Midaq Alley

Based on the novel by Egyptian author and Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, this 1994 drama presents four intertwining stories set in a small neighborhood in Mexico City (relocated from the Cairo setting of the original novel). It is best known in the U.S. for an early performance by future movie star Salma Hayek, who appears in the film's second story as an impoverished young beauty lured into a life of prostitution by a handsome businessman after her idealistic boyfriend leaves for America. Ernesto Gómez Cruz stars in the first tale as a married man and gay-bashing bar owner whose sudden impulse to explore his suppressed homosexual desires drives his son to violence, and Margarita Sanz takes the lead in the third story about a middle-aged apartment manager who falls for a conniving young man who has eyes on her wealth. The fourth segment brings all of the stories and characters together in a kind of extended coda. Midaq Alley is a neo-realist drama that leans a bit towards soap opera, capturing the lives of poor residents in a down-and-out slum. The film swept the Ariel Awards—Mexico's equivalent to the Oscars—winning more awards than any other in Mexican film history, as well as numerous film festival prizes. Long out of print, it is presented with a new digital transfer on DVD and makes its debut on Blu-ray with extras including behind-the-scenes footage. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)