Maria Candelaria

1944

1h 36m

Drama

List

92%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

A Mexican peasant (Dolores del Río) poses for the same artist (Alberto Galán) who doomed her mother with a nude portrait.

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J. Hoberman

Artforum

Pictorial big-sky melodrama...

Jan 27, 2024

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Grace Kingsley

Los Angeles Times

No one can gainsay that Miss Del Rio has become a great actress, with all the old posing and artificiality gone, giving place to a genuine power that is at times almost startling.

Jul 8, 2021

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Dorothy Masters

New York Daily News

Due to several such combined factors as general excellence of portraiture, eloquent settings, skilled direction and moving story, the fine performance of Dolores Del Rio is a major attraction

Rated: 3/4

Nov 18, 2020

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

I am immediately moved by his folkloric melodrama about love, prejudice and injustice in the indigenous town of Xochimilco. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Oct 28, 2020

Full Review

Star Staff

Washington Star

As a study in the effects of blindly stupid mass hatred, the picture, made in Mexico with Dolores Del Rio in the starring role, shows the Mexicans as well aware of the dramatic force of tragic in evitability as the Greeks ever were.

Sep 9, 2020

Full Review

Josephine O'Neill

Daily Telegraph (Australia)

Fascinating.

Sep 9, 2020

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walter m

After a journalist(Beatriz Ramos) asks a famous artist(Alberto Galan) about a painting that he refuses to publicly show, he tells a sad story about Maria Candelaria(Dolores del Rio) who has been shunned by the local villagers. Circumstances have forced her to travel to sell some of her flowers in order to pay off some longstanding debts but even her great courage is no match for the villagers' flotilla. Only Lorenzo(Pedro Armendariz) is willing to speak up for her. "Maria Candelaria" might be old fashioned melodrama but that does not mean it cannot also be well-executed and entertaining. In fact, the movie also tackles such timely issues as the dangers of mob rule and hypocrisy. Plus, there is the fact that the entire movie is centered around a nude painting, such sensuality being far ahead of its time. At the same time, the painter is not left off the hook, which is a nice touch in adding some ambiguity to the mix.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

The story is wonderful despite its dramatic conception. Told in an atmosphere accomplished by the beautiful cinematography.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

Maria Candelaria is a love song to Mexico's culture, people and wild landscape. Figueroa's cinematography is amazing, he knew how to find the perfect lighting and angle to portrait Del Rio's beauty at its maximum splendor. Dolores Del Rio was still gorgeous and her performance here is remarkable, she really acted like an indigenous woman and her tears of pain seemed true. Armendariz was great as well.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Is it just a representation or a more critical approach to ultra-conservative extremely-religious "Machismo" societies in Latin America during the last century? A beautiful and depressing story about a woman tortured because of her mother's past.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I'm not a fan of soap operas or melodrama, so this is a film I would rather not have had to sit through. The performances range from extremely over the top from Dolores Del Rio and extremely sedate from Pedro Armenderiz. There's a lot of back and forth proclaiming of love of hardship of desire etc. etc. and the number of times they said Maria Candelaria got on my nerves. Slow, plodding and overwrought, the ending is one of the only parts of the film that rings true, without all the smultz of the rest of the film.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Audience Member

FIVE STARS FOR THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE!!! With the two brilliant Mexican stars Dolores Del Rio and Pedro ArmendÃ¡riz.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Emilio Fernández

Director

Dolores del Río

María Candelaria

Pedro Armendáriz

Lorenzo Rafael

Alberto Galán

El Pintor

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Synopsis

A Mexican peasant (Dolores del Río) poses for the same artist (Alberto Galán) who doomed her mother with a nude portrait.

Director: Emilio Fernández
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Spanish
Runtime: 1h 36m