A Sweet Scent of Death (1999)
"Un dulce olor a muerte" (original title)

Early morning in the oat fields of Carranco, Ramón runs into the dead body of his secret teenage love Adela. After he covers her naked body with his shirt, the gossip in town is that ... See full summary »

Director:

Gabriel Retes

Writers:

Guillermo Arriaga (novel), Edna Necoechea (script)

Stars:

Diego Luna, Laila Saab, Karra Elejalde

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Diego Luna	...	Ramón
Laila Saab	...	Adela
Karra Elejalde	...	El Gitano
Ana Álvarez	...	Gabriela
Héctor Alterio	...	Justino
Odiseo Bichir	...	Pascual
Juan Carlos Colombo	...	La Amistad
Alfredo Alfonso	...	Natalio
Ignacio Retes	...	Marcelino
Edna Necoechea	...	Francisca
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez	...	Pedro
Gabriel Retes	...	Carmelo
Álvaro Carcaño	...	Cruz
Socorro Bonilla	...	Clotilde
Tina Romero	...	La Chata

Storyline

Early morning in the oat fields of Carranco, Ramón runs into the dead body of his secret teenage love Adela. After he covers her naked body with his shirt, the gossip in town is that Ramón's girlfriend is been found murdered. Meanwhile, the Gitano (the gypsy) has left Carranco after a night of love and sex with Gabriela, suddenly interrupted by a flash light of an unknown bearer. That night at the local bar, where Justino, the town sheriff and other regular costumers discuss what should be done, La Amistad, pointing his flashlight to them shouts "el gitano murdered the girl". Marcelino, a bitter old man pushes Ramón to avenge his "girlfriend"'s murder. Now Ramón will have to prove to the people in his town that he's now a man or leave the town in shame.

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Plot Keywords:

sheriff | murder | small town sheriff | topless female nudity | dead girl | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Details

Country:

Mexico Argentina Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

24 September 1999 (Spain)

Also Known As:

A Sweet Scent of Death

Filming Locations:

Carranco, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

User Reviews

A disgrace

This movie is basically a tele-novelization of Guillermo Arriaga's book "Un Dulce Olor a Muerte" (English translation available in the UK), and a movie which the author (also screenwriter of Amores Perros and 21 Grams) has rightly disavowed. Its poor acting and unauthentic portrayal of rural Mexico are a disgrace to Arriaga's novel. The makers of this movie failed to recognize ALL of the important literary themes in Arriaga's book - namely the visceral response and repulsion of death, and the impossible dead end/catch-22 of postmodern existence - themes which Arriaga continued to examine in Amores Perros and 21 Grams.

Please promise me that you will never see this movie and instead will do the following:

A) read the novel or B) go and watch Amores Perros

but preferably

C) do both.