Mexican film series: El bolero de Raquel, 1957

Alongside the exhibition Modern Mexico in the Gelman Santander Collection, The gaze upholds history: The development of modern film language in Mexico, this film series explores twentieth-century mexican cinema. This period saw the consolidation of a mythic national identity and imagery shaped by the social movements sparked by the Mexican Revolution of 1910, as well as by the many exchanges and reinterpretations between the visual arts, photography and film.

El bolero de Raquel is a 1957 mexican comedy-drama directed by Miguel M. Delgado and starring Mario Moreno “Cantinflas”, Manola Saavedra, Flor Silvestre and Paquito Fernández.

After the death of his best friend, Cantinflas must care for Chavita, his friend’s son. Eager to earn enough to support the boy, he frantically looks for work, trying his hand at various jobs, including bricklaying, working as a lifeguard on an Acapulco beach and shining shoes. Above all, he wants to fulfil Chavita’s greatest wish: to have a ball like the other children. But fate has more than one surprise in store for him.

Duration: 101 minutes.

Capacity: 144 people.

Audience: All ages; children aged 7 and over must be accompanied by an adult.