naxself

"Hidalgo" is a good film. It details Miguel Hidalgo's life from his time as the rector of the Colegio de San Nicolas to his assignment to the parish of Dolores, from which he helped launch the Mexican independence movement. The film is not about the wars of independence, but only about Hidalgo's life and the formation of the ideas he would try to put into practice during those wars. If you're looking for blood and guts, look elsewhere (for the most part; there are a couple of scenes of the war, but not a lot of blood).

Hidalgo is a complicated character and he is brought to life marvelously by Demian Bichir. He was everything that the late 18th and early 19th century Catholic Church feared: caring, devoted to his parishioners, a good teacher, and, worst of all, an independent thinker. It was his conscience that led him to the independence movement, which is a thread developed throughout the film.

This is a good film if you have some prior knowledge of Mexican independence and the people involved. If you're coming in cold, you may get lost. The subtitle is a bit misleading as the film doesn't really break any new ground that hasn't been known in academic circles for years. However, given that the goal is to show Hidalgo's intellectual formation and the various events that push him toward independence, it succeeds. This is well worth a view.