Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad) - VCI Entertainment (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Mexico, 1952
Director: Roberto Gavaldón
Writers: Roberto Gavaldón, Estela Inda, José Revueltas
Cast: Arturo de Córdova, Pedro Armendáriz, Estela Inda, Domingo Soler, Carlos López Moctezuma, Jaime Fernández, Gilberto González, Rogelio Fernández, José Baviera, Francisco Jambrina, José María Linares-Rivas, Lupe Carriles

Release Date: July 23rd, 2024
Approximate running time: 114 Minutes 54 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono Spanish
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $22.95

"Though a successful and highly respected physician in his humble rural community, Dr. Alberto Robles, still battles with anguish over not fulfilling any of the personal dreams he'd had before medical school and beginning his practice. Also, his idealistic and enterprising attitudes concerning medicine earned him some enemies. Along with this, there is a long going battle with local Chief, David Acosta, over unfair dealings with landowners. When a peasant woman named Soledad goes to him seeking help for her brother, Dr. Robles, is hesitant at first but relents and ends up saving the boy. At some point, Dr. Robles falls in love with Soledad, who out of gratitude has offered to help in his office. Ultimately, the ongoing battle, riddled with all the tensions, prejudices, and the feuds over land in the impoverished rural community, leads to tragedy.” – Synopsis provided by the Distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information given about the transfer, “The digital transfer of this film was made from the 35mm acetate copy belonging to the Cineteca Nacional Collection.

The process consisted of scanning, color and sound correction, restoration of a frame and image stabilization in the credits.”

Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad) comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 39.7 GB

Feature: 30.6 GB

The source looks fantastic; there is no sign of source damage or any other imperfections. Flesh tones look correct; image clarity, contrast, and black levels are solid. When it comes to digital noise reduction or compression, there are no issues.

Audio: 4.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in Spanish with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced. That said, the audio is in such excellent shape that it is hard to imagine it sounding any better than it does.

Extras:

Extras for this release are limited to a video essay by film historian Dr. David Witt (26 minutes 43 seconds, LPCM stereo English with removable English and Spanish subtitles).

Also, the menu is bilingual, English and Spanish.

Summary:

Roberto Gavaldón directed Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad). His other notable films are La Barraca, In the Palm of Your Hand, Night Falls, Untouched, and Macario. Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad) was nominated for 14 Silver Ariels (Mexican cinema’s equivalent of the Oscars), winning 8 Silver Ariels.

The narrative revolves around a big city doctor who struggles to convince a rural town of the benefits of modern medicine.

Though the narrative begins with the doctor waiting for the hospital's board of governors to make a decision on his employment, most of the narrative is told via flashbacks as the doctor reflects on his time in the rural village. That said, the scenes at the beginning and end of the narrative take place in the present; these scenes bookend the flashbacks.

There are a lot of parts at play in Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad). The doctor narrates Soledad's story equally well, recounting several of her diary entries and interspersing them with flashbacks. The two things that run throughout the narrative are the doctor’s experiences working with the superstitious rural people and his relationship with a peasant woman named Soledad. There is a love triangle subplot where two men, the doctor and a sadistic landowner, compete for Soledad’s affection. Where the doctor treats her with kindness and respect, the landowner only knows one way to get what he wants: brute force.

All of the acting is outstanding, especially Arturo de Córdova (El Gángster) in the role of the doctor and Estela Inda (The Aztec Mummy) in the role of Soledad. They have a tremendous amount of on-screen chemistry, which further elevates their performances. Another performance of note is Pedro Armendáriz’s (The Brute) portrayal of the landowner. He delivers an utterly convincing performance that perfectly captures his character's cruelty and lack of empathy.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad) does not deliver, and then some. The well-constructed narrative does a phenomenal job of building momentum by giving key moments an ample amount of time to resonate. The cinematography of Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad) is stunningly beautiful and effectively utilizes its rural landscapes. In a film that has many striking moments, the two most harrowing are a scene where the doctor saves a choking baby and the scene where the landowner rapes Soledad. Ultimately, Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad) is a solid drama from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.

VCI Entertainment gives Soledad's Shawl (El Rebozo de Soledad) a first-rate release that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and an excellent interview with film historian Dr. David Witt, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer