I've been catching up on movies I haven't seen yet and authors I should be reading or rereading. What does that translate to? In the last week I've seen Pan's Labyrinth & Volver--I'm surprised I liked Pan's Labyrinth as much as I did but the fascism-fairy tale combination was appealing (and much more satisfying that The Devil's Backbone). I wanted to like Volver more but hated the musical score and some of the dramarama plot even though Penelope Cruz was just spectacularly beautiful and alluring--the scene where she lipsynches a flamenco song is heartbreaking. I also watched the intriguing Passion in the Desert again, which is based on a novella by Honore de Balzac....which I haven't read....yet.
So when friends invited me to Self Help Graphics for a tribute to famed Mexican novelist Juan Rulfo I couldn't say no--I hadn't been back there in over a year. One, I'm happy that this place is back on track after being shut down and plagued by problems. Their annual day of the dead ceremony is fantastic and the space is truly for the community.
But back to the show. The night was a mix of community theatre and readings from Rulfo's classics Pedro Paramo and El Llano en Llamas as well as music featuring Esteban Leon (who does a mean show of Chava Flores songs) the gentle Tomas Cadena and son jarocho virtuoso Hector Marquez. It was a good effort and the show could be finetuned for greater impact on the audience.
For more info in Self Help Graphics, check out http://www.selfhelpgraphics.com.
-anji gaspar-milanovic
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