Enamorada, a tempestuous love story set in the Mexican revolution

Film still of Enamorada © RR

In 1946, Emilio Fernández, iconic actor and director of 40s and 50s Mexican cinema, made Enamorada, a passionate romance set against the backdrop of the Mexican revolution. And now Cannes Classics is bringing this fictional masterpiece back to its former glory, with the screening of a restored copy of the film, presented by Martin Scorsese as part of the Film Foundation.

Originally destined for a military career, in the early 1940s Emilio Fernández, nicknamed "El Indio" because of his Indian roots, shifted his focus to the silver screen, gaining international recognition with María Candelaria, winner of the Grand Prix at the 1946 Festival de Cannes.  

A committed and revolutionary filmmaker, has was passionate in his portrayal of the Mexican working classes, and his films depict a nation marked by its heritage and customs, such as religion, revolution, indigenous roots and family ties.

This remarkable vision is expressed in Enamorada, which features proud and seductive characters, but whose actions are dictated by their country's traditions. The Mexican Revolution serves as a backdrop to the emerging love story between a revolutionary troublemaker and an aristocratic beauty. While seizing the city of Cholula and stripping the rich of their wealth, Jose Juan Reyes, general of the troops, falls under the spell of Beatriz Peñafiel, daughter of the city's richest man. Captivated by her beauty, but troubled by her arrogant ways, he makes every effort to seduce her.

As well as being a violent and passionate love story, Enamorada was also the film that made a star of the elegant María Félix, who went on to become an icon of Mexican cinema, catching the eye of Jean Renoir and Luis Buñuel, in whose films she subsequently stars.

A presentation by The Film Foundation. Restoration led by UCLA Film & Television Archive and The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with Fundacion Televisa AC and the UNAM Filmoteca, funded by Material World Charitable Foundation. The film will be presented by Martin Scorsese.