Victims of Sin

Victims of Sin was recently revived at the Telluride Film Festival, where it was noted that El Indio Emilio Fernández, "being half-Indian and a fanatical propagator of Mexican folklore, was also a keen practitioner of Cuban rhythms." Victims of Sin is a tour-de-force for Ninón Sevilla, rumba dancer first and foremost, and incidentally an over-the-top actress. She portrays a cabaret dancer trying to raise a kid and forced into prostitution. "Victims of the Social Structure" doesn't make a very good title but that's what it's all about; the social drama, exploited in the rumberas to the point of high camp, is nevertheless a dark aspect of the genre. Rodolfo Acosta is Sevilla's perverse pimp/artistic director and his zoot-suited dance will bring down the house. Meanwhile, Tito Junco as her rather more enigmatic would-be savior walks the streets with his sorrows and ever-present mariachi music in tow. Also discover here rhythms of Perez Prado and the urban chanteuse Rita Montaner singing "Ay José."

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