|
|
Deep Crimson
Incarcerated passions in a prison of poverty
1996
Review: July 17, 2007
Director: Arturo Ripstein
Starring: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Regina Orozco, Marisa Paredes, Giovanni Florido
Sure!
THE SETUP:
Man and woman seduce older women and steal their money.
DISCUSSION:
There’s not much I love more than comparing / contrasting fun. It’s always interesting to see different versions of the same story and see what was changed, what remained, and what differing interpretations separate parties had of the same material. If done well, they provide interesting insights into both films. And, thankfully, such is the case here.
I did not know that there was a Mexican film based on the same story as one of my top ten favorite films, The Honeymoon Killers, until another recent version, the quite lame Lonely Hearts, came out a few months ago. So this one shot to the top of my list, especially as most everyone on the IMDb agreed that it was quite good—and it REALLY was.
The difference in tone is apparent right away as we have this romantic tango-type music, good but repetitive. Then we’re introduced to Coralita, AKA Coral, a quite obese nurse. Instead of being angry and censuring of sexual interest in others, she is consumed with romantic fantasies and more than a little inappropriate. She is obsessed with the actor Charles Boyer [this takes place in the late 50s], his pictures all over her mirror. Then she goes to care for an old man in a wheelchair. She says he must be so horny and rather insists that he reach in her blouse and feel her breast, only to be interrupted by her daughter, who sees this and calls her a pig! She screams at her daughter, then tenderly apologizes. So we’re clearly in weirdyville.
We then join this guy at a mirror—next to his beloved toupee—as he writes to Coral. This is Nicholas. He goes from dictating the letter to Coral to speaking to all women out there as the camera moves smoothly in and out, picking up luminous details. We next see them on their date, when he resists sex, gets up and abruptly leaves. She says “It’s my breath, isn’t it?” and guesses that since she works embalming corpses that the chemicals seep out of her and there’s nothing she can do about it. He takes off, but, surprise, comes back after a few hours, and she begs him to “do it to me,” saying that tonight is all about her sexual pleasure. He does, then raids her purse and takes off.
So he’s over and done with it, but then she shows up at his house in the pouring rain with her two kids, saying she’s moving in! He tells her it’ll never work, especially with her kids, so the next day she goes and dumps her kids at the orphanage! She weeps and makes them “promise you won’t remember me!” She shows up at his house, but he still doesn’t want her, so she threatens to kill herself right there, which will make the police come and find out about his swindling ways. She also tells him that she abandoned her kids for him. “You left your kids for me?” he says. “No one’s ever done that for me.”
Next thing you know, they’re in on the fleecing of lonely women together, with her posing as his sister. They meet the first in this bar, where she bemoans the fact that her husband keeps her a virtual prisoner and lets her have no money. Nicholas comes on hard—“He incarcerates your sensuality in a prison of poverty ” [I’m going to have to remember that one]—and begs her to take all she has and run away with him, even though she just met him five minutes prior.
SPOILERS > > >
To Nicholas’ surprise, Coral has slipped poison into the woman’s drink, and soon they have to get rid of her quick before she’s a corpse. They dump her on a bench on a bus station, and her dead body is discovered the next day. Those comparing this film to the Honeymoon Killers will sure recognize this as the woman they memorably poisoned and left on the bus.
By now one will have noticed the stunning photography and compositions. In fact, my friend and I had quite a lengthy discussion about the frame just below, with its beautifully controlled palette of colors, horizontal lines and diagonal lines that move the eye around the important parts of the frame, like a painting.
Anyway, Nicholas’ toupee was damaged during their last caper, and we find out that he considers himself to be a “freak” and “deformed monster” without it. So overnight Coral makes him a new one out of her own hair. It’s hard to forget throughout the rest of the movie the creepy detail that he is wearing her hair. He talks a little bit about his father, and how impressed he would be that his son is living off women.
They then settle in with a very religious woman who takes an instant dislike to Coral. At one point Coral has nothing to wear and the woman gives her a TABLECLOTH! She later has an interesting turn of phrase to describe Coral to Nicholas: “It’s as if she has something dead in her mouth.” I don’t know if this is a well-known Mexican expression, but if not it ought to be, it’s very evocative. Here, after they kill the lady, there is a good shot of them both staring at her corpse.
They then go to meet a woman who gives Nicholas some man-trouble because she’s young and attractive when he thought she would be fat and old. In this film, Nicholas pledges his sexual fidelity to Coral, rather than her demanding it of him. There is an incredibly brutal scene in which the woman walks in on Nicholas while he has his toupee off and makes a light comment. He explodes, screaming at her for “mocking” him, and dunks her head in a barrel of what looks to be oil! It is a great example of how terrible violence and brutality can be expressed without having to show serious violence or gore. He goes back to Coral and begs her to STEP ON HIM for being unfaithful. It seems the woman is pregnant, and Coral makes ready to give her an abortion! Eeek! Nicholas ends up stabbing the woman right in front of her child.
So they start getting the sense that the jig is up. They acknowledge that more than lovers, “We’re accomplices.” “Eternal accomplices,” he agrees. They call the police, then dress up in their Sunday best for the cops to come pick them up. We see him being interrogated, where he begs to be allowed to wear his toupee in the newspaper photos. They are taken out to a field and shot, whereafter there is a beautiful shot of them laying face-down in a puddle, each of their faces perfectly reflected.
< < < SPOILERS END
It’s a wonderful movie on its own, but absolutely fascinating when watched in comparison with The Honeymoon Killers. This one is much more emotional and psychological, and focuses much more on their love story, drawing the element of black humor that suffused the American film way, way back. In this one both of them are truly out-there crazy, whereas in Honeymoon Killers they were evil and devious, but one sensed that they were just this side of psychotic. Here they both are truly psychotic, and Nicholas’ issues get a lot more focus, rather than just Coral’s. The other big difference is that while I don’t think the lovers of the Honeymoon Killers would acknowledge that they are on a crime spree—no, they’re just doing Ray’s job—here they are both quite aware that they are on a crime spree and that it’s only a matter of time before they have to submit to the law. That’s one of the things that gives this version an air of tragic romance, their conception of themselves as being “eternal accomplices.”
All performances are very good. Regina Orozco as Coral is quite convincing [and her role is well-written], aside from just being huge! I found myself surprised anew every time she appeared on screen. Daniel Giménez Cacho as Nicholas is not as devastatingly handsome as Tony Lo Bianco, but the additional depth the movie gives his character makes it all work anyway. And, as I’ve mentioned, the direction is careful and intelligent throughout, and the photography and composition are absolutely stunning.
The friend I watched it with, who has also seen the Honeymoon Killers, said he liked this one better. I can understand that viewpoint, as this one is much richer in psychological detail and more serious about their love, although I think that the Honeymoon Killers’ clash of tones and high irony is exactly what makes it so electrifying. But who has to choose? What a gift to have two, near-equally interesting versions of the same story, both wonderful in themselves and utterly fascinating when considered together.
SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?
Yes! Especially if you’re a fan of the Honeymoon Killers. In fact, if you see one, you should pretty much plan on seeing the other.
RELATED FILMS:
THE HONEYMOON KILLERS is a hilarious and deeply disturbing version of this same story, set in the United States.
LONELY HEARTS is a piece of shit version of the same story that barely makes space for the killers between lionizing the director’s cop grandfather.
