This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Writer B. Traven's, cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa's and film-director Roberto Gavaldón's 1960 masterpiece 'Macario' appears at first to be a wonder tail for children, a little fantasy - filled with marvelousness. But then, its poetry (albeit it never resigns from its esthetic) turns into a tragic dejection, and soon you realize that you are in the impossibility to step back. Life has trapped you, nobody looks out for you - death enters you when you're born, and you carry it around in your livers, your stomachs, your hearts. Each candle goes out by itself. 'Macario's daring and ruthless realism hits you sharply, suddenly - as with its first spoken dialogs and captivating scenes. All illusions, romances, sentimentalisms, understandings drop unexpectedly from your entrails and your skull... and surprisingly long time before your death.

Adapted from socialist B. Traven's story of the same name, the film is a artistic masterpiece. The direction, acting are superb. The cinematography is moving and haunting. The trees, the sparseness of the village, even the expression on the actors' faces-all are moving-all are memorable. Have you ever wanted anything in life, something you could just call your own? As Macario's wife admits to her husband she has also wanted something just for herself that she didn't have to share and gives him a turkey she stole that could have cost her her life so he can fulfill his desire to eat a turkey all to himself. For all of Macario's life he has always known nothing, but hunger as has his wife, his children and fellow villagers. However, Macario is a good man and cannot eat whole turkey without ultimately sharing. He is approached by the Devil, God, and what appears a very hungry man with whom does he share his turkey, but why? Poverty, wealth, and racism all are shown here. The story takes place in Mexico during Spanish rule. Whereas the white Spanish ruling elite, shown to be greedy, cynical, arrogant, and inhuman, are wealthy and want for nothing; the local indigenous people, who maybe all honest and hard-working, are forced to starve and live in a dry, sparse desert with barely-thatched roofs, praying to God for justice rather than creating it. The same cinematographer that photographed Brunel's films in Mexico was also the cinematographer of this film. Perhaps, that's why it seems to be an odd mix combining the social criticism of Brunel's Los Olvidados along with the existentialism of Bergman's 7th Seal. Intellectually profound in its depiction of economic injustice in this world, it moves the viewer to comment. As the candle-maker tells Macario, "We are born to die …We spend most of our time dead." It is in contemplating death that we understand life in so far as we have only one; and it is this that makes us question injustice. The near to last scene is unforgettable. Few scenes are as memorable: J'Accuse, the 7th Seal, Ordet are the rare exceptions along with this film. It leaves is with 2 burning questions : What is life? Is it nothing more than a candle that burns for awhile then is spent? What is justice? In a Capitalist world can it be anything more than a concept that like an object can be bought and sold with money?

This was Mexico's first contender for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar (which was also up for the Palme D'Or at Cannes): to be honest, I only became aware of it myself recently while looking for links to "Mexi-Horror" outings on "You Tube" (it is indeed a fantasy but not a scary one, and far from goofy)! In fact, I acquired a copy of this one online that included slightly oversized burnt-in English subtitles. Its viewing followed hard on the heels of THE TRUTH and KAPO', which were the French and Italian entries in the same Academy Awards category – with the only nominee now remaining unavailable (and, consequently, unwatched) being the Yugoslavian competitor THE NINTH CIRCLE. The winner emerged Sweden's THE VIRGIN SPRING – which, like the movie under review, was a fascinating parable; incidentally, both films again found themselves in the running at Cannes, with the Ingmar Bergman title getting a "Special Mention" but the top prize being awarded to Federico Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA. MACARIO (nothing to do with a lowbrow Italian comic that goes by this very name!) deals with a poor Mexican wood-cutter who, rather selfishly, wishes that he could feed on a turkey but without sharing it with anyone, not even his plentiful family!; to be fair to him, he does go on a hunger strike in protest at the unfairness of the class system! His wife (played by tragic actress Pina Pellicer, best-known for her role in Marlon Brando's ONE-EYED JACKS {1961}) obliges by stealing the bird in question from the wealthy mansion for which she washes the laundry, hiding it even from her husband and then surprising him when he wakes up to go to work the next morning. As he lies down to feast on the turkey, he receives three visits from different men all requesting that they partake of the man's lunch: these obviously symbolize the Devil (appearing in the guise of a bandit), God (a shepherd) and Death (a beggar). Weighing his options, Macario accepts the latter's presence at his 'table' and, in gratitude, is given healing powers…but only to those Death himself indicates!Soon, the protagonist has his hands full with patients (beginning with his own son, who fell down a well) – to the consternation of the local doctor and undertaker – and, growing increasingly respectable, relocates to a big house in the town centre. Eventually, the Viceroy (played by "Euro-Cult" regular Eduardo Fajardo) comes to call in order to save the life of his own offspring – but Death appears at the head of the bed in his case, the sign that he is not to subsist. Macario tries to persuade him to show mercy (apart from turning the bed around a number of times so as to appear that Death wants the child to be spared after all) – for his own sake at least, since the Inquisition has also turned up determined to expose him as a charlatan or a sorcerer and have the hero burned at the stake! He is, however, given one last chance and asked to point out who from among a cell housing various convicts, and with the public hangman thrown in as a lark, is to make it out alive: when Macario states that all will survive (including one who had been sentenced to death) but the executioner himself, the prosecutors believe they finally got him trapped…but an attendant immediately reports that the man in question has indeed expired from a heart attack and the condemned man has been suddenly reprieved! The downbeat and irony-tinged conclusion, then, takes us back to the all-important turkey-eating deep in the forest…The narrative's inherent simplicity is countered throughout by the renowned Gabriel Figueroa's expert lighting – perhaps seen to best advantage towards the end when Death invites Macario to his cave where the whole of humanity is represented by burning candles a' la Fritz Lang's DESTINY (1921); interestingly, he would recapture the "Day of the Dead" celebrations – seen here in the film's opening stages – for John Huston's UNDER THE VOLCANO some 24 years later! For the record, the script was based on a novel by the mysterious B. Traven (author of the source material that formed the basis of Huston's own 1948 Oscar-winning classic THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE – coincidentally, too, Traven was born on the very day I watched this)! Besides, the supporting cast includes a number of faces familiar from films Luis Bunuel made during his Mexican tenure. As for director Gavaldon, I ought to mention that I also own but have yet to check out his THE LITTLEST OUTLAW (1955), co- starring Maltese character actor Joseph Calleia. One last thing: judging by the "Critic Reviews" MACARIO gets on the IMDb, it does seem to have a definite cult following – which makes its obscurity to this viewer somewhat baffling; in retrospect, the end result indeed constitutes a minor genre classic worthy of greater exposure.

Macario is a simple peasant, struggling to make ends meet. He gathers firewood in the nearby woods, to sell at market to help feed his large family. However no matter how hard he works, he still finds his children are starving and this hits him hard. With the Day of the Dead festival approaching, he finds it difficult to take that wealthy families are able to make such large offerings of food to their deceased relatives, while he and his family can barely get the bones of a good meal together. He goes on a hunger strike so that his children can have his share, this naturally worries his wife. His wife presents him with a large Turkey for him to eat all by himself, a craving he had confided in her some days previous, he gladly takes it and sets off into the forest to eat it before he starts his working day. Suddenly a man appears all dressed in black, the man beckons him to share the turkey, but despite the man offering him immense wealth in return, Macario refuses. Macario is then confronted by a bearded man dressed in white, again he is asked to share his feast, but Macario refuses yet again. Hungry and more frustrated Macario goes deeper into the forest, where once more he is asked for a share or the turkey, this time by a starving peasant, this time Macario agrees, the man is delighted and offers Macario a rare and special gift in return, he fills his flask with water from a spring and tells him that but one drop from the flask will cure any illness, with one proviso, that the third man will appear at the foot of the bed of the ailing if they are to be cured, but if he appears at the head of the bed, then they must die. Macario gets a reputation as a healer after saving his own sons life and after helping a local richman to save his dying wife, they go into business together and Macario is soon just as wealthy, as people from all walks of life arriving in his town looking for a cure make donations in thanks. Not everyone is happy however, the towns doctor and coffin maker find business hard to come by and its not long before Macario is reported to the Inquisition, they have him arrested and against the odds he must prove he is not a heretic or a sorcerer, his life depends on it. After two years of gathering dust on a shelf, i decided it was finally time to watch this highly rated Mexican film. A tale of poor peasants struggling to get by is not the most attractive of premises to me, so i was quite surprised at how the film immediately struck a chord. From the opening credits where peasants carry skulls in a Day of the Dead procession, i was hooked, as visually the film is a real treat. Gavaldon is a multi award winning director and it shows, the film is beautifully structured, the story is unfolded with impeccable pace as both visuals and characters are given equal importance, a striking dream sequence with skeletal marionettes and the grand hall of the Inquisition being particularly memorable. There's a wealth of characters that are all interesting to watch, their plights are intriguing to follow as they struggle with differing lessons in life. The film is full of symbolism and metaphor, some of which even Macario is aware of, in particular concerning the three strangers he meets. The First being a metaphor for Evil, Greed and represented by a Satan figure, The second representing Good, Generosity and represented by a God figure, the third one would seem to be an Angel of Death, The Grim Reaper, Starvation and represented by the lost soul of a peasant. Like in a Christmas Carol, All three come back to haunt Macario, giving him guidance or leading him astray and guiding him to his ultimate fate. Macario is a wonderfully captivating film, that has plenty of great horror imagery, it has a great fantasy element too and also delivers some good wholesome life lessons, both comic and tragic and is pretty much intriguing on every level, i loved it. It also has a fantastic twist at the end.