Nonureva Really Surprised!

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

bland-kevin67 I love the drive in this movie. It sweeps from country to city with wonderful undertones and great panoramic scenes. The actors did a great job and the directing was superb. The story is told in a hurry up and wait fashion that I usually see in Italian films. The ruthlessness of the general is played down with the tender way he treats his wife and family. It leaves you confused and unsure who to root for. I also love when actors can pull of playing very young to mature and have you believing it. Entitlement is a universal theme where the very rich takes advantage of the poor. I loved the lead actress how she played the part and the story kept going as if it would never end and you wanted to keep watching. It kind of makes one wish there was a sequel to this historic fiction based upon real characters.

jotix100 Angeles Mastretta's 1985 novel, "Arrancame la vida", was a huge success in Mexico as well as in many Spanish speaking countries. The title, which can be translated as "tear out my life", was also the title of a famous Mexican song, which is heard at the end of the film sung by Tona La Negra, one of the best Mexican singers of all times.The narrative centers around Catalina Guzman. As the story begins, she is a young woman that is dazzled by a much older man, Andres Ascencio. They get married, much against her father's objections. Catalina is not prepared for what her life will turn out with her new status. Andres, an ambitious, and well connected man in Puebla, decides to run for governor of the state. Before getting married Catalina had consulted a seer to see what her future will be and the fact she wanted to 'feel'. The woman's advice is a blunt one: she will use her sex in order to fulfill herself. A prophetic omen, indeed.Right after Catalina and Andres have their first child, he comes in with two other children he had sired with another woman. Catalina, who is inexperienced, plus having to rear her own infant, is confused and resentful of the strangers that are thrown into her lap; a new responsibility she didn't count on. Andre, a womanizer, will bring another daughter into the household.Andres decides to take the family to Mexico City where he will be closer to influential people as he wishes to run for the presidency, eventually. Walking into the Bellas Artes auditorium one day, Catalina watches a rehearsal of the local symphony orchestra. The director, Carlos Vives, gets annoyed with her presence. He wants her to step to the rear of the theater where she will not distract the players. That meeting will mark a turning point in Catalina's life. Unfortunately, Catalina doesn't realize how her amorous involvement with Carlos will change her life as well as cause his death.This epic account of Ms. Mastretta's novel was written and directed by Roberto Sneider. The film gets the basic points of the novel in cinematic terms resulting in an engrossing story that, although predictable up to a point, doesn't prepare the viewer for the way Catalina's resolve will free her at the end.Ana Claudia Talancon, who we first met in "El crimen del padre Amaro", makes an excellent impression with her Catalina. Ms. Talancon goes from a young woman to a sophisticated society lady effortlessly. Equally good is the Andres of Daniel Gimenez Cacho, a wonderful actor that always delivers. Jose Maria De Tavira appears as Carlos Vives, the orchestra leader that falls in love with Catalina.Javier Aguirresarobe's cinematography takes us to places in Mexico that are overlooked by most of his fellow cameramen. The music by Leonardo Heilblum and Jacobo Lieberman does wonder for the picture. Roberto Sneider, an actor turned director, shows he has a talent that needs to be seen.

hawparks In my opinion this is by far the best and most important Mexican movie since "La Sombra del Caudillo". A movie also made from a novel in 1960 that was seized by the army and never released, and was done in the same style of using fictitious names. After I heard that this movie was filmed in my home town Puebla (I'm a US citizen now living in LA), and a candidate for a nomination for best foreign film, I rushed for the book and read it. It didn't take too long for me to realize who and what she (Angeles Mastretta) was talking about, and I loved it. So I rushed for the DVD and couldn't find it, but somehow I saw the movie. In the version that I saw, I noticed an important and brief episode from the book (among others) that was missing in the movie almost at the end. I'm referring to a serenade performed by the best and most popular artists in those days, Pedro Vargas and Agustin Lara (there's a statue of Lara in a park in Los Angeles), that ended in a clean fist fight won by the kid with the motorcycle, that the young daughter of the general loved, and who mysteriously died a few days later in a motorcycle accident (?). Who was the rich kid? Well, who could afford to take these artists to Puebla for a simple serenade? But who wants to be an enemy of the media anyway. I wonder if the richest man in the world, whose name appears at the end in the credits as contributor to the movie, also contributed to the omission of this episode or if it was not filmed at all, that, I don't know. But anyway that is not too important compared to another character that is almost invisible in the book (and movie) by the name of "Don Mike Heiss". If you find out who he really was then do a simple research, like I did, and visit the archives of the New York Times. You'll be surprise of these articles from 1917 (the year Zapata was murdered)-1919 (Villa was murdered a few years later) when USA was about to invade Mexico again just to liberate this special agent ("Heiss") from a Puebla penitentiary. "HEISS" became the richest man in Mexico and probably in the world after Rockefeller, and was the partner of all the richest man in Mexico at the time, with the help of "General Ascencio", who was in charge of making offers nobody could refuse. After "Ascencio" died, "Cienfuegos" became one of the richest men in the world during the six years he was president. All this just proves that unfortunately there is nothing to celebrate next year on the centennial of the revolution the 18th day of November 1910, with the exception of remembering Aquiles Serdan the first martyr of the unconsummated and so-called revolution, initiated also in my beautiful home town of Puebla de Los Angeles (Mastretta?). The acting in this movie is the best I've seen in many years. Thank you Ana Claudia, Daniel and Roberto, from now on you are my favorite actors and director. Please don't go to Hollywood, you all are more needed in Mexico.

MarianoDanush This movie may contain some strong scenes, but it is a good screenplay that becomes great by the excellent performance of Daniel Gimenez Cacho. Ana Claudia Talancon makes a good performance look even better by her beauty. But unfortunately not all actors in this movie are good, I'm talking of the horrible work that Jose Maria de Tavira does in this movie, its a bad acting work but it looks like garbage compared to his coworker Gimenez Cacho. The screenplay its a great adaptation of the books written by Angeles Mastretta, this screenplay was done by the author of the book and the director, Roberto Sneider. The movie takes a theme that reminds you of La Ley de Herodes, so it portrays the old fashion politicians in Mexico, which still exist. The directors work is a good work which makes you try to remember his name, i personally hadn't seen any of his previews works but now that I've seen this one I'm sure gonna see his next work, he directed Dos Crimenes with Pedro Armendariz Jr. and Damian Alcazar. The movie is worth seeing and you enjoy it a great deal thanks to the acting of Gimenez Cacho, i hope to see more lead roles from him. So i hope you enjoy this one, and it has been already released so i don't know why it is shown as in production still.