Redes (film)
| Redes | |
|---|---|
| Directed by |
Fred Zinnemann Emilio Gómez Muriel |
| Produced by | Carlos Chávez (for the Secretaría de Educación Pública) |
| Written by |
Agustín Velázquez Chávez Paul Strand Emilio Gómez Muriel Fred Zinnemann Henwar Rodakiewicz |
| Starring |
Silvio Hernández David Valle González Rafael Hinojosa Antonio Lara Miguel Figueroa David Valles Gonzales |
| Music by | Silvestre Revueltas |
| Cinematography | Paul Strand |
| Edited by |
Emilio Gómez Muriel Gunther von Fritsch |
|
Release date
|
1936 Mexico, 1937 USA |
|
Running time
|
65 minutes |
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
Redes is a Mexican film, released in 1936, about the fishing community of Alvarado on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, near the city of Veracruz. Although the Spanish language title refers to (fishing) nets, the English language title is The Wave (apparently referring to imagery at the end of the film). Redes was made with a mainly non-professional cast and has been seen as anticipating Italian neorealism. It concerns the struggle of poor fishermen to overcome exploitation.
Paul Strand began work on the project, which was originally conceived as a documentary, in 1933. He had come to Mexico at the invitation of the Mexican composer Carlos Chávez, who had a government job promoting the arts under the socialist education minister Narciso Bassols. The film developed into a work of fiction with a scenario by Strand and Agustín Chávez, nephew of the composer.
Towards the end of 1933, Henwar Rodakiewicz, a friend of Strand's from the Camera Club of New York, arrived to assist in the production. Rodakiewicz determined that the scenario was ragged and incoherent. Before returning to the USA for a few months, he wrote a shooting script for the film and made arrangements for his friend, Fred Zinnemann, to travel to Alvarado to take on the role of director. Zinnemann did not speak Spanish, while his co-director Emilio Gómez Muriel worked directly with the actors. The crew included still photographer Ned Scott. Filming was done on location in Alvarado, and the sound was added later.
Strand had left-wing views and was influenced by Eisenstein (whose Battleship Potemkin includes imagery of waves). Zinnemann cited Robert Flaherty as an influence.
The production was affected by political developments in 1934. Bassols resigned as minister of education in May and Carlos Chávez was replaced. Work on Redes continued under Chávez' successor, Antonio Castro Leal. However, Strand was warned funding could not be guaranteed beyond the end of the year, when a new president was due to take office. Strand left Mexico early in 1935 with the film still unreleased.
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Wikipedia