Official Trailer for 4K Restoration of ‘Victims of Sin’ Mexican Film Noir
by Alex Billington
September 26, 2023
Source: Vimeo
“A film that shocks! A picture that dazzles! An experience that thrills!” Janus Films has revealed a brand new official trailer for a 4K restoration of Victims of Sin, a 1951 classic Mexican film from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, written and directed by Emilio Fernández. It’s ready for a proper cinema re-release in the US, with a run at the Film Forum cinema in NYC starting in a few weeks. Set in México City, a famous Cuban dancer from “Cabaret Changó” rescues a baby from a garbage can and decides to raise him, but her pachuco pimp gets in her way. Of course. IDescribed as a “blend of film noir, melodrama, and musical”, the film has rarely been seen in the US, with the first release in Mexico in 1951. It stars acting-dancing sensation Ninón Sevilla, plus Tito Junco and Rodolfo Acosta, with cinematography by the legendary Gabriel Figueroa. Fernández explains: “I tried to make films with a relentless and direct style, where I emphasized the strength and beauty of Mexico, because Mexico has an unsettling duality: it is a people of masks and of full transparency.” This looks like a stellar picture that seems like it’ll be thrilling to enjoy on the big screen.
Here’s the new 4K restoration trailer (+ poster) for Emilio Fernández’s Victims of Sin, direct from Vimeo:
Rarely screened in the United States and long due for rediscovery, Victims of Sin (Víctimas del Pecado) is famed Mexican director Emilio Fernández’s unique blend of film noir, melodrama, and musical. Acting-dancing sensation Ninón Sevilla plays Violeta, a cabaret performer who adopts the abandoned child of Rita (Rita Montaner) and Rodolfo (Rodolfo Acosta), her murderous pimp. Motherhood forces Violeta to give up her career, but the kindhearted club owner Santiago (Tito Junco) saves her from a life of poverty and prostitution—until Rodolfo, freed from prison, seeks to reclaim his son. Best known for the award-winning María Calendaria (1944) & The Pearl (1947), Fernández infuses Victims with impassioned songs & performances by Sevilla, an icon of Mexican cinema and purveyor of African, Caribbean, Cuban dance.
Victims of Sin, originally known as Víctimas del Pecado in Spanish, is directed by acclaimed Mexican actor / filmmaker Emilio Fernández (also known as “El Indio” – he is “the most famous person in the history of Mexican movies”), director of many, many films throughout his career. Victims of Sin was released in 1951, just after he directed The Torch (1950) and One Day of Life (1950), and just before making Acapulco (1952) and When the Fog Lifts (1952). The screenplay is also written by Fernández, from a story by Fernández & Mauricio Magdaleno. The film originally opened in early 1951 in Mexico, but has rarely been seen in the US. This new 4K restoration is produced by Permanencia Voluntaria / Viviana García-Besné (Mexico) + Cinema Preservation Alliance (USA) / Peter Conheim. Janus Films will re-release Fernández’s Victims of Sin showing at Film Forum in NYC starting October 6th, 2023 this fall. For more info, visit their official site.
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