Mexico’s Day of the Dead is being marked by el Jimador tequila (natch) with special free screenings of two of the country’s cult classic films: El Mariachi, the influential debut movie from Machete, Sin City and From Dusk Till Dawn director Robert Rodriguez, and arch-surrealist Luis Buñuel’s 1962 classic The Exterminating Angel.
Shoreditch’s White Rabbit Studios will be transformed into a vibrant visual Mexican feast decorated with calaca masks (the famous Mexican skeleton masks) and still scenes from the two gritty pictures. The Mexican theme continues with some authentic Mexican dishes and drinks.
One of the most enduring of Buñuel’s films to have been filmed in his adopted homeland of Mexico, The Exterminating Angel (pictured above) is set during a dinner party in a lavish mansion. Shortly after dinner is prepared, almost all of the servants are mysteriously compelled to flee the house. Soon enough, the guests find themselves inexplicably unable to leave. What starts as a comical absurdity soon escalates as their desperation grows. As the basic needs of mankind fall into short supply, the bourgeoisie descend into base-level, animalistic behaviour
Robert Rodriguez’s directorial career started at the age of just 23 when he made the highly influential El Mariachi on a budget that barely exceeded just $7,000. In El Mariachi, drug baron Moco despatches a gang to eliminate the ruthless Azul when he discovers that his enemy is planning a terrible vengeance upon him. The gang, however, confuse Azul with a travelling musician known simply as El Mariachi) which forces the musician into a desperate fight for survival. Violent shoot-outs ensue as the mariachi tries to flee town.
Mexican Cinema Club
October 25 (Exterminating Angel) and November 1( El Mariachi), 7pm–10pm
The White Rabbit, 471 – 473 The Arches, Dereham Place, London, EC2A 3HJ
To apply for free tickets, email eljimador@eulogy.co.uk
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