Dance of the Forty One
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Dance of the Forty One
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Dance of the Forty One is a sexually explicit film inspired by a true story about a group of homosexual men, some in high social and political positions, who were publicly humiliated for their sexual orientation in late 19th century Mexico. An orgy scene depicts dozens of men engaged in all manner of sexual acts, including oral sex and anal penetration, in pairs and groups. A culminating scene where the men are rounded up and beaten until bloody, humiliated, and put to labor in a public square is the most brutal of the film. However, the relationship between one man and his new wife, whom he married for political gain and to mask his homosexuality, is cruel at many points. The two have a few knock-down fights as well as a couple of unpleasant sexual encounters. These are contrasted with the man and his beloved male lover, who show each other great tenderness during explicit sex scenes and other scenes. There is mention of "penetration," "gonorrhea," and "Sodom," and other language in the English subtitles of this Spanish-language film includes "queer," "f-ggot," "pigs," and "sickos."
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What's the Story?
Ignacio de la Torre (Alfonso Herrera) is an up-and-coming politician at the start of DANCE OF THE FORTY ONE (El Baile de los 41), about to marry Amada (Mabel Cadena), the Indigenous daughter of Mexico's President Porfirio Diaz (Fernando Becerril). But all is not as perfect as it looks from the outside. Ignacio is hiding a secret -- his homosexuality -- and marrying Amada for all the wrong reasons. It's the late 1800s and homosexuality isn't accepted in Mexican society. Ignacio forms part of a clandestine club of gay men who meet to relax, eat, drink, play games, put on shows and balls, and engage in orgies. When he meets a young lawyer, Evaristo Rivas (Emiliano Zurita), the pair fall deeply in love, complicating matters even further between Ignacio and Mabel.
Is It Any Good?
This film from Mexico looks gorgeous and is well acted, but ultimately the style outweighs the substance. Dance of the Forty One aims to convey a message about the consequences of oppression by contrasting the tense, ultimately abusive relationship between Ignacio and Amada with the tender affair between Ignacio and Evaristo. All three actors do a commendable job embodying this tension as well as their characters' simmering frustration with their respectively inhibited love stories. But the production feels much more concerned with depicting Ignacio's clandestine life, reveling in images of the men at the club performing for each other, than in developing its main characters more fully.
As Eva, Emiliano Zurita is particularly underused, and we never really get to know his character. Amada transforms from blushing bride to tortured goat lady to heartless tormentor in record time, and her husband ends a broken man. It's a morality tale dressed in sumptuous period costume and candle-lit rooms (surely there's symbolism in the film's use of light and shadows), but the viewer -- especially outside Mexico, where the historical event is not well-known -- will be left wishing the script had matched the complexity of the production design.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the historical events which inspired Dance of the Forty One. Where could you go for more information about this?
Do you think filmmakers have a responsibility to portray historical events factually? Why or why not?
Did you understand Ignacio's behavior? What about Amada's?
How would you describe the look of this film and the style of its settings and wardrobes? Did it remind you of any other movies you've seen?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: May 12, 2021
- Cast: Alfonso Herrera, Emiliano Zurita, Mabel Cadena
- Director: David Pablos
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: History
- Run time: 99 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 28, 2022
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