Institute History
Description
The emergence of a new generation of Mexican film directors in the 1990s is an event that even sophisticated film viewers may not have had the opportunity to appreciate. With the
exception of sometime-expatriates Alfonso Arau, Guillermo del Toro, and Alfonso Cuarón, who have worked in the United States, the crisis in distribution of foreign-language films in this country has often not allowed American audiences the chance to view these exceptional Mexican films.
Emblematic of these achievements, Under a Spell is a beautifully accomplished work that combines the magic of cinematic style with superb performances in a period piece full of sexuality, class struggle, and mystery. On one level a not-so-simple coming-of-age story, Under a Spell focuses on the thirteen-year-old Eliseo, son of a longshoreman/union organizer, whose dreams of a world away from the docks lead him to a series of liaisons, beginning with his sexy teacher, Felipa (Blanca Guerra), a woman whose intense desires and worldliness end with her ostracism and banishment.
Director Carlos Carrera interweaves elements of politics, superstition and mysticism, melodrama, and realism in fashioning a thoroughly enrapturing, quasi-supernatural tale. The lush settings and intense, almost-physical force of the film’s visuals create a truly transforming experience. Indeed the magic of the film’s color, music, and denouement grants us access to a complicated culture that combines history and imagination. Carrera has demonstrated the abilities that mark the
development of a remarkable cineaste.
Carlos Carrera, Director
Carlos Carrera was born in Mexico City. At the age of thirteen, he made his first animated film in Super 8. He studied comminication sciences at the Iberoamericana University. He has made nine animated short films, including The Hero, which won the award for the best short film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994. Under a Spell is his first feature film.