El imperio de la fortuna (1986)

A very poor and handicaped man, lives in a small town in Mexico with his mother. He works announcing things along the town ("The priest lost his cow, if someone sees it ..."). He is very ... See full summary »

Director:

Arturo Ripstein

Writers:

Juan Rulfo (story "El gallo de oro"), Paz Alicia Garciadiego (screenplay)

Stars:

Ernesto Gómez Cruz, Blanca Guerra, Alejandro Parodi

12 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ernesto Gómez Cruz	...	Dionisio Pinzón
Blanca Guerra	...	La Caponera
Alejandro Parodi	...	Lorenzo Benavides
Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez	...	La Pinzona
Socorro Avelar	...	Madre de Dionisio
Juan Antonio Llanes	...	Cura de San Miguel
Carlos Cardán	...	Don Isabel
Loló Navarro	...	Doña Iris
Edmundo Barahona	...	Merenguero
Raymundo Gómez Cruz	...	Quitamantas
María Barber	...	Monja
Jorge Fegán	...	Juez Veedor
Alfonso Godínez	...	Amarrador
Emilio Ebergenyi	...	Padrino
José Ruvinskis	...	Padrino

Storyline

A very poor and handicaped man, lives in a small town in Mexico with his mother. He works announcing things along the town ("The priest lost his cow, if someone sees it ..."). He is very interested in the cock fightigs. One day a man gives him a looser cock, thinking to give him something to eat, but instead he takes care of the animal and it becomes a winner cock. He begins to win some money. La Caponera, a very good looking singer, erlier avoided him but now she uses her coquetry to gain some drinks. He thinks she is his talisman so she marries her when he becomes rich, taking her apart from the show-bizz, so she begins to feel very unhappy.

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Plot Keywords:

peasant | cockfight | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

28 November 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Realm of Fortune

Filming Locations:

Tlaxcala, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of El gallo de oro (1981)

User Reviews

Long, Dull, Predictable

The worst thing about this film is its length. It just doesn't end. It goes on and on.... and on. Many movies that exceed 2hrs don't feel too long, but this one really does. You see, the trouble is that the events in El Imperio de la fortuna unfold very slowly. And when they do happen it isn't exciting. Not even a little bit because it is exactly what you would have predicted to happen 20mins earlier. It has all the imagination of a paper weight, in the shape of a paper weight. The entire movie plot could be written on the side of a folded napkin.

All the characters are so dumb you feel no sympathy for any of them. "Can't you see what's going to happen to you if you continue along this path!!", I hollered at the TV screen on more than one occasion. Also hollered was: "Why are you doing that?", "What's that got to do with the movie?!" & "Get on with it!!".

Never before has such frustration been felt whilst watching a film. If there wern't subtitles to keep my eyes open I would surely have fallen asleep on the couch. I couldn't more highly unrecommend this movie 1/10.