MACARIO (1960)
Article 5183 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-16-2016
Directed by Roberto Gavaldon
Featuring Ignacio Lopez Tarso, Pina Pellicer, Enrique Lucero
Country: Mexico
What it is: Fantasy

On the Day of the Dead, a poor woodsman, unhappy with his life of poverty, vows he will not eat until he can have a cooked turkey all to himself without sharing. When he finally gets his wish, he finds himself visited by God, the Devil and Death, and shares with one of them, and he receives a gift…

I can’t quite remember where, but I know I’ve encountered the basic story here before; it’s about a man given the power to cure others but only if death appears at the foot of the bed of the patient rather than at the head of the bed. It’s based loosely on a tale from the Brothers Grimm. It’s well acted, sometimes comic, sometimes tragic, and it has a truly memorable ending where our hero runs through a spooky forest and eventually ends up at the cave of Death. Overall, I’m not quite sure how I feel about the whole thing, but it does have a lingering power, and it’s definitely one of the best Mexican movies I’ve seen.