Elda Peralta | First Impressions

A taxidermist is married to a wife who constantly nags, feigns illness and tells neighbours he’s is abusing her whenever he doesn’t do what she wants. What do you think will happen? EL ESQUELETO DE LA SEÑORA MORALES/ THE SKELETON OF MRS MORALES (Rogelio A. Gonzalez. Mexico, 1960) was voted 19^th in a list of the top 100 films in the history of Mexican cinema and currently on MUBI as part of the ‘Spectacle Every Day: The Many Seasons of Mexican Cinema’. Based on a short story by Arthur Machen, ‘The Islington Mystery, the film stars Arturo de Córdova, Amparo Rivelles and Elda Peralta and is written by Luis Alcoriza, who that year also wrote Buñuel’s THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL’. In the podcast we discuss all of this plus the film’s visuals, pacing, tone, whether it’s macabre rather than Surrealist, whether it’s misogynist …and more. Our favourite in the series thus far. Rogelio A. González is a director we’d never heard of. This film makes us want to see more of his work.

The podcast may be listened to here:

The podcast can also be listened to on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2zWZ7Egdy6xPCwHPHlOOaT

and on itunes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/first-impressions-thinking-aloud-about-film/id1548559546

Machen’s short story may be read here:

Some stills from the film:

José Arroyo

Two sisters, one a prostitute and one a bourgeois housewife, meet accidentally after many years. Turns out the pimp of one is trying to con the other out of her money. Marriage ends up offering no security and the bourgeois also ends up on the street, like her sister. A female perspective on sex and marriage evoking a great mistrust of the social construction of romantic love. Truly radical for its time, in the way that it so clearly positions marriage as equivalent to prostitution, and makes husbands equivalents to pimps. The third film directed by Matilde Landeta, who had to fight the director’s guild in order to be allowed to direct at all, and who would not direct another film after this one for another forty years. A film to see. Currently screening under the rubric of Spectacle Every Day: The Many Seasons of Mexican Cinema, on MUBI. With Miroslava, Ernesto Alonso and Elda Peralta.

The podcast may be listened to here: