Midaq Alley

Midaq Alley

(El Callej–n de los Milagros)

Fox Lorber Films, $19.98

The history of love and sex is full of true devotion, betrayal, homosexuality, prostitution, violence, and death. Jorge Fons' 1998 film has all of these, in a sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes unpredictable, but constantly engaging package. Adapted from a novel by Egyptian author and Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz, it directly follows the lives of three residents of Midaq Alley in Mexico City and indirectly reveals the lives of nearly all its inhabitants. The story is split into four parts, with the first three sections emphasizing each respective character in a Pulp Fiction-esque manner that fills in the blanks of the preceding story. In the final act, all the stories come together with one happy, one tragic, and one ambiguous resolution. In the opening scene, Rutilio yells at his son Chava and Chava's friend Abel to stop acting like "queers," but in a twist, Rutilio himself becomes involved in a gay relationship. Meanwhile, Abel is actually in love with Salma Hayek's character, Alma, for whom he is willing to leave for the states to save money for their marriage. Alma is unpredictable, and though the reasons are not all together clear, she allows her life to spiral out of control until she ends up addicted to cocaine and working as a courtesan. The landlady, Susanita, has never been married and falls for a bartender at Rutilio's bar, who goes from stealing from Rutilio to stealing from Susanita. Sprinkled among all of this is plenty of infidelity, abuse, escape, drugs, and, of course, sex. The character arcs are naturalistic and intense, Hayek's Alma especially: She is infuriating, inconsistent, and desperate to lose her virginity, and it seems that the more Abel loves her, the more she does things she knows will hurt him. Meanwhile, the bartender's seduction of Susanita is so sleazy that one can't help but feel repulsed by their match. Rutilio's short temper and desire for a homosexual relationship makes you wonder who he will push out of his life next. The emotions of the characters, as in life, are often irrational, unpredictable, and inexplicable, yet you are still compelled to see them through and find out what consequences await their decisions. The DVD itself is pretty basic, with little else to see aside from the movie. The film boasts more than 49 international awards, and one of the features allows you to find out exactly which ones, though it is doubtful that anyone would care too much to go through the list. "Special features" aside, the DVD still stands on the strength of the actual film, an intriguing look at relationships, familial structure, love, and lust.

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