Classic Mexican movies vs modern ones

The Mexican cinema started at the beginning of the 20Th century, by several people who documented historical events; basically The Mexican Revolution and the products were “silent films”. Many of those films have been lost.

But, when somebody talks about classic Mexican movies, he or she is talking about the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema that began in the 30’s.

Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Dolores del Río, Pedro Armendáriz, Gloria Marín and María Félix for instance, starred in the most famous films of that era.

The main characteristic of this kind of movies has been the remarkable exhibition of emotions supported by excellent sound tracks, the endless fight for goodness and the influence of religion in the life of its stars. They are naive films that can be seen by children (modern children). Even though they were in black and white, many people still enjoy them.

The “Golden Age” finished in the 50s and a new era started for the Mexican cinema. During the 60s and 70s horror and action movies were produced, they were extraordinary productions at that time, but in the late 70’s the decadence of Mexican movies was very obvious. The period which spanned from the 80s to 90s was the “abominable era” of Mexican cinema. “Sexicomedias” were produced in this period of time and Sasha Montenegro was the most famous “actress”.

The New Mexican Cinema (Modern Mexican movies) first took place in the early 90s, with the film “Como Agua para Chocolate” which is considered a high quality film. In general, modern Mexican movies are less emotional, more cynical and supported by technology so they look spectacular sometimes. In many modern movies there is not a moral learning. Stars abuse bad words and almost all of them are not recommended for children and adolescents. Additionally, I really do not remember the name of any actor/actress who has starred in a good Mexican modern film.

My opinion after my brief description of classic and modern Mexican movies is obvious; I like classic Mexican movies more than modern movies, even though they could be a little bit exaggerated showing feelings.

I think that young people need good norms and stars who can serve as models. Nowadays we are suffering from an unprecedented physical, verbal and psychological violence, so I think that film producers and writers could help avoiding violent movies and encourage films with moral content (Although this does not mean religious topics).