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Agustín Irusta and Delores del Río |
In contrast to Maria, Magdalena is a bitch on wheels who lives in palatial splendor. Ms. del Río is introduced in a mirror shot as Magdalena, emphasizing her vanity, and has great fun wallowing in her character's wickedness. Maria has numerous issues with her sister, not least of which was landing that rich husband, and plots to rub her out and take her place. She lures Magdalena to her humble flat, shoots her, plants a suicide note, changes clothes and goes to Magdalena's mansion disguised as her. Of course, the transition into her sister's life does not go altogether smoothly. Magdalena's pet mastiff knows Maria is an imposter from the get go. Maria also has problems functioning without her glasses. More problematic is the sudden appearance of Magdalena's sleazy lover Fernando (Victor Junco in the Zachary Scott role) whose machinations seal Maria's doom.
Gavaldón shoots the film in a lurid expressionistic style, with the aid of cinematographer Alex Phillips, in a manner appropriate to the material. He uses mirrors not only to indicate Magdalena's vanity, but also to signal Maria's loss of actual identity amidst a multiplicity of identities. The chessboard pattern in the foyer of Magdalena's mansion is doubled by the same pattern at Maria's workplace, contrasting starkly the lifestyles of the two. The murder takes place at Christmas time and Gavaldón contrasts the Yuletide joy of children with Maria's perfidy. As in his later film Macario, Gavaldón's affection for the folk rituals and pageantry of Mexican life is evident. Composer Raul Lavista use of the theremin in the score adds a spooky note to the proceedings.
The final third of La Otra does bog down in overwrought speeches and needless contrivances. Maria's decision to brand one of her hands with a hot poker seems a bit of an overreaction given the circumstances. However, from the first shot of a coffin being lowered into the earth to a final shot of iron bars obscuring del Río's face, Gavaldón's masterly control of the medium is in evidence. The print I saw was pretty dire, but even in a crappy print the director's vision shines like a beacon.
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