
Enamorada. 1946. Mexico. Directed by Emilio Fernández. Directed by Emilio Fernández. Screenplay by Íñigo de Martino, Emilio Fernández. Cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa. With María Félix, Pedro Armendáriz, Fernando Fernández. DCP. In Spanish; English subtitles. 96 min.
Perhaps Fernández’s most successful melding of national myth and interpersonal drama, Enamorada introduces the fierce, passionate María Félix to Fernández’s gallery of Mexican archetypes—here as the proud daughter of a provincial aristocrat, who attracts the attention of the boyish revolutionary general (Pedro Armendáriz, of course) in command of their town during the 1910 uprising. Loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew, the film thrillingly transforms erotic tension into revolutionary fervor, building to a climax that audaciously quotes the Josef von Sternberg-Marlene Dietrich film Morocco.