't Saura's project, he basically did it as a director-for-hire, and there's little to no passion in it. Very uneventful and dull, a lot of political information but not much insight into Antonieta's interior life. We get a sense of why she's important to Mexican culture, but not why she's a character worth spending time with. The few interesting moments (particularly when Schygulla "meets" Adjani) are overwhelmed by dry biographical data, with Adjani pretty much sleepwalking through the role. It didn't help that the DVD was wretched, clearly transferred from a VHS source, and a poor one at that.