In the plot of Que Viva México, we are dragged into the life of the Reyes family. We follow the movie from Pancho’s perspective: he’s a manager in a Mexican factory, he has a family, and they all live a wealthy lifestyle, partially disproportioned to their actual income. Pancho comes from a destitute family, he refuses to see them, he left years before, and he’s completely focused on advancing in his career, so they can be more rich.
Every action in Que Viva México is driven by greed, which becomes the movie’s authentic meaning. The day Pancho’s father starts calling him insistently, he avoids him all day. He answers only at the end of the day, discovering that his grandfather is dead: Pancho is required home to read the will. He’s unwilling to return because he doesn’t believe the grandfather left anything valuable. Still, in a dream, he recalls the gold grandpa used to talk about. The morning after, he decides to go. Notice that there could be other valid reasons to go, related to what his family needs and may deserve, but none of that motivates him for his decision. He wants to go only to discover what his grandfather left him. It’s (potential) money calling.
When we arrive in La Prosperidad, we get to understand what Pancho means by “humble origins”: his family is composed of dozens of people, all living in one big house with no money. The economy of the place is non-existent, and the only cash flows we see are related to food & services for families, drugs, and prostitution. For his family, Pancho is the son who got rich and abandoned them, which is not far from the truth: every relationship in that family spins around money and is oriented to steal from others whatever they can.
After the grandfather’s will is revealed, things degenerate quickly: Grandpa leaves all the valuable possessions to Pancho, the only family member that doesn’t really need it. We also discover that the grandfather kept a lot of gold in his safe for his whole life, letting the entire family live in poverty despite having the chance to offer them a better lifestyle. Why? In this case, it’s not just greed. The reason is that most of the people we see in Que Viva Mexico are genuinely evil, which is why they all crave to have more and never get anything.
¡Que Viva México! es una película de comedia y sátira política mexicana de 2023 dirigida por Luis Estrada y escrita por Estrada y Jaime Sampietro.3 Protagonizada por Alfonso Herrera, Damián Alcázar, Joaquín Cosío y Ana de la Reguera.
¡¡Que Viva México!(2023)
Directed by: Luis Estrada
Starring: Alfonso Herrera, Damián Alcázar, Joaquín Cosío, Ana de la Reguera, Ana Martín, Angelina Peláez, Zaide Silvia Gutiérrez, Sonia Couoh, Vico Escorcia, Natalia Quiroz, Luis Fernando Peña
Screenplay by: Luis Estrada, Jaime Sampietro
Production Design by: Salvador Parra
Cinematography by: Alberto Anaya
Film Editing by: Mariana Rodríguez
Costume Design by: Gilda Navarro
Set Decoration by: Paca Mayra
Art Direction by: Paca Mayra
Music by: Nacho Mastretta
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
Release Date: March 24, 2023
Views: 13
