Victims of Sin (Victimas del pecado)

Wednesday 24 September at 7.30pm

Emilio Fernández | Mexico | 1951 | 84 mins | censors rating tbc

Cabaret performer Ninón Sevilla stars in this blend of noir, melodrama and mambo musical from one of Mexican cinema’s most celebrated auteurs.

“Onstage, Violeta (Ninón Sevilla) is the star of Cabaret Changó. When she dances, her power extends over the nightclub’s audience—drunks, musicians, gangsters, and onlookers—which shifts, from chaos to joy, with every transition she makes between tempos and traditions. Backstage, however, Violeta lives under the thumb of the violent and possessive Rodolfo—as do scores of local sex workers and dancers. When a newborn that Rodolfo claims isn’t his is abandoned, Violeta sacrifices her status and sets into motion a generational tale that mixes melodrama, amped-up noir lighting, and dancefloor storytelling that anticipates the intensified montage of Bob Fosse. Director Emilio Fernández, already a Palme d’Or winner (1944’s María Candelaria), together with cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, turn the film’s cabaret confines into a dynamic space for sweeping camera moves. As a classic example of the cine de rumberas genre, Victims of Sin is a jolting rediscovery, mixing high-level craft and underworld action.”—The Cinematheque