Who is he?

Born to an anarchist father and an actress mother, Argentinian René Mugica (1909-1998) started out as an assistant director before becoming an actor and filmmaker. For a decade, he made films that immediately attracted attention, such as Hombre de la esquina rosada, selected for the 1961 Cannes Film Festival. This film, an adaptation of a short story by José Luis Borges, was produced with a group of friends.

His film at the Lumière film festival

Hombre de la esquina rosada is a mercilessly lethal Western. The story: as Argentina celebrates its centenary in 1910, a man is released from prison, pardoned for the occasion. Before heading south, he must avenge his deceased cellmate, a man who was betrayed by a friend who has since stolen his wife, the beautiful Lujanera.

Hombre de la esquina rosada, 1962© DR

Why is it worth discovering?

One must immerse oneself in the soulful atmosphere of this story, which plays on the potent theme of revenge that works like poison. From the opening credits, Hombre de la esquina rosada imposes a relentless rhythm, with a varied tone, owing as much to the music as to the crossing of the town by a protagonist with a dark, inescapable silhouette. Moments of comedy are followed by first-degree drama featuring combat by knife, the local weapon of virile men, and a dance sequence of phenomenal documentary sensuality.

Hombre de la esquina rosada by René Mugica (1962, 1h11)
Institut Lumière (Hangar) – Wednesday, 18 October at 2pm