María Candelaria
1944
Palme d'Or — 1st Cannes Film Festival
- Director:
- Emilio Fernández
- Starring:
- Dolores del Río, Pedro Armendáriz, Alberto Galán, Miguel Inclán, Julio Ahuet
Log in to track watched/owned status.
In Xochimilco, Mexico, on the eve of the Mexican Revolution, María Candelaria, a poor indigenous woman shunned by her community for being the daughter of a prostitute, struggles alongside her devoted lover Lorenzo Rafael against the town's cruelty and prejudice. When a painter convinces her to pose nude for a portrait, the resulting scandal and the community's escalating hostility push her toward a tragic reckoning. Emilio Fernández's melodrama, framed as a flashback triggered by the discovery of the painting years later, portrays María's dignity and suffering as an indictment of the racism and poverty she never escapes.