Cantinflas

2014
Cantinflas
6.6| 1h46m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 29 August 2014 Released
Producted By: Videocine
Country: Spain
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Mike Todd is a Broadway producer struggling to produce the film. Around the World in 80 Days. In Mexico, Mario Moreno, a young entertainer is struggling to get some respect, and he manages to become a star. A twist of faith makes them partners. Together they won the Oscar for Best Picture.

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Scott-101 As much as I love learning about the history of Hollywood, there can be something pretentious about the Hollywood biopic. The story of a great creative mind taking Hollywood by storm is one that's been told too many times and easily falls into repetition. Aside from that, there's always the sneaking suspicion that the screenwriter or director is co-opting his subject's story to wrestle with his own greatness. "Catinflas" intrigued me enough at the start that I decided to throw caution to the wind hoping the plot wouldn't veer into cliché. I enjoyed seeing the trial and error process over how Catinflas discovered his true calling, I thought the setting was unique (especially the unforgiving Mexican stage where heckling is the norm) and the actor who played Catinflas had a magnetic working-man kind of presence. The decision to intercut the story of Mario "Catinflas" Morelli's ascension to fame over the years and the trials and tribulation "Around the World in 80 Days" producer Michael Todd to get his film made, also had potential except for the fact Michael Todd seemed like a rather flat character (not to take anything away from Imperioli's performance), and while I enjoyed "Around the World in 80 Days" as a kid, I'm not sure if there's anything to celebrate in Todd's methodology of putting every actor he could find in the film.The storyline itself is one I've seen a hundred times before, so the film was largely on the shoulders of Oscar Jaenada and to the degree he could, Jaenada did an extraordinary job. If only he had slightly better material to work with.
figlesias I've seen the movie "Cantinflas" directed by Sebastian del Amo, and I am convinced that this is "the film that every Mexican must-see". This is biopic is the story of Mexico's greatest and most beloved comedy film star of all time, Mario Moreno "Cantinflas". The film follows him from his humble beginnings on the small stage to the bright lights of Hollywood.On one side you discover the man: Mario Moreno who expressed his values through his Cantinflas character on films and stage. Cantinflas gives voice to social issues: on his films he would protest against injustice, keeping his cool being sincere, generous, honest and optimistic. Cantinflas never resorted to vulgarity, nor to profanity, insults or violence to make us laugh, and his unique speech style (cantinflear) reflects the demagogic rhetoric we hear from politicians. We all recognize on Mario Moreno "Cantinflas" a Mexican hero who overcame poverty and lack of formal education to become an artist and humanist, recognized worldwide.On the other hand, there is the film where actor Oscar Jaenada does a masterful "incarnation" of Mario Moreno Cantinflas. Thanks to Oscar's credibility and this film's quality production, more people attended movie theaters to watch the movie and a new generations will better understand Cantinflas legacy and values. In addition, the performances of other actors like Ilse Salas, Barbara Mori, Gabriela de la Garza and Luis Gerardo Méndez, to name a few, were preceded by months of preparation and are really a tribute to the characters they play. Original music by Aleks Syntek. Screen play by Edui Tijerina, and excellent production of entrepreneurs Vidal Garza Cantú, Adolfo Franco, Alejandro Barron, and Mario Moreno Ivanova. Thus, "Cantinflas" brings to life Mexico's hero, so this is a most- see film for everyone in Mexico, and elsewhere.
popcorninhell Cantinflas (2014) should have been a clever little gem about a piece of forgotten film history but ends up being a solidly boring mish-mesh of a film that did little justice to its subject matter. In it Cantinflas aka Mario Moreno (Oscar Jaenada) works his way up from a minor vaudeville player on the streets of Mexico City to one of the most beloved Mexican actor/comedians of all time.He does so while a second, mostly English tale unfolds. Michael Todd (Michael Imperioli) a wily producer at United Artists is trying to cobble together the 1956 theatrical version of Around the World in 80 Days. He boasts to the studio exec that he can convince over forty international film stars to be in the film but in reality he barely has Elizabeth Taylor on the hook. In an attempt to make the film salvageable he asks the ever-popular Cantinflas to make a cameo appearance.Despite polished period detail and some worthwhile performances, Cantinflas feels cheap and more than a bit off. The cinematography colludes into a mix of flat browns and grays and everyone seems to be spotted by florescent lights. One cannot help but wonder if this story was given to a more mature director we'd be able to see and enjoy the vibrant colors of Mexico and the luster of old Hollywood.The film is also betrayed by a script that fails to staple the important moments or rather the two largest threads into a story of urgency. The turbulent labor politics of Moreno's time get the same compromised treatment as his early roving theatre career. His height of popularity is as deflated as the 80 Days subplot. It's as if the editors lost a few key scenes on the cutting room floor and pasted half-shot scenes together hoping the audience wouldn't notice.There's one nearly-poignant scene where Cantinflas, in a "success is ruination"-type stupor sees a note of encouragement by none other than Charlie Chaplin. Again I say near-poignant because up until that moment we never knew Chaplin's opinion was important to Cantinflas. Goaded by the letter, once Cantinflas agrees to do Around the World in 80 Days it leaves him without catharsis or character change. His wife seemed to think fame was going to his head so appearing in the film he's most internationally recognized for wouldn't have solved that dispute; yet it did.Cantinflas attempts to create a stereotypical biographical film out of a figure that, given the events of the film, deserved better. At best this film deserves to be on cable and given a Hallmark type release, not a theatrical one. Maybe in the decades to come people will honor his contribution to his nation's cinema with a movie that immortalizes the man properly. Now that would be the rub.http://www.theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com
Art Cervantes (quixotefilms) Cantinflas is a biopic and tribute to one of Mexico's most iconic entertainment personalities of the 20th century. For those not familiar with Mario Moreno's perpetual theater and screen persona, let us avoid comparisons and simply present him as follows: the country of Mexico has a rich indigenous tradition, it has it's colonial period followed by the revered fathers of liberty, and then it has Cantinflas – in the running for the top spot of contemporary historical significance among a few others. His films are stuff of binge addiction on long weekends and it's safe to state he has a status of saint by some of his fans.With this back history, anyone who dared to bring the two, the persona and the creator, to the big screen would need to have a strong will and set of two firmly planted – to make use of a common Spanish colloquial phrase.The target audience is obvious; fans and those familiar with Cantinflas while appealing to the general audience. To fans, there are no surprises or explosive revealing secrets. Overall the text is a positive portrait that allows for some connection with Mario Moreno. It won't come as a shock that Mr. Moreno developed into a shrewd impresario who learned to market and maintain Cantinflas in the vernacular for decades and beyond his death. Revealing the womanizing phase of his career works to show a person rough around the edges and a human who wasn't beyond reproach – in other words not Cantinflas-like.Stylistically, the story is told in a whimsical and fairly fast pace of intertwining narratives between Cantiflas the persona and Mario Moreno the creator. With little breathing room, moviegoers are treated briefly to some of the most memorable scenes in Mr. Moreno's filmography. Like with other historical and entertainment figures, viewers' collective memories and personal stories will make for a magical movie experience surely evoking happy laughter and a tear or two. The fun sets in the second the opening and historically marking montage ends and never lets up. Be sure to stay until the house lights come on, you won't regret it.Cantinflas is also about the craft of filmmaking. It's always interesting to watch the film process portrayed within a text. Director Sebastian del Amo uses homage in a not so subtle way. In Cold Blood by Richard Brooks and Citizen Cane by Orson Welles moments are clearly depicted but the most poignant statement is the ever present artistic vs commercial or formulaic movie making argument that can become esoteric at times. We learn that at some point, authorship was paramount to Mr. Moreno. As this goes on, a foretelling tie to Hollywood builds and serves as the triumphant marker. Fans obviously know Cantinflas did not stay in Hollywood.As for the casting, Óscar Jaenada (The Limits of Control and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), knocks it out of the park. His impersonations of Cantinflas are superb and certainly had this viewer reacting at every turn. Purist may not accept Jaenada in the role but he's a proved actor and not just an impersonator. The cast is international and the well done production serves to prove that cinema has no boundaries.Conclusion: A must watch on the big screen. It won't be the same on DVD simply because the collective experience won't be there. A bilingual but mostly Spanish language film with subtitles as needed. Family safe and fun to watch!