05 · 22 · 25

Aurora Clavel (1936-2025) and TARAHUMARA (ALWAYS FURTHER ON)

Rafael Aviña

In September 1968, the Cultural Program of the Games of the XIX Olympiad, which was going to take place in México, included the play Moctezuma II, an original work by Sergio Magaña, directed by none other than Alejandro (Jodorowsky) and featured Ignacio López Tarso, Stella Inda, and Aurora Clavel at Teatro Hidalgo. At the time, actress Aurora Clavel (1936-2025), native of Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, had already co-starred in an important film: Tarahumara (Always Further On) (1964) by Luis Alcoriza; she also played small acting roles in American productions that were filmed in México. One of those productions was the successful television series I Spy or the film Juramento de venganza/Major Dundee (1965) by Sam Peckinpah, starring Charlton Heston and Richard Harris. Major Dundee was a violent western set in the context of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Other Mexican actors also appeared in this film: Enrique Lucero, José Carlos Ruiz, and Begoña Palacios, who would later marry Sam Peckinpah after filming concluded. Clavel also participated in Guns for San Sebastian, Birds of Prey, and The Wild Bunch, all directed by Peckinpah.

Teodora Gloria Clavel Gallardo—her real name—possessed a beautiful, dark-skinned face, great histrionic ability, and charisma. In the early sixties, her participation in Carnaval de mi barrio (as a dancer without receiving credit), Rosa blanca, El tejedor de milagros, El mundo de las drogas, or The Shark Hunters, led to her obtaining the female leading role in the ambitious and controversial film Tarahumara. She was chosen for this complex character due to her demonstrated acting ability.

The movie combined Alcoriza’s documentary and fictional styles, exploring the thesis of misunderstood rurality contaminated by civilization. This theme appeared in various settings—the sugar factory of Tlayucan, the fish processing plant of Tiburoneros, or the sawmill in the Sierra of Chihuahua in Tarahumara. In this last location, anthropologist Raúl (Ignacio López Tarso) arrives to document and photograph an isolated indigenous community that has been exploited by white and mestizo men. Tomás (Eric del Castillo), who runs the sawmill, wants to force the natives to work for him. He kills a lamb belonging to the Rarámuri Corachi (Jaime Fernández) using Raúl’s rifle. Raúl compensates Corachi for the dead animal, and that's how their friendship begins.

Raúl prepares to travel to the capital with indigenous leader Muraca (Regino Herrera), but Muraca is murdered. Meanwhile, young Roniali (Alfonso Mejía) is being tried for having raped a teenager named Nori (Berta Castillón). Previously, Nori had attempted to seduce Raúl, but he rejected her advances. Instead, he had an affair with Belén (Aurora Clavel), Corachi’s wife, who had given birth weeks earlier. Raúl decides to go with Corachi, who would take Muraca’s place, but Raúl is murdered. In the end, Corachi chases after the small plane that carried his friend’s corpse.

Tarahumara was inspired by a collection of photographs depicting a Rarámuri community that Alcoriza acquired from a photojournalist. This film condemned the sexual abuse that Tarahumara women suffer at the hands of chabochis (white men), the murders of indigenous community members that are disguised as suicides, the theft of their livestock, and the exploitative wages paid for their work. The director avoided portraying indigenous people as idyllic or “exotic” beings. Through this work, Alcoriza achieved a critical distance from his subject matter, eliminating any trace of folklorism to conclude his rural trilogy with a flourish. He won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Festival, the Silver Goddess Award for Best Film¹, and La Cabeza de Palenque [Head of Palenque Award]² at the 8th Acapulco Film Festival³. The National Institute of Indigenous Peoples denied that the Tarahumara community participated in the film's production by allowing their women to act in it. Nevertheless, Aurora Clavel delivered an outstanding histrionic performance that explored how sexual desire could be consensual, as well as addressing the community's alcoholism despite its connection to traditional rituals. 

Aurora Clavel participated in over seventy films, including: Los Juniors, The Cubs, National Mechanics, El Principio, The One Who Came from Heaven, Do You Hear the Dogs Barking?, En el país de los pies ligeros, Goitia -- A God for Himself, and the fantastic Spiral by Oaxacan director Jorge Pérez Solano. She also acted in other remarkable foreign films such as: Two Mules for Sister Sara by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine, where Clavel played a sex worker. In Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid by Sam Peckinpah, she portrayed Garret’s wife (James Coburn’s character). Aurora Clavel would pave the way for other Oaxacan actresses, including Patricia Reyes Spíndola, Mónica del Carmen, Ángeles Cruz, Teresa Ruiz, Mayra Sérbulo, and Yalitza Aparicio.

Translated by Abigail Puebla

Translator's Notes

1. TN: The Silver Goddess Award is a film award granted annually by the Mexican Film Journalists Association (PECIME) in recognition of professionals and excellence in the Mexican film industry. 

2. TN: La Cabeza de Palenque was established as the award of the Acapulco Film Festival.

3. TN: The Acapulco Film Festival (Reseña Mundial de Festivales Cinematográficos de Acapulco) was a film festival held annually from 1959 to 1968 in Acapulco, México, and again in 1987. Its objective was to provide the Mexican public with an overview of world cinema.