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FICM 2013 pays tribute to José Rubén Romero

Every year, the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM) honors an important figure in Mexico cinema who was born in Michoacán. In 2012, FICM paid tribute to cinematographer José Ortiz Ramos, and in previous years, the festival has honored directors Miguel Contreras Torres, Fernando Méndez and the Alva Brothers; cinematographer Ezequiel Carrasco; actresses Stella Inda and Lilia Prado; and actors Julio Alemán and Damián Alcázar.

In our 11th edition, we are pleased to announce that thanks to the invaluable support of the UNAM Film Archives and the Fundacíon Televisa, FICM will pay tribute to José Rubén Romero, a writer, diplomat and academic who was born in Michoacán. Rubén Romero’s most famous novel, The Useless Life of Pito Pérez (1938) has been adapted to film on three occasions ¬– by Miguel Contreras Torres in 1943, by Juan Bustillo Oro in 1956, and by Roberto Gavaldón in 1969. In addition, his work Rosenda (1946) was transferred to the big screen by Julio Bracho in 1948. The Useless Life of Pito Pérez by Contreras Torres and Rosenda will be shown at the 11º FICM.

{{Rosenda}} (1948) by Julio Bracho

We present the first part of the text “Provincial Picturesqueness and Costumbrismo,” written by Eduardo de la Vega Alfaro about the work of José Rubén Romero:

“In mid-December of 1943, Michoacán filmmaker Miguel Contreras Torres, already well known for his long career in cinema, began shooting La vida inútil de Pito Pérez (The Useless Life of Pito Pérez), the first adaptation of the novel by the same name by fellow Michoacán writer José Rubén Romero González (Cotija de la Paz, September 25, 1890 – Mexico City, July 4, 1952). At that time, Romero was a member of the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua (he joined on August 21, 1941) and served as acting rector of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo. Contreras Torres conceived the film version of the consecratory novel by the famous author at least four years before, shortly after the novel – written in Río de Janeiro, Brazil, while the author was on one of his numerous diplomatic missions – began to achieve unusual success. In much of his extensive literary work, José Rubén Romero captured some of his experiences (and frustrations) as an activist in the Maderista movement in Michoacán and as an official in the governments that emerged from the liberal Revolution of 1910-1917. To a large extent, he owed his last posts to the unwavering support of Michoacán engineer and military officer, Pascual Ortiz Rubio, who became president of the country during the heyday of ‘Maximato Callista’.

In the case of La vida inútil de Pito Pérez, the exaltation of the literary work of José Rubén Romero was achieved by way of a sober and effective transfer of the tragicomic adventures of an alcoholic ruffian and “born philosopher” who returned to his native Santa Clara del Cobre after a long absence to try and return to the typical town life, without being able to do so.

{{La vida inútil de Pito Pérez}} (1943) by Miguel Contreras Torres

After its premiere on March 2, 1944, at the Palace Theater in Mexico City, Contreras Torres’ film received numerous favorable reviews that emphasized in particular the splendid work of the main character. But its status as a classic of Mexican cinema lies mainly in the manner in which the director was able to reach out, not so much to the character itself – who never exceeds dialectically his attributes of social outcast turned victim of a society to which he belongs as much as he wants to rebel against it – but to the village-like atmosphere that surrounds him. This is captured with genuine sensitivity and great sobriety by cameramen Ross Fischer and Ignacio Torres, whose refined provincial picturesqueness blended well with the nationalist aesthetic of the period (World War II) in which the country seemed to require more than ever these types of visual examples. It was also at the time when Mexican cinema was strengthening its position as the most important cultural industry in the Spanish-speaking world."

The complete text will be available in the 2013 FICM catalogue, which you will be able to buy at the box office or download in our web page on a date closer to the festival's beginning.