It’s a film by Luis Buñuel, minus the eye-slicing; it’s Illusion Travels by Streetcar (1954) by the Spanish cinema master of surrealist films, but this time, a beautifully made neo-realist black-and-white drama of peripatetic ur ban existence rolling the streets of Mexico City. A trio of friends who care for a streetcar soon to be put out to pasture, unwittingly abscond with the vehicle, in the process, eluding their cold corporate bosses and other authorities, while helping neighbors and working people.
Illusions is the first of three curated Mexico-themed motion pictures to mark a fun summer’s-end series as the Velasvalasay Panorama in Pico Union, just north of the campus of USC.
It’s the Panorama’s Films-In-Residence: Mexico City, Saturday-afternoon series accompanied by exhibits and/or performances that highlight important themes of the films and link everyday life in Mexico City to the lives of Angelenos. Those areas of convergence, say curators Sara Velas and Ruby Carlson, include fading public transit, demolition of cultural icons, previously esteemed entertainments and street vending. There’s several “short subjects” accompanying the feature film, fascinating footage of streetcar life disappeared in both Mexico City and Los Angeles.
The remaining films in the series are Tívoli by Alberto Isaac and Lola, by María Novaro. More on them in due course, as they run, respectively, Saturdays in September and November.
Illusion Travels by Streetcar | Velaslavasay Panorama | Saturdays August 10, 17, 24, 3:30 pm
HI, Debra:
Thank you for all your good work.
All best wishes, David James