This Friday's film - Doña Herlinda y su hijo - Mexico, 1985

 

 

Amigos del cine latinoamericano
presents

Friday, January 22
Doña Herlinda y su hijo

Doña Herlinda and her son (Dramatic comedy)
Dir. Jaime Humberto Hermosillo - Mexico, 1985



In this sly Mexican sex comedy, a manipulative mama deftly manages the life of her homosexual son so that he can have his cake and eat it too. A woman of means, she does this by allowing her son, a doctor, to tryst in her home with her lover. Putting her son's happiness above all else, she then arranges a marriage of convenience to a woman. When the marriage is consummated, the young male lover gets terribly jealous and this creates problems until the irrepressible Doña Herlinda again gets involved. Not surprisingly, critics have often argued that Doña Herlinda's character echoes the authoritarianism of the Mexican State and that of the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in power for most of 2oth century. In the act of remodeling her house so as to accommodate both her son's wife and son, and his male lover, Doña Herlinda is, as some would say, "queering patriarchy"; yet, she does not give up the pretense of "normal" heterosexual bliss for her son. As such, the movie challenges the public's understanding of non-heterosexual behavior and suggests that gender expression is, after all, not only culturally defined but also in constant evolution.

Spanish with English subtitles

Free and open to the public

Location:
Frick Fine Arts Auditorium

Time:
6:30pm

Some films are adult in nature and may not be appropriate for young audience

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