The Crying Woman

NEW RESTAURATION!- Considered the first Mexican horror film, this romantic melodrama with expressionist elements is based on La Llorona, a ghost from Hispanic American folklore, originating in the pre-Hispanic world. According to oral tradition, she is the grieving soul of a woman who drowned her children. Repentant and cursed, she searches for them at night by rivers, towns, and cities, frightening those who see or hear her with her overwhelming cry. Her legend has a great diversity of versions. La Llorona is not only part of horror cinema but an essential fragment of the history of Mexican cinema. The technical mastery it demonstrates is nothing less than admirable, and its attachment to Mexico's folkloric tradition and history is an essential sign of identity. All that remains of this film are illustrations from a magazine and a lobby poster announcing a program at the Cinelandia Theatre.The latest adaptation, La Llorona (2019) by Jayro Bustamante, retains generalities and particularities typical of many geographic regions. Despite this, its magical and supernatural story, emerging from multiple origins, remains constant and recognizable, with additions, texturizations, and hybridizations in many different ways. This film is part of The Permanencia Voluntaria Archives, whose main objective is to rescue, preserve, and restore the popular cinema of Mexico's cinematographic history.