10 · 23 · 24 BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE Ends the Mexico Imaginario program at FICM 2024 Share with twitter Share with facebook Share with mail Copy to clipboard Omar Sosa To conclude the presentations of the Mexico Imaginario program at the 22nd Morelia International Film Festival (FICM), Daniela Michel, founder and general director of the festival, and Imogen Smith, film historian and critic, presented the film Buchanan Rides Alone (1958, dir. Budd Boetticher). Imogen Smith The Mexico Imaginario program has been held at FICM since its 2007 edition and was initiated by French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, with the aim of exploring the perception of Mexico in world cinema. This year, the theme of the program is Border Noir.“It is a pleasure to have you with us in these screenings of classical heritage cinema that we organize here in room 5,” said Daniela Michel, happy to see how the program's audience has grown over time.Afterwards, Imogen Smith offered a few words about the film: “Selecting this particular film is a bit misleading because it's not really a noir film, it's more of a film that mixes noir with western, and you could also say it's a dark comedy.”Buchanan Rides Alone is set in a border town between Mexico and the United States; it follows the story of Tom Buchanan, played by Randolph Scott, a Texan who has made enough money in Mexico to set up his own ranch in his native Texas. However, his plans are interrupted when he is robbed and accused of murder.Between 1956 and 1960, Budd Boetticher filmed several Westerns in collaboration with Randolph Scott and producer Harry Joe Brown. About their work together, Imogen Sara Smith said: “They were films made on low budgets and shot in 18 days each. They are true masterpieces of production economics.”Boetticher traveled to Mexico in his youth and fell in love with bullfighting, and even trained to be a bullfighter. “He made several films on this subject, including one that, in the 1960s, derailed his entire career because of problems with its production,” Smith explained. That project was a documentary about Mexican bullfighter Carlos Arruza, one of the most prominent bullfighters of the 20th century.In Buchanan Rides Alone, the director leaves bullfighting culture aside, but somehow, the confrontations in the film contain elements related to bullfighting. Although it is a Western, the film is not about people crossing the desert; it focuses more on civic corruption from a cynical and comic point of view.The film critic chose Buchanan Rides Alone to close this year's program because in this film, Mexico appears as the ideal of a different place. Where loyalty, chivalry, friendship and family still have meaning, while on the other side of the border, all those things have been replaced by greed.Imogen Sara Smith presentó AL OTRO LADO DEL PUENTE, de Ken Annakin, dentro del programa México Imaginario del 22º FICM21 · 10 · 24Omar SosaAs part of the Mexico Imaginario program at the 22nd Morelia International Film Festival (2024), Imogen Sara Smith, film historian and critic, and Chloe Röddick, festival programmer, presented Across the Bridge (1957, dir. Ken Annakin). Imogen Smith México Imaginario is a program that emerged in 2007 with the objective of exploring Mexico's positioning in the collective cinematic consciousness.Smith thanked the audience for being present for this film, which she considers an unjustly forgotten beauty of cinema. In addition, it was this film that sparked the idea for this year's theme, Border Noir.Across the Bridge is a film based on a short story by Graham Greene, who liked to write stories of people in a foreign land. The narrative follows Carl Schaffner, played by Rod Steiger, a con man left stranded in a small town on the U.S.-Mexico border after his escape plan goes awry.Ken Annakin, the director, considered Rod Steiger to be the actor who put the most effort into the roles he played, which led to more than one collaboration between them. A curious fact shared by the film critic was that this film was shot in Spain, which at the time was going through situations similar to those Mexico is experiencing on the northern border.Excited that the audience was discovering a gem of cinema that she had only recently encountered, Imogen Sara Smith started the film screening.Imogen Smith Presented the Screening of Ida Lupino's THE HITCH-HIKER at the 22nd FICM21 · 10 · 24Daniel HernándezThe Hitch-Hiker (1953) by Ida Lupino was screened at the 22nd edition of the Morelia International Film Festival (FICM).The film was presented by Imogen Sara Smith, writer and film critic, and Chlöe Roddick, festival programmer, as part of Mexico Imaginario, a section of the festival that aims to show our country through the eyes of foreign filmmakers.Ida Lupino is considered a pioneer of proto-feminism in Hollywood and this is the only film from the classic era of American cinema to be directed by a woman. It tells the story of two men on a fishing trip who decide to help a hitchhiker who turns out to be a serial killer who will put their lives in danger.During the presentation, Imogen Sara Smith highlighted Ida Lupino's vision as a director depicting women in vulnerable situations being victims of different circumstances. She highlighted the rupture of that vision with this story, without female characters, which shows different types of masculinity through male characters who become entangled in events that make them increasingly vulnerable.She also added that, although the story is set in Mexico, it was filmed in the Alabama Hills. The film seeks to portray Mexico as similarly as possible, which is why the language barrier is relevant to understanding some of the plot points.Lastly, Smith spoke of how the film contrasts the American dream by showing its dark side through different symbols. “It is a very agile film that shows many things in a short time,” she concluded.
