The Realm of Fortune

Colour, 35 mm
Mexico, 1985, 135 min
Section: Tribute to Arturo Ripstein

Synopsis

Dionisio Pinzón looks after a cock wounded in the cockfighting arena known as the “palenque”. The animal rewards him with a series of victories, thanks to which his master becomes wealthy. His life changes when he meets the beautiful La Caponera, but he has to fight for her with the powerful Lorenzo Benavides. The two men come face to face in the cockpit and at the card table, the region’s two major vices. But, like gambling, love doesn’t always have to lead to ruin. The screenplay was based on the story by Mexican novelist Juan Rulfo, which has seen many screen adaptations. The first was written in 1964 by Gabriel García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes. After its various renditions, the story lost some of its insistent, magic-realist atmosphere, which however is re-evoked by Arturo Ripstein. He tells the story of a man whose life is influenced by a series of magical elements; these are not miracles in themselves, however, screenwriter Paz Alicia Garcíadiego added several details which, while not in the original story, detract from some of the plot’s realism but add to its mystery. The Realm of Fortune launched new Mexican cinema as it forged its path during the Eighties. Typical of this wave is the endeavour to break away from traditional melodramatic schemes, which the filmmakers achieve by highlighting poverty and by making references to mythology or the magic realism of ordinary life. Unappealing characters are convulsed in feverish passion while, at the same time, often turning away from traditional Christian values. Arturo Ripstein reflects this trend in his films, which embrace the aesthetics of hunger, destitution and decline.