Arturo Ripstein has long been known as a brilliant film director, and he shows us why in Profundo Carmesi (Deep Crimson).In this 1996 film, Ripstein, in collaboration with writer Paz Alicia Garciadiego, makes us feel uneasy and uncomfortable, largely because he concentrates on two deeply flawed characters who are exaggerated versions of ourselves. There is a pattern here that is basic to art: the identification of ourselves in characters who should be, if logic holds, dismissed as too repulsive by half. Unless you live in a permanent Happy Sunshine Camp, all of us share the two characters' traits to one degree or another: jealousy, fantasy, yearning, self-absorption, greed, loneliness, desperation; the list goes on. The big difference is that most of us don't yield completely to our obsessions and allow them to overtake and ultimately destroy us. The lead players in this film (set in late-1940s Mexico) are Coral (Regina Orozco), an obese nurse, dreamer and part-time embalmer who yearns for Happiness Ever After with the most masculine of heroes, and Nicolas (Daniel Gimenez Cacho), a two-bit swindler and self-styled 'ladies' man' who exploits vulnerable, lonely women for sex and profit through lonely-hearts ads. Nicolas is, in other words, the opposite of what Coral believes she needs to 'complete' her life, yet she falls hopelessly in love with him. But it's not love at all, but a dreamworld of folly; neither of these characters has the faintest idea what love is. Despite their repellent behaviour, they are not without viewer sympathy -- they are more delusional and sadly deranged than anything else. In other words, they're very human, and that's the key in this film: we don't want to watch these pathetic creatures, but we do. Ripstein knows that if we look too closely we can see familiar (and unpleasant) pieces of ourselves. This is based on a true story, and once again I'm left to repeat those famous words: you couldn't make this stuff up. Art imitates life to be sure.The photography (by Guillermo Granillo) is stunning in a 'washed-out' reddish tinge that complements its authentic 1940s 'feel'. David Mansfield's music (a repetitive piano riff) is haunting and adds a perfect tone to the film. The acting is first-rate, especially by Cacho as the whining, migraine-ridden manipulator who is so neurotically attached to his hairpiece that he never wants Coral to see him without it.The only real failing in this film for me is background. These are two really undesirable characters, but we don't know how they got that way. In the summing up, it doesn't really matter. This is a riveting, fascinating film from beginning to end.

Deep Crimson-Arturo Ripstein This is an absolute gem of a retelling of the famous TRUE "Lonely Heart's Club Killers". Originally made as the "Honeymoon Killers", this Mexican version is totally representative of the true story. An obese nurse connects up with a con artist, who is stealing from rich widows, using a newspaper lonely hearts club source. Soon, after the nurse goes nutzoid over this creep, she gives up her children, and joins him in ripping off and killing available divorcée's and widows. The original film is a favorite of mine, as it is extremely gruesome, but carries a black comedy edge the first 2/3 of the film, and then it gets extremely nasty. As in the original, the psycho couple must deal with a Mother and her Child, and it is depicted here pretty well, but not as gruesome as the original. Nevertheless, this version pulls no punches, and in the end, goes way way beyond the original. This was considered very very shocking stuff in the original "Honeymoon Killers", and the ending of this one is totally stunning. This Mexican version is almost as good, if not better than the original. The extremely disturbing story, which is true, is superbly well made in this version. If you see this version for the first time, you will want to see "Honeymoon Killers", and if you already know "Honeymoon Killers", then "Profundo Carmesí" is a rare treat. I can't recommend this movie any higher, with the exception of "The Honeymoon Killers". Take your pick, they are both gruesome, and disgusting as hell. The edge is, this actually happened.

"Deep Crimson", a subtitled Mexican film, tells of a man who uses his hair-piece, good looks, and charm to bilk mature women out of their money. When he woos a very large and homely woman longing to be loved, she divests herself of her children, insinuates herself into his life, and goes off scamming with him while pretending be his sister. The backbone of the story is the strange symbiosis which develops between the partner/lover duo as we watch their relationship grow deeper and their scheming more nefarious. A moderately entertaining though schizophrenic film, "Deep Crimson" is too much of a comedy to be taken seriously and too much of a drama to be funny. The result is a marginally engaging film which will play best to those with a taste for black comedies from south of the border. (B)

The plot has been commented by other viewers, so let's move on. I saw this movie when it came out in theaters and loved it, especially the development of the plot (based on the same true events portrayed in Leonard Kastle's cult classic "The Honeymoon Killers") and the way Ripstein expertly evolves from black humor to suspense to bloody tragedy. I also loved the bolero-like title (say it in Spanish -Profundo Carmesí- beauuutiful), the choice of colors (thick greens, reds, blacks and browns), the set decoration, the actors, the all-imposing Catholic symbols and Catholic guilt which are so present in Latin American cultures... So I thought it was a film about SICK love and misleading appearances, how harmless-looking people can hide sick violent personalities that may ignite under certain circumstances, never to return to what they were before. A few years later, I happened to see an interview with Ripstein about this film, which urged me to see it again. He said it was a film about the dangers of romantic passion, tout court -- in the sense that passionate love is just one step away from isolation from society's values and conventions - and I thought "yes, this makes sense!". "Profundo..." is (also) about the pathological potential of any passionate love: the anti-social, selfish, self-consuming and potentially destructive behavior a love affair can trigger, to the risk of excluding friends, family and professional life from the lovers' agenda, and when nothing really matters except each other, their plans and their being together against all odds or reasons. Coral's behavior, dumping her children, lying, stealing, killing, marching on regardless of everyone else's feelings or actual physical integrity is a depiction of a sick personality...or is just a step or two further than the average person "madly" in love??"Profundo Carmesí" is great, but do I have to mention not to expect anything uplifting? My vote: a good 8 out of 10, just don't see it if you've been recently dumped by your lover/husband/wife; it might give you bad ideas!!