Michael_Elliott Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz, The (1955) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Luis Bunuel film that sounds more interesting than it turns out to be. As a young child, Archibaldo is told of a magical magic box that when turned on will kill. As an adult, Archibaldo comes across this box again and this times plans to use it to help him become a serial killer. There's a lot of black humor scattered throughout the film but very little of it made me laugh. The opening segments bashing the rich were funny but the film slowly falls apart in the middle and never regains any speed. The story is a very good one but the director does very little with it, which is a shame because this should have been a whole lot better.

JoeKarlosi My third Luis Bunuel film, and interesting enough, if not as good as the others I've seen so far (EL - ***, and BELLE DU JOUR - ***1/2). In this movie I missed being treated to some of director Bunuel's more representative stylish flourishes, and I didn't know quite what to make out of this erratic story about a laid back type of fellow who keeps getting the urge to murder the various women he encounters, only to have his plan sabotaged always at the last moment. I'm thinking this was intended to be a black comedy, but it didn't strike me as very humorous except in occasional moments. This seems more of a "middle of the road" Bunuel film, based solely on the few I've seen. The ending left me thinking about the female character (which I suspect may be the idea) but when I read the biography of the young actress Miroslava Stern and the circumstances of her premature death just two weeks after completing this film, it sort of gave me a chill... she committed suicide and was cremated. **1/2 out of ****

MARIO GAUCI Following your advice, I recently `relented' to buying from Alapage the two Luis Bunuel Double-Feature discs released in France by Film Sans Frontieres. After watching them in their entirety, I cannot believe that I, who consider Bunuel my all-time favorite director and one of the true masters of the medium, have waited this long to acquire these DVDs. Actually while Alapage listed these DVDs at EUR25.73 on their site, they only cost me EUR21.51 each (excluding EUR12 shipping charges). So, if there is still anybody who has not purchased them yet, now may be the time to do so! Since I had never watched EL (1952) before, it was the first one to go through my DVD player. It was a chilling parable of an insanely jealous middle-aged man played with acute intensity by Arturo De Cordova. It afforded Bunuel ample opportunity to make practical use of overt Freudian symbolism without lending the film a heavy-handed air of pretentiousness. While there are some critics who consider it as merely `an engaging, minor work', I regard it as being among Bunuel's finest; arguably, with this film, Bunuel reached the culmination of his work in Mexico, but it also looks forward to similar sequences and themes he would tackle later on in his career, especially TRISTANA (1970) and, his last film, THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE (1977). EL was beautifully abetted by another of his low-budget Mexican films, the great black comedy THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ (1955). Again, critical reception was a bit muted in some circles, dismissing it as `just a throwaway oddity' typical of Bunuel's films of the period. However, it is much more than that: it is certainly very funny if you can accept its macabre sense of humor. It allowed Bunuel to create some of the most memorable images in all of his films, especially the celebrated dummy incineration scene, which could have been "inspired" by a similar scene in Michael Curtiz's marvelous MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) which Bunuel must have seen while working at Warner Bros. in the Thirties. A similar instance of this eclectic approach on Bunuel's part can be found in the "walking hand" sequence in his THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962) - one of my favorite Bunuels - which harks back to an identical premise in Robert Florey's THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946), another Warner Bros. horror melodrama. For me, one of the enduring assets of THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ is the charm and great beauty that was Miroslava Stern (who played the part of Lavinia and was the model for the ill-fated dummy). Tragically, she would take her own life a mere two weeks after the film's release with her body, ironically enough, ending up cremated! Both the print utilized and the transfer for both films were adequate enough, and perfectly acceptable under the circumstances. However, EL's overall visual and aural qualities where distinctly superior to those of ARCHIBALDO which suffered from excessive specks and slight audio dropouts at times, but were never so alarming as to dispel from one's viewing pleasure of the film.

Night Must Fall (Spoilers) Misogynistic, yet emasculating serio-comedy from the great Buñuel. I have just seen this one for the second time, and enjoyed it even more than before. Although it has misogynistic implications (actually rather more explicit than implicit), the fact that Archibaldo (perfectly played by Ernesto Alonso)never does succeed in carrying out his daydreams of harm to the various women in his life, this fact emasculates his character. The women are not victorious, however, for for every Archie and his failed attempts, the ladies all suffer at the hands of the other men in their lives. Therefore, the misogyny prevails.I was a bit offended by this film the first time around (when I saw it about 3 years ago), but having seen more of Buñuel's work and more films, both foreign and domestic (US)) of its ilk since, I decided to give it another chance, and am glad that I did. The movie's ironic nature saves it from being too cruel to enjoy. That and the fact that, after the talk with the doctor, Archibaldo seems to reform at the film's end, drowning (in effect burying or suppressing) the music box (the symbol of his deranged desires, and the object to which he attributes dominance, power and virility), throwing away his cane (another crutch), and walking off with Lavinia, who seemed to make him happiest during the film (as opposed to the other women).The characters of Particia and Carlota (and Lavinia, to a slightly lesser extent) are seen as shrewish and scheming – they certainly all have their own agendas and never come across as wholly innocent – which lends feelings of sympathy towards Archibaldo (who is being used by all of them).Themes of Catholicism pervade the film, although not in a heavy-handed way. The symbolism, typical of Buñuel, was strong and put to good use, i.e.: the mannequin (represents Lavinia), the music box (see above), the straight razor (a phallic symbol and violence), the cane (a `crutch'), the pottery wheel (goes around and around and no way out, representing Archie's situation), the flaming drink (foreshadows his fantasy for Lavinia), her tour guide/interpreters job (language barrier miscommunication/repression of the true feelings of the characters).It is interesting to note that Alejandro, the married man with whom Carlota is having an affair, is often addressed as `Architect' instead of by his name. An architect creates and builds, whereas his character destroys – another great touch in a movie full of them.Some thoughts: 1) How long will Archie's reformation last – if it is genuine at all? 2) I felt sorry for Archie for not being able to actually carry out one of his dastardly fantasies – instead, in each case, he was `saved' by circumstance. This was surely the filmmakers' intent. Well, it worked! 3) Archie is guilty, in his mind, of actually committing the crimes – hence his `confession' to the doctor. This is why he throws the music box (he thought it was partially responsible) in the pond. Good character development/insight into his psyche. 4) I think the writer(s) and director did a an excellent job of conveying to us Archie's early life at home with his mother (who didn't seem to care about him), the hated Nanny (whose death started the chain of events), and the (absent) father. In including this glimpse of his early life, we gain a better understanding of Archie's character (his up-bringing plus this event) and can perhaps conclude that these may be contributing factors to why he did what he did/why he was who he was.RECOMMENDED!