Hell hath no fury like a rumbera (rumba dancer) thrown into jail for two years for petty theft. Prostitute Aurora (Cuban-born dance queen Ninón Sevilla, “the Golden Venus of the Golden Age”) gets out of prison and exacts her vengeance by seducing the very married and respectable judge who put her behind bars (Fernando Soler). Borrowing liberally from the 1930 Josef von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich classic The Blue Angel, Sensualidad shows how Eros makes a mockery of rectitude and righteousness.
A brazen star vehicle for Ninón Sevilla, who also did her own choreography, the movie has been called “a deliriously kitsch-smitten melodrama of sexual subjugation and perverse pleasures.” (Lincoln Centre).
We appreciate the support of Claro Video // DCP Courtesy of Filmoteca UNAM
From her inflamed look to her fiery mouth, everything is heightened in Ninón (her forehead, her lashes, her nose, her upper lip, her throat, her voice).
Francois Truffaut, Cahiers du cinema
The essence of Sevilla’s films is found in her dancing. As a performer, she leads with her upthrust chin and plays directly to the camera. Said to have been classically trained, she modified the conga and merengue to suit her own kinetic, hand-fluttering, eye-rolling, back-bending, fanny-wagging, self-caressing, sublimely narcissistic technique—a hopping, elbows-out, hip-shake shimmy somewhere between the traditional West African Sinte and the Pony dance popularized post-Twist by Chubby Checker. All her numbers are showstoppers…
J Hoberman, Artforum
Alberto Gout’s Sensualidad capitalizes on Ninón Sevilla’s explosive screen presence and performance as perhaps Mexican noir’s most evil femme fatale, to deliver an unforgettable noir-melodrama-musical that fires on all cylinders […] The nightclub musical numbers are predictably outlandish… It’s all gloriously insane.
Heart of Noir
Alberto Gout
Ninón Sevilla, Rodolfo Acosta, Fernando Soler, Andrea Palma
Mexico
1951
In Spanish with English subtitles
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Credits
Producer
Guillermo Calderón, Pedro Calderón, César Pérez Luis
Screenwriter
Alberto Gout, Álvaro Custodio
Cinematography
Alex Phillips
Editor
Alfredo Rosas Priego
Production Design
Manuel Fontanals
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The Skeleton of Mrs Morales
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Streetwalker
Middle class and married, Elena (Miroslava Stern) has been seduced by an unscrupulous swindler, who turns out to be the pimp of Maria (Elda Peralta), a prostitute and Elena's estranged sister. But are they really so different under the skin?
Victims of Sin
This movie is a hot scramble of piety and passion, sentimentality and sleaze. Ninón Sevilla plays Violeta, a rumba sensation who oversteps when she rescues a newborn from the trash. This gets her fired and wins the enmity of the pimp who fathered the kid.
Salón México + Midnight Boogaloo Live!
To celebrate our Mexico Noir series we invited Midnight Boogaloo to get the party going with a mix of salsa, boogaloo and rock & roll. After their set enjoy the seminal dancehall melodrama Salón México, a classic from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema.
Gabriel Figueroa & Alex Phillips: Painting It Black
In this free talk, educator and filmmaker Devan Scott (himself a professional cinematographer) will introduce you to the artistry of two giants of Mexican cinematagraphy, Gabriel Figueroa and Canadian Alex Phillips.
Take Me In Your Arms
In this boldly stylized musical melodrama mixing reformist politics with outrageous musical numbers, the incomparable Ninón Sevilla is the poor fisherman's daughter navigating a success of dodgy men on her way to true love.
Sensualidad
Prostitute Aurora (Cuban-born dance queen Ninón Sevilla) gets out of prison and exacts her vengeance by seducing the very married and respectable judge who put her behind bars (Fernando Soler). Eros makes a mockery of rectitude and righteousness.
El Suavecito
Victor Parra is Roberto, "el Suavecito", the smoothie. Sprinkling his Spanish with slang and English, and sporting a Zoot suit, he's a gangster-wannabe, an obnoxious macho who isn't quite as tough as he likes to make out...
Salón México
Cheated by her pimp, Mercedes recklessly steals his wallet and is only saved from a severe beating by the intervention of a kindly policeman. Hard-hitting social realism sits beside patriotic sentimentality and multiple red hot dance sequences.
Crepúsculo
A brain surgeon (Arturo de Córdova) begins to doubt his own sanity when the woman he's in love with (Gloria Marin) marries his brother — and he starts fantasizing about murder.