Danzón

Danzón is the name of a dance and its music: a style particularly attractive to Julia (Rojo) a 40-year-old single mother, telephonist and star of the local salon de baile in Mexico City. When her white-suited Danzón partner of 20 years standing - a real caballero - disappears one day, Julia is thrown into crisis and embarks on a trip to the coastal port of Vera Cruz in search not only of him but of herself too. Described as 'hot and spicy' in the programme for London's 1992 Latin American Film Festival, it is anything but. Instead, it is a gentle, affirmative and honest depiction of a particular culture (what the Danzón expresses about the emotional and sexual longings of its adherents) from the woman's point of view, which uses song to structure the narrative. It is directed by Novaro with non-obtrusive sensitivity.