October 2, 1968 in Mexico City. Ten days away form the inaguration of the Olympic Games and a small student revolt has turned into a major political turmoil. A meeting will be carried out that day in Tlatelolco (the largest housing complex in the city) and the situation is extremely tense. A typical middle-class mexican family will be tragically involved in the events, when the meeting is brutally interrupted by the army and hundreds of people are killed in front of their apartment building. —IMDb
Jorge Fons Pérez (born in Tuxpan, Veracruz, Mexico on April 23, 1939) is a Mexican film director. He belongs to the first generation of film directors of the UNAM. His short film, Caridad (1973), is still considered one of the best films in Mexican cinema. Two of the most important films of his filmography are Rojo amanecer (1989) and El callejón de los milagros (1995) based in the homonym book by Naguib Mahfouz, Midaq Alley of 1947 (زقق المدق), which breaks the classic lineal plots in films. His 1976 film, Los albañiles, won the Silver Bear at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival. —Wikipedia
A picture of a changing society, the clash of modern and the old ideals. The realism of the historical/political situation is depicted with formalist proficiency. The film begins as a beautifully paced look into the lives of a average family and slowly builds up into a haunting thriller and terrifying consequences.
An incredibly important film within Mexican cinema. For many years, while many other filmmakers opted to exclude national politics from their films, Rojo Amanecer not only includes them, but makes the controversial Tlatelolco Massacre the main focus of the films. This event, happened, incredibly only ten days before the 1968 Olympics. A student demonstration was held, and the government murdered hundreds of people.
The film limits itself to the the small confines to a family apartment. Scenes of the massacre are never shown but from what one can hear, it certainly was horrible. It may be a bit dated, but an important piece of history that shall not be forgotten, in spite of how hard some work to erase history.
Esto SI es un verdadero thriller-psicológico. De lo mejor (en mi humilde opinión personal) que ha dado el cine mexicano. El final me dejó aterrorizado de por vida, y todavía me acuerdo de los gritos dispersándose en las escaleras de los apartamentos con una iluminación de miedo. La imagen del niño descendiendo por esas mismas escaleras es simplemente excepcional... y repleta de horror.
