The Virgin of Lust

Colour, 35 mm
Mexico, Spain, Portugal, 2002, 110 min
Section: Tribute to Arturo Ripstein

Synopsis

The Second World War also finds its way to Mexico’s capital city. Here, in the café Ofelia, a sadomasochistic relationship begins between the timid young waiter Ignacio and the mysterious Spanish prostitute Lola. The café and the entire arcade are authentic venues where intellectuals used to meet, along with Spanish emigrés who actually came here to hold their discussions. Paz Alicia Garcíadiego reworked the story by Max Aub; the tale concentrates on Ignacio who allows himself to be used by the inconstant Lola. It then moves towards its dramatic climax while the specific plot line is progressively broken down along various minor tangents, thus rendering the narrative somewhat confusing. Arturo Ripstein ultimately focuses for the most part on a faithful depiction of the period atmosphere using costumes and music, with the action played out in a studio location. While the literary model was a gently surrealistic anecdote about a Mexican waiter who gets himself involved in the attempt to assassinate General Franco, the film version transforms everything into moving images of national history. Although the film’s title conjures up a sense of erotic carnival, the work is more a salacious blend of television and film aesthetics. The long camera pans within an enclosed space provide the only dynamism in an otherwise highly compact, almost immobile huis clos environment, which every character colours with grotesqueness or political satire. In this case, the mock-up of the setting is not a veiled shortcoming, but the backdrop for a historical sketch.