Part of the link in the dynasty of the very father of the country, Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Silvia Pinal Hidalgo is a benchmark of Mexican cinema. She is the muse of Buñuel and Diego Rivera, the impossible love of Enrique Guzmán and Tigre Azcárraga himself. She was a dear friend of Pedro Infante and a great friend of Germán Valdés Tin-Tan. Born in Guaymas, Sonora, she showed that more than a pretty face, she could do something more than wait tables in her father’s restaurant and she proved it that way, wasting her talent in almost a hundred films that range from melodrama to comedy and this one to tragedy.
With a life full of adventures, anthology loves, political persecutions and scandals worthy of a queen of the big screen, Doña Silvia lives today (very deservedly) from her glories, her memories and her achievements as an actress, producer, mother, grandmother and everything you can imagine.
The woman who took us to know the saddest stories and who today is immortalized in moms He turns 85 and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate it than with this top 5 of his best films.
Bonus – Simon of the desert (Luis Buñuel, 1965)
BY EDGAR DEL VALLEY
48-minute half-length film by the Spanish director living in Mexico, starring Brook as Simón, accompanied by Silvia Pinal in the role of the Devil. Buñuel was inspired by the historical figure of Saint Simeon the Stylite, who, back in 422, retired to the desert and spent the last 37 years of his life there on a column, a role played by Brook in a splendid manner, endowing the character with the right personality in this great acting confrontation, of dialogues and spirituality with a sensual and gloomy Pinal. Winning film of the special jury prize at the 1965 Venice Film Festival.
Bonus – The Exterminating Angel (Luis Buñuel, 1962)
BY THE FETT
The ode to the torture of the bourgeois, the most surrealist Buñuel enjoys the cracking of his ancestry and locks up in a room a series of characters as false as they are despicable, where the punishment for the ticket of hypocrisy has the same cost of access and the same departure time. When the exterminator is near, dreams become tangible and secrets begin to be discovered, animal behavior to appear and the desperation that could turn these monstrosities into humans to be glimpsed. One year after consecrating himself at the helm of Buñuel with Viridiana, Pinal once again accompanies the director with one of the supporting roles that most shines for its beauty, presence and talent.
5 – The king of the neighborhood (Gilberto Martínez Solares, 1949)
By CAT MOVIE LEE
Next to the great Tin-Tan and after her debut as an actress in sneakers, Silvia fell like a glove to the comedian’s finger; his charisma and beauty penetrated deeply into the actor who, beyond wanting to conquer her (like most of the actresses with whom he managed to form dumbbells), created a genuine and fun friendship that is reflected in the film, one of the best of the king of the neighborhood where he plays a kind of Robin Hood Mexican who fights for justice and giving the best to those he can and those he loves, among them, his pretty little neighbor, Carmelita (Silvia). The perfect triad is complemented by the unrepeatable Vitola and the pilón, the carnal Marcelo. That same year, Silvia would partner again with Tin Tan in the mark of the skunk and later in you bring me by a wing. A friendship and a great comic couple had been born.
4 – The chaste Susano (Joaquín Pardavé, 1954)
By CAT MOVIE LEE
Two years later and after seeing the results that Silvia achieved alongside Tin-Tan, the great Joaquin Pardave He decided that he wanted Miss Pinal to be part of one of his greatest films (he wrote it) and with which he would achieve one of the most endearing characters of the golden age of national cinema. A “puritanical” man who travels to the capital to meet nightclubs saying that he is single although it is not true. The debut on the big screen of Antonio Aguilar himself and Mimí’s (Silvia) outpouring of beauty and charisma delighted an audience that can enjoy a story full of entanglements, laughter and the occasional truth. All under the direction of Pardavé himself.
3 – Maria Isabel (Federico Curiel, 1967)
By CAT MOVIE LEE
A melodrama that became the seed and influence of many of the soap operas that 20 or 30 years later found in the figure of the poor girl who falls in love with the rich man, her key to success (the “Marias” thing is not simple chance). The film stands out for its importance within Mexican melodramas, it may not be his most brilliant performance, but it is one of the most remembered. Written by the queen of soap operas, Yolanda Vargas Dulche and directed by Federico Curiel. The success was so resounding that two years later, the big screen premiered Maria Isabel’s love, a sequel to the first story. The success was not what was expected.
2 – Story of a mink coat (Emilio Gómez Muriel, 1955)
By CAT MOVIE LEE
One of the most fascinating stories in which the figure of Silvia is not only essential for the development of the stories that are covered under the warmth of a mink coat as the common thread of the entire film, but also shows one of his best performances. Margot (Silvia) leads 4 wonderful women (Irasema Dilian, Columba Dominguez Y Maria Elena Marques) with their different stories, all with ambitions, dreams and illusions around the elegance that at that time (mid-1950s) could grant such a fine garment. She not only looks gorgeous but she acts great. Buñuel would confess that this was a key piece in choosing it as one of his favorite pieces for three of his best films: The Exterminating Angel, Simón del Desierto and Viridiana.
1 – Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961)
By CAT MOVIE LEE
Not only is it by far his best performance. Viridiana changed Silvia’s life; her meeting with Bunuel it was a fundamental part of his career; Not only did he give her the opportunity to play the leading role in this film, but the Aragonese also became a kind of guide and teacher for the actress. Silvia took a risk and succeeded, although the honeys of success were not immediate. The censorship of that time detested the film and although Cannes surrendered to such a piece, in Spain Franco and his dictatorship prohibited its exhibition and even ordered it to be destroyed. Silvia managed to escape with a copy of it so that, 17 years after its filming, it could be exhibited in that country.
In Mexico it was little understood (like everything Buñuel did) But Silvia knew what it was like to be a pupil of the director. She knew him well enough to value her art and be guided. Thanks to that, Pinal was known in Europe and managed to make some films in Italy and France.. Even today, when Doña Silvia Pinal talks about Viridiana, her face lights up. Well, we are talking neither more nor less than her greatest achievement as an actress and the name of one of her daughters who, unfortunately, died.
Tags: Aría Elena MarquésEuropean cinemaMexican cinema classicsColumba DomínguezGolden age of Mexican cinemaFederico CurielGermán Valdés “Tin Tan”Gilberto MartínezIrasema DiliánJoaquín PardavéJosé SuárezLuis BuñuelSilvia PinalViridianaVitolaYolanda Vargas Dulché