Watch at Home 11.06.2018

Midaq Alley

Directed by Jorge Fons
Film Movement Classics
1995
140 Minutes
Mexico
Spanish
Drama, LGBTQIA2S+, Classics, Latin American

Heated tempers, frustrated desires and dashed hopes plague a diverse group of individuals whose lives cross paths in Mexico City. There is the bar-owner's son, Chava (Juan Manuel Bernal), who yearns to emigrate to America. A poor barber, Abel (Bruno Bichir), is madly in love with the gorgeous Alma (Salma Hayek), who eventually becomes a high-class prostitute. Finally, there is Susanita (Margarita Sanz), the desperate spinster who pursues many love affairs in hopes of finding a husband. Adapted from the novel of the Egyptian Nobel prize winner Naguib Mahfuz.

Director & Cast

  • Director: Jorge Fons
  • Starring: Salma Hayek
  • Starring: Maria Rojo
  • Starring: Bruno Bichir
  • Starring: Ernesto Gomez Cruz
  • Starring: Margarita Sanz

Trailer

Photos

Reviews

  • "One of the best Mexican films since Like Water for Chocolate . . . A vibrant portrait of millennial Mexico City"
    Ed Morales, Village Voice
  • "Vet Mexican director Jorge Fons does a superlative job of translation and transformation in “Midaq Alley,” a riveting and well-acted drama based on the novel by Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. "
    Joe Leydon, Variety
  • "Fons' film is an ambitious, absorbing and expertly filmed account of lives made and broken on Midaq Alley."
    Deborah Hornblow, Hartford Courant