"My Buddy Mendoza" is set during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), and without at least a little knowledge of that era, the details of the story might go over the viewer's head (something like watching "Gone With the Wind" with no knowledge of the American Civil War). But the basic plot is universal -- amorality as a survival strategy.
Mendoza is a well-to-do gentleman farmer in southern Mexico, surrounded by the warring forces of the revolutionary "Zapatistas" and the government armies of General Huerta and, later, President Carranza. Mendoza befriends officers of all sides, wining them, dining them, feeding their soldiers. On his wedding night he is almost shot by one revolutionary band, only to be saved by Zapatista General Nieto. Over the following years, Nieto frequently returns to Mendoza's hacienda, often risking his life, to visit Mendoza, his wife and their son. It's obvious early on that the youthful general is smitten with Senora Mendoza and dotes on the little boy. Later, however, when Mendoza is facing financial ruin, he is offered a substantial reward by a Carranza officer to betray Nieto. Whatever decision Mendoza makes now seems likely to destroy his little family.
This film has some of the technical limitations that one might expect from a non-Hollywood budget in the early 1930s, but the construction and editing of the movie are striking. DeFuentes had obviously been watching Eisenstein, and his juxtaposition of shots is often powerful.
The acting of some of the players is a little mannered -- again, as one might expect in an early talkie. Aldredo del Diestro, the Chilean-born actor who plays Mendoza, does a wonderfully understated job with a character who could easily have turned into a caricature of a fat, greedy bourgeois. Nieto (Antonio R. Frausto) is suitably idealistic, but there are no real villains among the other characters. In the end, Mendoza does what he thinks he must do, but with the fear that he may not have done the right thing.
By the way, there's very little "action" in this film set in wartime. It is essentially a drama about Mendoza's relations with friends and loved ones, and his struggle with himself. Again, read up a bit on the Mexican Revolution and watch it -- it's worth a look.
Mendoza is a well-to-do gentleman farmer in southern Mexico, surrounded by the warring forces of the revolutionary "Zapatistas" and the government armies of General Huerta and, later, President Carranza. Mendoza befriends officers of all sides, wining them, dining them, feeding their soldiers. On his wedding night he is almost shot by one revolutionary band, only to be saved by Zapatista General Nieto. Over the following years, Nieto frequently returns to Mendoza's hacienda, often risking his life, to visit Mendoza, his wife and their son. It's obvious early on that the youthful general is smitten with Senora Mendoza and dotes on the little boy. Later, however, when Mendoza is facing financial ruin, he is offered a substantial reward by a Carranza officer to betray Nieto. Whatever decision Mendoza makes now seems likely to destroy his little family.
This film has some of the technical limitations that one might expect from a non-Hollywood budget in the early 1930s, but the construction and editing of the movie are striking. DeFuentes had obviously been watching Eisenstein, and his juxtaposition of shots is often powerful.
The acting of some of the players is a little mannered -- again, as one might expect in an early talkie. Aldredo del Diestro, the Chilean-born actor who plays Mendoza, does a wonderfully understated job with a character who could easily have turned into a caricature of a fat, greedy bourgeois. Nieto (Antonio R. Frausto) is suitably idealistic, but there are no real villains among the other characters. In the end, Mendoza does what he thinks he must do, but with the fear that he may not have done the right thing.
By the way, there's very little "action" in this film set in wartime. It is essentially a drama about Mendoza's relations with friends and loved ones, and his struggle with himself. Again, read up a bit on the Mexican Revolution and watch it -- it's worth a look.