The Peak and Decay of Mexican Cinema

The peak and decay of Mexican cinema
Never in history has there been more movies filmed in Mexico, but, paradoxically, so little had
been consumed either.
Between 1936 and 1956 the film industry in Mexico reached its peak, being considered one of
its best moments in history, the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. The memory of that beautiful
period of Mexican cinema leads us to the work of brilliant film directors such as Luis Buñuel,
Emilio Fernández, Fernando de Fuentes, Juan Bustillo, and many more, who were responsible
for bringing to the big screen incredible actors that left a mark in film culture in Mexico, for
example: Sara García, Pedro Infante, María Félix, Jorge Negrete, and Mario Moreno
"Cantinflas”. One of the main reasons for this peak, was the large acceptance that the films had,
not only locally, but in different parts of Latin America and even in the United States.
The first movie that was a part of the films accepted by the national public and foreigners was
Out on the Great Ranch, which was aired in 1936; its success in box office marked the
beginning of the development of the Mexican film industry, having the advantage that the film
industry in Germany, France, England, and the United States was paralyzed due to World War
II. However, even with this success, there were economic issues, and occasionally they did not
recover at the box office what they had invested. This situation got fixed with the support the
state started providing to boost the film industry.
In 1939, two things were taken in consideration: the necessity to create a bank to finance
producers and to consolidate a film chamber of commerce, so that same year the FCN (national
film finance) was created, in which the 51% of the public capital came from the Federal
Government, the National Worker’s Bank, and other national credit institutions, while the 49% of
the investment came from producers and other individuals. This was manifested since the
arriving of the film machine to Mexico, which its importance was prioritized by the government.
Likewise, one of the policies that Lázaro Cárdenas established in relation to national cinema
was "that at least one national film should be released in category cinemas" and that the
country's cinemas were bound to show national films, and if they refused to, they would get
economic penalties. There are documentaries about cinema that show the good side, but also
the bad one, because while in the Presidency documentary collection we see the support and
impulse from of the State towards the industry, the files of the IPS, revealed the censorship
policy applied by the government, to the extent of monitoring the sector that made up the
seventh art in Mexico, considered of great influence on the mentality of Mexican society.
Nowadays, the making of Mexican cinema continues to support itself economically from the
government, and so, the film production has a healthy activity, but the problem is not the lack of
cinema, but the lack of internal consumption. Mexicans hardly want to watch their own films.
With the increase of digital platforms and a large range of content, the competition for film
production, not only in Mexico, but speaking in general terms, has been forced to look for new
ways to become sustainable and generate a good competitive offer, but it continues to be
produced with a “global” vision, trying to cover as many markets as possible, and just ends up
not finding any audience. They stop making movies for the love of art and cinema and only
focus on generating more profits, making not-so-good cinema, and causing the opposite.
Despite having a large production of films, very few reach visibility outside of shows or festivals
within the country, much less commercial distribution. Mexico ranks fourth worldwide in movie
attendance, but unlike other emerging markets such as China or India, Mexico does not
consume local products in the same quantities, perhaps because those who produce are not
conscientiously considering the needs of the audience, who are the main beneficiaries.
Mexicans like to go to the movies, but they find the offer that local filmmakers offer them
unattractive.
References:
 Mino Gracia, F. (2019). Crisis, censura y búsquedas de la industria del cine
mexicano en los años cincuenta., 69(1), 57
https://doi.org/10.24201/hm.v69i1.3915
 Negrete, J. J. (2016, October 14). ¿Por qué nadie ve cine mexicano? Forbes

México. https://www.forbes.com.mx/nadie-ve-cine-mexicano/
 Época de oro del cine mexicano. (2022, July 26). Filmoteca UNAM.
https://www.filmoteca.unam.mx/clasicas-de-la-epoca-de-oro-del-cine-mexicano/

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 Negrete, J. J. (2016, October 14). ¿Por qué nadie ve cine mexicano? Forbes

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