Jose Luis Ibañez
Directing
Biography
José Luis Ibáñez (18 February 1933 – 4 August 2020) was a Mexican film director and screenwriter whose screen work is closely associated with Mexico’s 1960s–1970s auteur and experimental currents. He made his film-directing debut with Las dos Elenas, a segment of the anthology feature Amor, amor, amor produced by Manuel Barbachano Ponce from a story by Carlos Fuentes, and presented through Mexico’s First Experimental Film Contest. In the early 1970s he directed the feature films Victoria, an adaptation of Henry James’s Washington Square, and Las cautivas, developed from another Fuentes story; after these films, he largely stepped away from cinema to concentrate on other artistic and academic work.
Known For
Raimundo, a wealthy man, died of a heart attack. The notary reads out Raimundo's will, leaving all his estate and companies to the widow, Luz, with the surprising clause that she will remain without a man for the period of two years, during which his trusted attorney, Arturo, will be in possession of the whole patrimony. Luz being much younger than her late husband, resents this clause that will keep her captive of the dead man for so long. Her attempts to seek release in the night spots of the town do not prove satisfying. Lucia, the maid, starts an extortion scheme against the widow, menacing to denounce the murder of Raimundo with venom, as Luz and Arturo were lovers. The faithful cook and the gardener are dismissed and Lucía literally takes her employer's image, clothes, and manners - forcing Luz to play humbly to her (progressively insane) demands.
Las cautivas
No description available.
Victoria
Victor and Elena are newlyweds and lead a busy social life. While Victor is cultured and quiet, Elena is beautiful, brilliant and restless, constantly criticized by her mother, also named Elena, who is very refined, correct and bourgeois. The three of them will be involved in a rather ambiguous and at the same time terribly moving moment in their lives.
The Two Elenas
Four stories: The encounter between a soldier and a widow in a cemetery. A woman arrives as a maid in an unknown city where she discovers love. Another woman is tasked with caring for her lecherous uncle on his deathbed. A young man gets into trouble with his girlfriend's family when she suggests opening up their relationship.