As usual, we will give a short introduction to the film, and after the presentation you are welcome to stay for a discussion.

Some films are adult in nature and may not be appropriate for young audiences.

Description: Moved by nostalgia of my childhood in Peru and my first experience as a child watching popular movies on Peruvian National TV, I chose to present to you in this Film Series “El Bolero de Raquel” (Raquel’s Bolero). As any other family in my native country, on long holiday weekends, my grandmother and I used to watch classic Mario Moreno “Cantinflas” movies from the great 1950s Mexican Golden Cinema. These movies are still extremely popular in Latin America. “Cantinflas” –the Mexican Groucho Marx– was one of the most talented comic actors in Latin America. In his more than 50 movies, he portrayed the “pícaro” (trickster) character. Cantinflas follows the tradition of “pícaros” in the history of the Spanish literature like “Lazarillo de Thormes” (1554) and “Periquillo Sarniento” (1816). In “El Bolero de Raquel,” Cantinflas portrays a bootblack trickster and the tutor of an orphan who is capable of turning the world upside down using body language as well as speech called in Spanish “vacilada”. His carnivalesque language creates ambivalently funny situations that eventually subvert the social hierarchies and are used by him as a way to liberate his character. This movie not only represents an opportunity get to know one of the most classic Latin American comedies of all times, but also is an opportunity to see the changes in Mexico City during the 50s —the complex problems which were brought by industrial capitalism and urbanization which pulled migrants from the country side into chaotic city life (by Mildred Lopez).