This is not just a story about love, but separation, rivalry, betrayal and hope; universal elements that are easy for us all to identify with. The backdrop of the Mexican Revolution provides the perfect landscape for this tale, as it evokes a sense of romance and adventure; the passion of the revolution. Despite this, the matter of the revolution runs secondary to the main themes of the film; more than anything the story seems to simply coincide with current events. However, it does add to the film's overall atmosphere and reminds us of the human element of conflict and of man's capacity for hope in the midst of so much adversity. Some of the characters are stereotypical, some not so, but the cast is superb and Antonio R Frausto's performance is as captivating as ever. I really enjoyed this film and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Mexican cinema, and of course, love and its adversaries.
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Teddyberula31 March 2009
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cm-foley15 March 2009Canción del alma is certainly an alternative film on the Mexican Revolution. The heroine being an over-romantic and very un-Mexican character, we are swept along with the convincing love story that perhaps the contemporary audience would have enjoyed far more. The good vs. bad binary is established, the good being the upper-class Federal faction, and the bad being a stereotypical drunken Salgado; the predictable lecherous campesino-type. The film's resolution, however, is satisfying, but it has to be in order to compensate for the lack of thematic depth. It is an enjoyable watch but is obviously compromised by its faithfulness to the government portrayals of the Mexican Revolution.