Review of Erendira (1983) by Nelson R — 31 Jan 2018

Erendira 1983.

A movie that is very difficult to classify. It has elements of drama, fantasy, surreal imagery, exploitation, dark comedy, soft porn, magical realism, horror, tragedy, intense superstition, and even a commentary on politicians.

Claudia Ohana, what a phenomenal chameleon. The director and filming staff can make this young lady look so radically different for the various scenes played throughout the movie. Erendira is an early teens character superbly played by Claudia who is actually 22 years old in real life.

Irene Papas should have won an oscar for her performance. This woman is so entirely convincing in her role as the sociopathic grandmother as to create true inner reflection in any audience. She progresses at the beginning from the almost normal sleep ranting and raving old woman to the completely wigged out psycho at the end of the film.

Several scenes contained in this film are hard to understand. Specifically, how they actually integrate some added value to the film's storyline is difficult to see, but the film editor included them anyway. It adds to the complexity of this need-to-see-several-times film.

The director took a sad book with a very not funny story and adapted it to the screen in odd ways. The original book on which the film was based was a tragic story; one component of a series of interrelated stories.

This author has seen the film 10 times or more, and learns more each time. Like re-reading a fine novel, the more you see Erendira, the more you appreciate what a fantastic work this film truly is. Erendira is a tremendously underrated film. (Hopefully they will release this in HD DVD format someday.).