The River and Death explained

The River and Death
Native Name:
Director:	Luis Buñuel
Producer:	J. Ramón Aguirre, Armando Orive Alba
Music:	Raúl Lavista
Cinematography:	Raúl Martínez Solares
Runtime:	91 minutes
Country:	Mexico
Language:	Spanish

The River and Death (Spanish: El río y la muerte) is a 1954 Mexican film. It was written by Luis Alcoriza and directed by Luis Buñuel.^[1] The film is an adaptation of Miguel Álvarez Acosta's 1952^[2] novel Muro blanco en roca negra (White Wall on a Black Rock).^{[3] [4]}

Cast

• Columba Domínguez as Mercedes
• Miguel Torruco as Felipe Anguiano
• Joaquín Cordero as Gerardo Anguiano
• Jaime Fernández as Romulo Menchaca
• Víctor Alcocer as Polo Menchaca
• Silvia Derbez as Elsa
• José Elías Moreno as Don Nemesio
• Carlos Martínez Baena as Don Julian
• Alfredo Varela as Chinelas (as Alfredo Varela Jr.)
• Miguel Manzano as don Anselmo

Background

The film, an adaptation of a novel about blood revenge that has lasted for several generations, is so country-specific that the audience at the Venice Film Festival thought it was a comedy. Buñuel takes great pains in his autobiography to show that the despicable events portrayed in the film were even surpassed by reality.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. p. 8. .
2. Web site: Muro blanco en roca negra. 6 May 2023. elem.mx.
3. Web site: Arquivos Miguel Álvarez Acosta. 6 May 2023. Plano Crítico. pt-br.
4. Gonzalez. Ed. 2 September 2004. Review: The River and Death. Slant Magazine.
5. The Surreal McCoy. Silva. Horacio. The New York Times Magazine. 13 August 2008.