Film Forum

1951, Mexico
Directed by Emilio Fernández
Cinematography by Gabriel Figueroa
Starring Ninón Sevilla, Rodolfo Acosta
Approx. 84 min. New 4K Restoration.

Vintage Mexican musical Noir, with Cuban-born superstar Ninón Sevilla as a dancer headlining the divey “Cabaret Changoo,” who rescues, then mothers, an abandoned baby from a literal garbage can to the ire of zoot-suited, low-life pimp Rodolfo Acosta. Self-sacrifice, prostitution, the slammer, wedlock, a kidnapping, two murders, and much more ensue, all jammed into just 90 minutes. One of many collaborations of director Fernández (nicknamed “El Indio” because of his Kickapoo ancestry), considered the greatest director of Mexican cinema’s Golden Age (and Cannes Palme d’Or winner in 1946), and Figueroa, its greatest cinematographer. Magnificently staged musical numbers include an appearance by legendary mambo king Pérez Prado. “Fernández embraced the emerging genre of rumberas films — cabaret melodramas centered on Afro-Caribbean music — fashioning this showcase for its greatest star, the incandescent Ninón Sevilla.” – Museum of Modern Art notes.

VICTIMS OF SIN was fully restored in 4K from the original 35mm nitrate camera negative, which had been damaged from mishandling over the decades, by Peter Conheim (Cinema Preservation Alliance/USA) and Viviana Garcia-Besné (Permanencia Voluntaria/Mexico). Permanencia Voluntaria and Cinema Preservation Alliance co-produced the preservation effort with further assistance from IMCINE and the Academy Film Archive, bringing VICTIMS OF SIN back to the screen with a clarity and depth not seen since its original release.

With support from the Robert E. Appel Fund for Spanish and Portuguese Language Films

A JANUS FILMS RELEASE

Reviews

 “ONE OF THE 25 BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE MOVIE MUSICALS EVER MADE… The musical sequences are raw, beautiful, and riveting… Fernández was a visionary populist filmmaker who took the stuff of pulpy potboilers and created works of surprising depth.”
– Bilge Ebiri