Roberto Gavaldón was a consummate film professional who worked his way into the emerging Mexican film industry beginning in the late ’20s, doing everything from acting to editing to assisting directors Alberto Gout, Alejandro Galindo and Gabriel Soria. His long apprenticeship made him a detailed craftsman behind the camera, known for carefully planning every shot in even his most modest productions.
Like his contemporaries Emilio Fernandez, Ismael Rodrigues and Luis Buñuel, Gavaldón worked on a wide variety of subjects and genres in Mexico’s highly commercial industry: he developed a series of slow boil thrillers from three works written by the enigmatic German émigré writer B. Traven (author of the source novel for John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) and collaborated extensively with writer and activist José Revueltas.
Yet certain recurrences—from a catalogue of slighted heroes seeking revenge to the intricate visuals developed through Gavaldón’s close working relationships with cinematographers Alex Philips and Gabriel Figueroa—dominate the director’s work, establishing his legacy as one of Mexico’s most complex and gifted filmmakers.
Like his contemporaries Emilio Fernandez, Ismael Rodrigues and Luis Buñuel, Gavaldón worked on a wide variety of subjects and genres in Mexico’s highly commercial industry: he developed a series of slow boil thrillers from three works written by the enigmatic German émigré writer B. Traven (author of the source novel for John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) and collaborated extensively with writer and activist José Revueltas.
Yet certain recurrences—from a catalogue of slighted heroes seeking revenge to the intricate visuals developed through Gavaldón’s close working relationships with cinematographers Alex Philips and Gabriel Figueroa—dominate the director’s work, establishing his legacy as one of Mexico’s most complex and gifted filmmakers.
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