Cada loco con su tema (Each Madman with his / her Own
Theme) is a high-energy and highly intelligent farce from the Golden Age of
Mexican Cinema (Cine de Oro). As a farce, it entertains the audience its use of
exaggeration, absurdity, and over-the-top performances. However, as in most of
Bustillo Oro’s work, Cada loco con su tema uses Expressionistic
cinematography and themes from film noir to satirize a genre (pulp horror
radio) and to pull in the tradition of the “carpas.” The carpas were Mexican
(and also Mexican-American) traveling tent shows that traversed Mexico and the
southwest United States from the time of the Mexican Revolution, 1910, through
the 1940s. The high-energy theatrical spectacles were intended for
working-class Spanish-speaking audiences and as such, they often mocked the
wealthy classes and the mores of the rich, especially the elites descended from
the Spanish who were granted land and privilege during the Spanish colonial
times. Thus, they could be, and
generally were, anarchic and subversive. The brilliant comedian, Cantinflas,
got his start in the carpas, where he perfected his “peladito” character, a
cheerful and quick-witted street-smart character who finds himself in absurd
situations, often deliberately defying conventions of the upper classes (who
are indistinguishable from corrupt politicians and organized crime families).
In Cada loco con su tema, there are many levels of
mistaken identity and misperceptions due to completely flawed assumptions. The
main premise is that a horror-radio show writer with a comical name (Julio César
Napoleón ) has driven himself into a state of extreme paranoia by being
immersed in crime drama and horror all day, every day. After a nervous
breakdown, he is advised to spend a month at a sanatorium operated by his
doctor. To avoid possible career repercussions, he takes on an assumed name,
Justiniano Conquián , which, coincidentally, is the same name as a
mild-mannered and rather befuddled taxidermist who must endure one month in the
ancestral family mansion, reputed to be haunted by spirits that drive one mad
or to one’s death. Justiniano will inherit the full 6 million pesos. The catch
is that he has to emerge from the month both alive and sane. It won’t be easy. The real Justiniano has the
bad luck of having greedy relatives who are eager to push Justiniano into
madness or death so that they can have equal shares of the inheritance.
So, with such a premise, there are many opportunities for
identity confusion, mix-ups, and comical misperceptions. Most of the action takes place at the
ancestral family castle, where Julio César and his assistant, Serafin, end up after
taking a wrong turn on their way to the mountain sanatorium. Justiniano’s
scheming relatives are already installed there. Justiniano arrives a day late,
having spent a night at the mountain sanatorium after also taking a wrong turn.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Julio César Napoleón A
successful, but very high-strung writer of horror shows for the radio
Justiniano Conquián A
mild-mannered taxidermist who may inherit 6 million pesos
Josefina Larios Conquián Lovely
younger sister of Justiniano
Serafin del Monte Julio
César’s assistant
Dr. German Casca Conquián Distant
relative who devises a scheme to cheat Justiniano
Augusta The
butler’s wife who foretells doom and gloom
Severo The
butler, and also, secretly a contender to the inheritance
Lucrecia The
scheming wife of one of the contenders to the inheritance
Dr. Luis Jiménez Psychiatrist
who runs a sanatorium based on his personal theories
THEMES
Grand Guignol-esque Naturalism: The Grand-Guignol Theatre was a theatre in
Paris that specialized in horrifying spectacles known to make people faint,
become sick, and otherwise traumatized. In a way, they can be said to make a
mockery of the Greek notion that the efficacy of theatre is in its purifying
and emotionally clarifying catharsis. The Grand Guignol productions were
extremely popular from the late 19th century through 1962 and
exercised a tremendous influence on radio, film, and expressionistic
experimental theatre such as that of Antonin Artaud (The Theatre of Cruelty).
The theatre was an outgrowth of literary naturalism as pioneered by Zola,
Flaubert, and Proust. The spectacles were highly popular, and prided themselves
on giving people extreme experiences – something that found its way into French
philosophy as well; for example, in the case of Foucault’s quest for “limit
experiences.” Always a bit disreputable
and willing to toy with the frontiers of life and death (they often boasted of
having a doctor on call for people who needed medical attention due to the
intense shock), the Grand-Guignol Theatre became a kind of “guilty secret.” The
direct heirs of the horror spectacles were the popular genres in literature and
film, which included pulp fiction, horror radio, sensation novels, and horror
films. Cada loco con su tema is a parody of the Grand-Guignolesque
productions, and in subverting the genre, it also calls into question the true
impact of art, and the nature of catharsis in theatre.
Reality is a Deconstruction. In Cada loco con su tema reality is
seriously and repeatedly called into question. Perhaps the most powerful
message in Cada loco is the tacit suggestion that reality is a choice,
and not something to be independently verified by empirical observation or
sensory perceptions. Because they believe that they are in an asylum and that
what they are seeing are simply theatrical productions designed to shock them
into their senses, Julio César and
Serafin scrunch up their faces, close their eyes, and loudly chant: This is not
real! This is not real! The comical aspect is that they are actually closing
their eyes to something that is quite real.
When Julio César chooses to
assume the identity of Justiniano Conquián , he is also choosing his own
reality. For the “real” Justiniano Conquián , his befuddlement and tenuous
grasp on what is going on around him have the opposite effect. For Justiniano Conquián
, reality is not a choice, but a slippery slope that slides just beyond his
grasp. Taxidermy further illustrates the “reality dialectic” – the taxidermy
specimens are real depictions of a life that is no longer a life. They are dead
– except for the supposedly taxidermied gorilla, which turns out to be quite
alive (albeit not a taxidermy specimen at all, but a man in a gorilla suit).
This is a brief excerpt of a larger work by Susan Smith Nash, Ph.D. You may access the article here.
Julio César Napoleón, a horror radio show writer, arrives
home to the sound of “hands up or I’ll shoot!” but does not realize it is his
radio that has automatically turned on at the hour of his “Murder in the
Madhouse.” Bustillo Oro uses the chiaroscuro of German Expressionism to
emphasize the fact that this is a part of the horror genre (or a parody / subversion
of it).
Justiniano Conquián, a mild-mannered taxidermist, learns
that he will inherit $6 million pesos if he can manage to survive a month in
the Conquián Castle without going insane or dying.
Dramatic backlighting gives Augusta an unearthly glow, and
the light that illuminates her crucifix gives rise to the thought that one
needs divine protection to survive a night in the castle
This is a dramatic point of view shot that reminds one of
Bustillo Oro’s masterpiece, Dos Monjes. Dr. Conquián takes Julio César’s
suggestion to start the evening meal with a prayer – a “Black Mass Prayer” to
an absurd extreme. When Julio César enthusiastically joins in, Dr. Conquián
impatiently chides him, “Stop blaspheming my blasphemy!” While the Black Mass is an inversion of
Christianity and Catholic rituals, the Julio César’s interruptions and farcical
asides are inversions and subversions of the subversion. The result is comical
chaos.
When the loudly blaring radio program, “Murder in the
Madhouse,” opens with “drop your gun!” it so startles everyone that they drop
their guns. Julio César scoops it up and subdues the scoundrels, the scheming,
greedy distant relatives.
