La Mary

La Mary
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDaniel Tinayre
Screenplay byJosé A. Martínez Suárez
Augusto R. Giustozzi
Based onLa Mary
by Emilio Perina
Produced byRicardo Tomaszewski
Guillermo Cervantes Luro
StarringSusana Giménez
Carlos Monzón
CinematographyMiguel Rodríguez
Edited byAntonio Ripoll
Music byLuis María Serra
Production
company
Globus-Baires
Distributed byProducciones Del Plata
(Original)
3C Films Group
(Remastered reissue)
Release date
  • 8 August 1974 (1974-08-08)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryArgentina
LanguageSpanish

La Mary is a 1974 Argentine romantic-drama film directed by Daniel Tinayre starring Susana Giménez and Carlos Monzón. The screenplay is by José A. Martínez Suárez and Augusto R. Giustozzi, based on the 1965 short story of the same name by Emilio Perina, included in Historias apasionadas: La Mary y El Fiscal and later released as a novel with the release of the film.

The film is set in the 1940s and centers on Mary (Giménez), a young girl from a working-class neighbourhood in Buenos Aires who has the reputation of being able to predict the future. She marries Cholo (Monzón), and their passionate relationship is marked by the confrontation of Mary's chastity and Cholo's sexual desire. Tension arises when Mary begins to predict a series of deaths.

La Mary was a box office success and generated controversy due to its topic, so much that the Triple A threatened to kill the entire cast, accusing them of "offense against morality and decency."[1] The film is also notable for the development of a romantic relationship between Giménez and Monzón during its production, a relationship that would be turbulent and attracted widespread media attention in the years to follow.[2]

It is now considered a cult film and a classic of Argentine cinema.[1] In 2014, for the 40 year anniversary of its release, the film was remastered and re-released, declared "of cultural interest" by the city of Buenos Aires and the subject of an exhibition at the Pablo C. Ducrós Hicken Museum of Cinema.[1][3]

  1. ^ a b c "LA MARY, a 40 años de un clásico". Agenda Cultural (in Spanish). Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  2. ^ Domínguez, Walter (19 October 2014). "Susana Giménez: "La única que sigo pendeja soy yo"". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  3. ^ Domínguez, Walter (19 October 2014). "Susana Giménez: un reestreno en La Boca y a todo lujo". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 October 2014.