...And God Created Them

...And God Created Them
Directed by	Jacobo Morales
Produced by	Leslie Colombani Blanca Silvia Eró
Written by	Jacobo Morales
Starring	Norma Candal
Cinematography	Carmelo Rivera
Release dates	May 1979
Running time	120 minutes
Country	Puerto Rico
Language	Spanish
Budget	$200,000[1]

...And God Created Them (Spanish: Díos los Cría...) is a 1979 Puerto Rican comedy film directed by Jacobo Morales. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.^[2]

Plot

The film consists of five vignettes:

• Dios los cría – A rich industrialist has died, leaving two sons and his widow (a buxom young woman) as heirs. While his body lies on a public wake, one of his sons sneaks out of the funeral parlor, goes to the father's office, opens the office's safe and steals the cash inside it. On his way out, he's confronted by his brother, who points a gun at him. They exchange words about their individual relationship, as well as how they related to their father and how his widow would not deserve any part of the old man's estate. They start to argue and get into a physical confrontation. One of the brothers shoots the other, but the wounded one shoots back the other in return with a gun he pulls from his coat. At the end, all three family members lie in caskets at the funeral parlor.
• Negocio redondo – Don Marcos, the lead of a construction company (and a lecherous old man who constantly imagines women around him being naked) visits the local Roman Catholic archbishop. They are discussing the last details of a land plot's purchase. Don Marcos tries to outsmart the archbishop when they negotiate the contract's terms, but the archbishop proves to be a clever negotiator. Once they sign the contract and the deal is closed, Don Marcos returns to his office, but has second thoughts and asks his chauffeur to drive him back to the archbishop's office. He asks for a private audience to confess his sins, to which the archbishop agrees. Besides conceding on his lewd behavior, Don Marcos reveals the archbishop that the plot he has sold to the church is overvalued, since a major road will soon run through it. The archbishop threatens to sue him and his company, to which Don Marcos reminds him that this fact has been revealed to him under confession, and therefore, cannot be revealed under penalty of excommunion. The archbishop reluctantly absolves the manager of his sins, and Don Marcos returns to his office, expressionless.
• La Gran Noche – an aging prostitute is being teased by her fellow sex workers on the bordello they all work at. By now, no client asks for her services. One night, a handsome young man shows up, rejects the offers from the other prostitutes, and takes the aging one for a dance. They leave the premises under the surprised looks of all the attendants. They stop at a park, where she is dropped by the customer (the vignette has been acted silently up to this point). The customer dismisses her rudely after she pays him money; it turns out she had paid him to act the entire time. When she sits at a bench to ponder her future, an old man plays compliment to her "beautiful eyes."
• Entre doce y una – A man and his wife (named Alberto and Annette) are arguing on the way to an elevator at the higher stories of a tall building. Another man, Carlos, joins them inside the elevator's car. A severe earthquake then hits the city. The car loses power, and when the passengers try to escape by a hatch on the top of the car, they discover that the elevator's cables are frayed (and at least one has snapped). While they scream for help (and somebody offers to get them help in a matter of hours) tempers flare, the cables keep on snapping, and the couple reveal their indiscretions to each other. Alberto confesses his infidelities, and Annette confesses that she has been unfaithful to her husband as well. Her partner turns to be Carlos, the third man inside the elevator. While the two men have a fight in the elevator, it shakes so much that the final cable remaining snaps, and the elevator car plummets, taking them to a certain death.
• La Otra – Fernando, a traveling salesman, appears in alternate scenes with two women. The older woman, Josefina, reminds him to take care of his health, offers him dinner, and looks after him at home; the younger one, Marie, is constantly interested in having passionate sex with him. He seems to be an absentee partner to both, and the two women resent his absences. One day Marie finds Fernando with Josefina, and they have a quarrel; it turns out that Josefina, the older, domestically oriented woman, is the man's lover, while Marie is his wife. He then divorces his young wife, marries his older lover... and remains domestic to Josefina while still having frequent sexual episodes with Marie.

Cast

• Jámés Ard as José (segment "La Otra")
• Norma Candal as Josefina (segment "La Otra")
• Carlos Cestero as Hustler (segment "La Gran Noche")
• Pedro Juan Figueroa as Arnaldo (segment "Dios Los Cria")
• Daniel Lugo as Carlos (segment "Entre Doce Y Una")
• Chavito Marrero as Don Marcos (segment "Negocio Redondo") (as José Luis Marrero)
• Benjamín Morales as Bishop (segment "Negocio Redondo"), Don Manuel (segment "La Otra")
• Jacobo Morales as Alberto Palacios (segment "Entre Doce Y Una"), Fernando Sepúlveda (segment "La Otra")
• Alicia Moreda
• Gladys Rodríguez as Annette (segment "Entre Doce Y Una"), Marie (segment "La Otra")
• Esther Sandoval as Old Prostitute (segment "La Gran Noche")
• Miguel Ángel Suárez as Arnaldo's brother (segment "Dios Los Cría"), New Boss (segment "La Otra")
• Luis Vera
• Otilio Warrington

References

1. JANET MASLIN (19 Mar 1983). "Screen: Five Anecdotes About Puerto Rico". New York Times. p. 11.
2. "Festival de Cannes: ...And God Created Them". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-06-06.

External links

• ...And God Created Them at the Internet Movie Database