The Rise of the Mexican New Wave

While Europe has enjoyed a string of so called cinematic new waves, the French in the fifties and sixties, German cinema in the seventies. Now it seems only fair for other cinemas to flourish. In recent years we have seen South Korea emerge as a fertile ground for cinema with Park Chan Wook and Kin Ki Duk, both laudered by critics for their unique and challenging films.

Though it would seem the country that may be now enjoying its new wave is Mexico, producing many big names , crossing over in to mainstream cinema, and some charming and quirky films to boot.

It started with Y tu Mamma Tambien, a seminal coming of age tale based around a cast of teenagers. Alfonso Cuaron is now hot property, working on Harry Potter movies while engaging with his own projects. Furthermore the star Gael Garcia Benal is now a fully fledged movie star, noted for his impecable selection of roles.

And so over the decade there have been a string of big names to either emerge or cross over, and there have been many worthwhile films to emerge from Mexico, or Mexican directors. We see Guilermo Del Toro's name being attached with a great number of projects, formerly with The Hobbit.

Recently we have seen a return to slightly more low key film making coming out of Mexico, enjoying the freedom of an established and praised cinema status. While Rudo Y Cursi contains in its credits the names of Del Toro and Cuaron, it is not the high profile release that their names are now associated. Produced through their company Cha Cha Films, it is notable for reuniting the talent of Y tu Mamma Tambien, Gael Benal and Digeo Luna as the stars, Cuaron as producer.

The film is directed by Cuaron's younger brother Carlos, and tells the tale of two bickering half-brothers on a banana plantation. Clearly, despite the names involved it is not such a commercial venture. Yet the film has been a huge success in Mexico and the world becoming the third most succesful Mexican film of all time. The success is latching the key talent together that made Y tu Mamma Tambien such an unprecedented success.

Another film to come out of Mexico recently with a decidedly more low key feel is the offbeat comedy Lake Tahoe. While it is named after the American tourist resort there are no Lake Tahoe vacation rentals here, instead a bumper sticker featuring the area's name. It is an obscure fairly downbeat comedy by the maker of 2004's sleeper festival hit Duck Season, another strange and slight comedy. A large part of the film's artistic success is the photography, which consumes the whole scene as they unfold slowly around the characters.

Both films use a mise en scene distinctly Mexican, the elderly couples, the dogs, those distinct desolate landscapes.

So we see a new name fast becoming a key figure in Mexican new wave, Fernando Embicko, the director of Lake Tahoe making films for a proud pantheon. Mexico now finds itself a key player in world cinema.