The Night Falls

Usually cast as a romantic hero, Pedro Armendáriz plays a pelota superstar of almost Trumpian arrogance here, a man who believes there are only winners and losers in this world and you don’t get to be the former by caring about the latter. On the court he’s the epitome of strength. Off it, he strings along a clutch of smitten women, seducing and discarding them without a thought. At one point he even kicks a dog. But after getting a naive teenager pregnant, this boorish brute of a man is about to get his comeuppance…

If you don’t know much about pelota (aka jai alai) — think squash played on three walls at 250 km an hour — there’s a surprising amount of action in the movie’s first half. But it’s the fiendish and jet-black second half which secures La Noche Avanza its place in the Mexican noir canon.

Televisa Univision All Rights Reserved. We appreciate the support of Fundación Televisa // DCP Courtesy of Cineteca Nacional México

No Hollywood movie of the time would have taken the risk of placing such an utterly despicable character at the center of the story, inviting the audience to enjoy the clever and twisting course of the bastard’s downfall. The people around him look good only in comparison; this is an altogether ugly world, driven by vengeance and greed, rife with lies, cheating, and double-crosses.

Imogen Sarah Smith, Noir City

Deliriously entertaining.

The Movie Gourmet