El bulto (1992)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Gabriel Retes

Writers:

Lourdes Elizarrarás (writer)
Gabriela Retes (writer)

Release Date:

28 August 1992 (Mexico)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

After being in a comma for 20 year, Lauro (Retes) wakes up in a very different Mexico than the one he lived on...

Plot Keywords:

Recovery | Historical Event | Family Relationships

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Gabriel Retes	...	Lauro
Héctor Bonilla	...	Alberto
Lourdes Elizarrarás	...	Adela
José Alonso	...	Toño
Delia Casanova	...	Alba
Cecilia Camacho	...	Valeria
Lucila Balzaretti	...	Grandma
Juan Claudio Retes	...	Daniel
Gabriela Retes	...	Sonia
Luis Felipe Tovar	...	Alfonso
Francisco de la O	...	Armando
Paloma Robles	...	Isabel
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Raúl Barrón	...	Paramedical 1
Francisco Bravo	...	Lauro's friend
Jorge Bulnes	...	Journalist 1
Aztlán Camacho	...	Killed man at meeting
Daniela Campesino	...	Natalia
Pilar Campesino	...	Lauro's friend
Sofía Campesino	...	Elenita
Javier Castillo	...	Meeting Leader
Antonio Chávez	...	Lauro's friend
Yuriria del Valle	...	Girlfriend 1
Alma Elizarrarás	...	Lauro's friend
Hermila García	...	Knocked woman at meeting
Alfonso Lora	...	Doctor 1
Gonzalo Lora	...	Rogelio
Joel Lora	...	Paramedical 2
Liliana Martínez	...	Samantha
Guadalupe Ortega	...	Lauro's friend
Alejandro Pacheco	...	Journalist 2
Jaime Ramos	...	Lauro's friend
Cristóbal Retes	...	Toñito
Elena Rivas	...	Claudia
Xavier Robles	...	Lauro's friend
Blanca Salcés	...	Mónica
Carlos Salcés	...	Alejandro
Paolo Tagliolini	...	Boyfriend 1
Víctor	...	Reporter

Also Known As:

Excess Baggage

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Cooperativa Conexión, S.C.L.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bienvenido-Welcome (1995)

You Shouldn't Have to Be a Mexican (or New Mexican)...

... to appreciate this film (but good luck finding a copy in the USA.) Reading IMDB's "external reviews" made me a bit ashamed of my fellow countrymen; the 3 "estadosunidenseados" there all panned it, and only a Mexican web site described it as "excepcional." At least the USA reviewer listed in the "newsgroup reviews" had the sense to give it 3 out of 4 stars, and that's about what it deserves. This Mexican Rip van Winkle tale has a lot of guts and a lot of psychological insight. If some viewers feel that leftist journalist Lauro, awakened from a 20-year coma to a very changed world, is a bit one-dimensional, hence unsympathetic, in his central role, perhaps they're just too young to remember how one-dimensional politics and society looked in 1971, the year Lauro is clubbed over the head by PRI thugs while photoing a demonstration that turns into a "police riot" a la Chicago 1968. Beyond that, I find that the scene where Lauro comes to in his hospital bed is very moving, and the exposition of his situation and difficulties afterwards is actually quite plausible. I wound up sympathizing both with Lauro and with his friends and family who are getting increasingly irritated with his failure to adjust to radically changed circumstances. The only complaint I have is that the ending-- the last few minutes-- seems very contrived and implausible. But then again, it is consistent with the Latin American literary tradition of "magical realism." Please excuse my fit of pique, but I don't think you should have to be Latino (I'm not) to understand that other cultures have different cultural practices, and their artistic products call for a certain discretion in judgment.