Bugambilia

Plot

In the Mexican city of Guanajuato, in the 1800s, the young and beautiful Amalia de los Robles (Dolores del Río) wakes up the passion of all the men of the region. This provokes the fury of her widowed father, Don Fernando (Julio Villarreal) who sees in her the face of his dead wife. But Amalia falls in love with the smart Ricardo (Pedro Armendáriz). Tragic circumstances, however, prevent them from being united.

Cast

Comments

With Bugambilia, Emilio Fernandez spared no resources of production: much of the filming would take place in the romantic alleys of the city of Guanajuato, while the detailed interior construction had been entrusted to the minute hands of the Catalan director Manuel Fontanals. Dolores del Río's costumes would be designed by the Hollywood couturier Royer.

If María Candelaria (1943) was the gift of a director in love with his star, Bugambilia was the filmic tribute to the man surrendered to the beauty of the beloved woman. None of their previous films show so explicitly the filmmaker entranced by the beauty of his protagonist. With all the exaggerated love for her, Fernandez held an increasingly turbulent and violent relationship with del Río. Bugambilia filming became a torture for both and for the rest of the team, who had to endure the mood swings of the director and the constant threats of the star leaving the film. When the film was completed in January 1945, Dolores del Río announced that she would never work with "El Indio" Fernández.