USA Film Fest - Arrancame la vida

From gifted Mexican director Roberto Sneider (Two Crimes, USAFF 1995) comes another great film. A passionate love story set against Mexico’s post-revolution period of the 1930s and ’40s, this epic tale was Mexico’s foreign-language film submission for the 2008 Academy Awards. Catalina Guzman (Ana Claudia Talancón), a 15-year-old girl born into a rural family, is swept away as the child bride of the ruthless general Andres Ascensio (Daniel Giménez Cacho), whose political ambitions allow him to become governor of the province, but not before he’s spent time in jail for murder. He nevertheless has his eye on the presidency, and Catalina stands by him – even after she learns that he has a lover as well as children by other women. That changes when she meets and falls for orchestra conductor and left-wing activist Carlos Vives (José María de Tavira). The dangerous love triangle plays out to a dramatic conclusion against the backdrop of a turbulent period in Mexican history. Based on the 1985 novel by Mexican writer and journalist Ángeles Mastretta, Arráncame was a critical and popular success that earned her the Mazatlán Prize for Literature for Best Book of the Year. Stunning cinematography by Javier Aguírresarobe and rich period detail make for a sumptuous visual feast. 107 mins. Director Roberto Sneider and author Angeles Mastretta in attendance.

Information provided by the festival