Eréndira (1983)

While Erendira, a beautiful teenage girl, has a surreal mystical vision, her grandmother's house catches on fire and burns to the ground. Her grandmother holds Erendira responsible and, in ... See full summary »

Director:

Ruy Guerra

Writers:

Gabriel García Márquez (novel), Gabriel García Márquez (screenplay)

Stars:

Irene Papas, Claudia Ohana, Michael Lonsdale

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Irene Papas	...	Grandmother Amadis
Claudia Ohana	...	Erendira
Michael Lonsdale	...	Senator Onésimo Sanchez
Oliver Wehe	...	Ulysses
Rufus	...	Photographer
Blanca Guerra	...	Ulysses' mother
Ernesto Gómez Cruz	...	Grocer
Pierre Vaneck	...	Ulysses' father
Carlos Cardán	...	Smuggler
Humberto Elizondo	...	Blacaman
Jorge Fegán	...	Army commander
Francisco Mauri	...	Postman
Sergio Calderón	...	Truck driver
Martín Palomares	...	Escort
Salvador Garcini	...	Puppet-player

Storyline

While Erendira, a beautiful teenage girl, has a surreal mystical vision, her grandmother's house catches on fire and burns to the ground. Her grandmother holds Erendira responsible and, in order to extract restitution from the girl, forces her into prostitution. Erendira's surreal mystical experiences continue while her grandmother grows rich from exploiting her.

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Plot Keywords:

house | prostitution | fire | grandmother's house | female protagonist | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France Mexico West Germany

Language:

Portuguese Spanish

Release Date:

1 June 1984 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

Erendira

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Triangle, Films A2, Ciné Qua Non

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on the story "La increíble y triste historia de la cándida Eréndira y su abuela desalmada" ("The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother"), by Nobel Prize-winning Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez.

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Quotes

Erendira: There was enough poison to kill a million rats.

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Connections

Referenced in Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film (2006)

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Soundtracks

"La chanson de Margaret"
By Pierre Dumarchais and V. Marceau
Éditions Enoch

User Reviews

Get in Line to See Erendira!

This is a gorgeous movie visually. The images of the Mexican desert, the old mansion, the characters in their picturesque costumes...all amount to a real work of art.

The story seems a bit loose, but that's because it's not meant to be realistic. It is taken from a book called One Hundred Years of Solitude, and it is supposed to be an evocation of the isolated, otherworldly atmosphere of Latin America "so far from God, and so close to the United States". The tremendous debt that Erendira owes to her grandmother is symbolic of Latin America's international debt burden, although there many layers of meaning.

If you can appreciate a slow-moving, richly-textured movie, this one is for you.