Victims of Sin

1951, Emilio Fernández, Mexico

Now this is the kind of movie you join the film society for! An acclaimed (though little-seen outside of Mexico) cabaretera—a genre usually set in the Mexican underworld, centering on sex workers and blending film noir with musicals and melodrama—Victims of Sin stands apart. Unlike other cabareteras, it doesn’t center on the downfall of its leading lady, often considered morally necessary for audiences of the time.

Nightclub singer and dancer Violeta (played by the renowned Cuban actress Ninón Sevilla) is the heart of this film. Living amidst crime, poverty, and exploitation, she sacrifices much to care for an abandoned baby that comes into her life.

Shot in black and white with beautiful chiaroscuro by Gabriel Figueroa, the film combines the melodrama of people in desperate circumstances with incredibly choreographed dance numbers. Director Emilio Fernández, also an actor, stars in both films in our Sam Peckinpah series!

“Adopting the aesthetics of film noir, with smoky spaces, chiaroscuro, and low-angle lighting, the film interweaves scenes of Mexico’s crime world with dance numbers in the two main locales: the elaborately and exotically decorated Club Changoo and the shadowy La Máquina Loca.” Jacqueline Avila, Criterion