Deep Crimson

Even better then I anticipated. Quite the opposite of the Honeymoon Killers- one has actual three-dimensional characters you care about, especially the victims and this brings the film real dread and horror. A quality period piece that could be a crime film or a tragic love story where their is no real love or god or law- just survival, and the occasional romantic movie at the local picture show.

Petty extortionist Daniel Gimenez Cacho steals from lonely women and widows in late-1940s Mexico. When he meets Regina Orozco, an unhappily fat nurse who leaves her two children with nuns, they take to the road as business partners. She finds him clients, he turns on the silver-tongued charm. Arturo Ripstein’s grisly drama is a deadpan take on the real-life Lonely Hearts murder case, filmed in bleak black and white in 1968 as The Honeymoon Killers, and in lurid detail in 2006 as the John Travolta thriller Lonely Hearts. Here, the use of vibrant colours in such shabby surroundings lends the film an oppressive atmosphere of evil, though the two monstrous killers are viewed dispassionately. This, coupled with the extraordinary attention to detail, gives the film its disturbing power. These are two sad, deluded people who bring out the worst in each other. He’s a mousey man suffering from crippling migraines, she’s a bovine drudge wracked by guilt at abandoning her children. The one time she’s seen in a nurse smock, she makes it look like a butcher’s apron. The spare music is by David Mansfield, Michael Cimino’s composer on Heaven’s Gate. As scary as the pitiless Salma Hayek is as Martha Beck in Lonely Hearts, Regina Orozco’s portrayal of this monstrous woman is somehow scarier – because she’s pitiable. This is a tough, tragic story, it really doesn’t need Mansfield’s maudlin boulevard themes.

This would have been a very interesting movie - addressing very neatly what the appeal was of the Charles Boyer-look-alike, which was a mystery to reviewers of other movies based on the real story of the Lonely Hearts Club killers. I liked this movie except for the ending, which (a) departs from the real story upon which the movie is based, and (b) seems to me a very awkward edit to make the story end after X number of minutes despite great injury to the story or plot.I deleted the paragraph in which I say what the ending was, since 0 of 1 people found my review helpful, perhaps that was the unhelpful part. And yet this review was popping up as the most helpful critical review despite others rated more helpful and more critical, so go figure ... maybe a little glitch.The rest of what I would have to say is already covered in the previous 5 reviews. I googled the Lonely Hearts Club Murders and read with interest Mark Gado's 23 page article. (small pages)

This movie was far better than I expected!

The way Roger Ebert and TIME magazine described this movie made me buy it and see it. I was expecting a gruesome masterpiece, something like Buñuel's "Los Olvidados" or any film by Bigas Lunas. Certainly, Arturo Ripstein directing is always a good omen, but... alas, it was not to be!Sure, the story is quite disturbing, but not as shocking as you'd think. Daniel Giménez Cacho and Regina Orozco are O.K. but not in their roles of a lifetime. The girl playing the last victim makes the best performance of them all, and Almodóvar's favorite Marisa Paredes is thoroughly wasted in the most dreadful acting I've ever seen. Too bad, really, but worth watching once.Remember, it ain't over 'til the fat lady... sinks!

"Deep Crimson" is a merciless movie that dwelves into human depravity and murder. It's directed by Arturo Ripstein, Mexico's most respected director who used to work under the wing of Luis Bunuel. In fact, there is a lot of Bunuel style in "Deep Crimson," a movie that shocks not only in violence, but in the entire story and character structure. In it's own way it's visceral and the performances are always chillingly convincing. Ripstein and his writer, Paz Alicia Garciadiego are not afraid to offend the audience and don't hold back, looking at reality unblinkingly. The photography is really rich, gritty and artistic. "Deep Crimson" can be seen as a study of human perversion mingled with lust and depravity. These are characters down on the evolutionary scale who resort to murder for petty reasons, and the way the murders are carried out and the way these characters act and the way Ripstein films it with such realism, is what makes the film effective and disturbing. "Deep Crimson" shows how sometimes American cinema can be really tame, Ripstein obviously isn't and shows his brilliance for realistic and effective cinema here. Obviously he learned well from Luis Bunuel, whom "Deep Crimson" would make proud.

Regina Orozco & Daniel Giménez Cacho are not well known in the states, but, of the three films about the "Lonely Hearts Killers" this one haunted me long afterwards. Set in barren Mexican landscapes, it had a raw, visceral effect on me. Ms. Orozco is unforgettable.