El (1953)

A husband's suave exterior unravels after his marriage, and he unleashes his paranoid and volatile temper on his wife, which escalates to more dangerous and unpredictable tantrums.

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (story), Luis Alcoriza (story)

Stars:

Arturo de Córdova, Delia Garcés, Aurora Walker

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Arturo de Córdova	...	Francisco Galván de Montemayor
Delia Garcés	...	Gloria Vilalta
Aurora Walker	...	Doña Esperanza Vilalta
Carlos Martínez Baena	...	Padre Velasco
Manuel Dondé	...	Pablo
Rafael Banquells	...	Ricardo Luján
Fernando Casanova	...	Lic. Beltrán
José Pidal	...	Padre prior
Roberto Meyer	...	Licenciado
Luis Beristáin	...	Raúl Conde

Storyline

Francisco is rich, rather strict on principles, and still a bachelor. After meeting Gloria by accident, he is suddenly intent on her becoming his wife and courts her until she agrees to marry him. Francisco is a dedicated husband, but little by little his passion starts to exhibit disturbing traits. Nevertheless, Gloria meets with scepticism as she expresses her worries to their acquaintances.

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Plot Keywords:

passion | mansion | jealousy | church | abuse | 

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Taglines:

Another film masterpiece by the director of the prize-winning "The Young and the Damned"

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

9 July 1953 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

This Strange Passion

Filming Locations:

Estudios Tepeyac, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Producciones Tepeyac

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shot in three weeks.

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Connections

Referenced in Buñuel y la mesa del rey Salomón (2001)

User Reviews

Sick Jealousy and Paranoia

In Mexico, the wealthy, religious and leery middle-aged Francisco Galván (Arturo de Córdova) is battling in the justice to retrieve the possession of real-estates that belonged to his ancestors in the beginning of the Twentieth Century. When he sees the young Gloria Milalta (Delia Garcés) in the church, he becomes obsessed by the woman, unsuccessfully courting and stalking her. He follows her and sees Gloria with her fiancé and his acquaintance, the engineer Raul Conde, having lunch in a restaurant. Francisco schedules a ball in his mansion and invites Raul and along the night, he seduces Gloria. They get married and in the honeymoon, Gloria discovers that Francisco is virgin and has a sick jealousy for her. Along the years, the emotionally unbalanced Francisco oscillates between a passionate husband and a disturbed paranoid until the day Gloria leaves him and he has a mental breakdown.

"El" is a very simple and melodramatic film of Luis Buñuel about sick jealousy and paranoia. The plot shows the usual trademark of this great director, with religious element and the surrealistic paranoia of the lead character in the church, but is not original like most of his features. Arturo de Córdova and Delia Garcés have stunning performances, giving credibility to their characters. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Alucinado" ("The Hallucinated One")