Another Fine Mexican Movie

Arráncame La Vida, a film about the life of a politician’s wife in post-revolution Mexico, is the latest home-made Mexican film to challenge the host of Hollywood productions for the moviegoer’s money.

The film’s debut was an auspicious one, according to local press reports on the amount of people who saw it in its first week. The numbers are somewhat miniscule, however, when compared to the sort of box office statistics that the likes of Batman command.

You don’t need accurate attendance numbers to know this. You can infer it by going along to one of the many “multicinemas” on the opening weekend and see whether you can get tickets for the next show, or have to settle for one of the alternatives: buy tickets for the late late (Cindarella) show, which involves getting home way past midnight and finding something to do to fill the hours before the film starts, with the danger of caffeine overload; wait until the following week by which time you may no longer want to see it; wait for the DVD to come out, and discover yet again that no matter how large and how flat your screen, or how quadraphonic your surround sound, some films are simply meant to be watched in a theater.

But the point (to this entry) is that Mexican cinema has had a bit of a comeback in recent years, with a number of excellent productions, and Arráncame La Vida (Tear Apart My Life?) is one of them.

To find out about the film, go to www.arrancamelavida.com. To really find out about it, go to the cinema. Tickets are probably available for the next showing.