Mexico is an intense, passionate, colorful, musical, tasty and surreal universe that is capable of irremediably seducing, as it did with Luis Buñuel, the filmmaker, or overwhelming in such a way that even the standard-bearer of said artistic movement : Salvador Dalí, his close friend, never wanted to return. “There is no way I will go back; “I can’t stand being in a country that is more surreal than my paintings,” he said. And I reiterate it. The short time that I recently spent there, I experienced things between dream and unreality that captivated not only my thoughts and soul, but also my palate. It was at a dinner in which three films by Buñuel were shown, who settled in Mexico where he conceived a large part of his filmography—Los Olvidados, Illusion Travels on a Tram, Essay of a Crime, Nazarín, Viridiana, Simón del Desierto—.
The evening was to celebrate his birth, February 22, 1900 in Calanda, Spain. It was organized by Pablo San Román, the Basque chef from the Ekilore restaurant (Polanco), who has also settled comfortably in the kingdom of corn, great pre-Columbian empires, a powerful viceroyalty and a global trend in gastronomy, especially in Spain, where tortilla has become so established that dozens of tons are produced monthly, according to an investigation I did for El País.
Mario Barro, professor at UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, highlighted that this anniversary was not just anything. “It is an excuse to celebrate in an incredible place, which also exhibits a collection of posters from his films and while we have dinner, we will watch three short films.
“'Eating Hedgehogs' (1930) is a piece practically unknown in Mexico,” he said of a home movie he shot at the Dalí home in Cadaqués in which the painter's parents appear in real scenes, with surreal tones. They swing in a hammock, drink coffee on the terrace, walk through the garden. The father smokes a pipe and they both have an echinoid feast.
The other two pieces were 'The Andalusian Dog' (1929) and 'Las Hurdes. Land without bread' (1933), Buñuel's only documentary, a denunciation of the harsh situation in the Cáceres region with conditions of poor childhood education, malaria and misery. “It has not been restored or remastered and it is worth spreading the word because it is more current than ever. That situation was not only part of Spanish history, it is a global reality around the corner,” said Barros, an expert in the work of the Aragonese filmmaker, especially in his Mexican period (1946-1964). He served as coordinator of Casa Buñuel—his home and location of the Exterminating Angel—and of film activities at the Spanish Embassy in Mexico.
There was also Emilio Maillé, director with a Goya for Best Ibero-American Film, who referred to the professionalism and ethics that the Calandino always showed in his work, sprinkled with black humor, irony, provocation, tools that he used to move consciences. “His films exhibit fantastic power and time does not pass in his legacy, in fact, he said, 'age does not matter, unless you are a cheese,'” he said, recalling one of Buñuel's phrases that was They remained for posterity.
And in reference to the ribbons, San Román prepared hedgehog croquettes, barnacle salpicón, crayfish with zucchini and lamb in puff pastry. Oh, also 'Paella Don Luis', since Buñuel loved to cook and this recipe was his specialty. And to remind everyone that San Sebastián is his hometown, San Román delighted us with drum-shaped chocolate cakes in blue and white. Without a doubt, the experience, seen today from a distance, was something dreamlike and unreal that can only happen in my land.
@irmaa.aguilar
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