Cinema
Life on a Thread
La vida en un hilo
Edgar Neville · 1945
Synopsis
Mercedes has just lost her husband, Ramón, and thinks back joylessly on their years of marriage. On the train taking her back to Madrid, a fortune-teller, Madame Dupont, reveals to her that at one precise moment of her life she could have chosen another man. It was a rainy afternoon: a tiny detail drew her away from Miguel Ángel, a sculptor, and led her towards Ramón. The fortune-teller then makes her live, as in a dream, the other life she would have had with him.
Context
The author wrote, produced and directed the film, shot in Madrid, notably at Delicias station. Mixing the fantasy of clairvoyance with sentimental comedy, it stood out from the Spanish cinema of the forties, and plays on chance and destiny. Conchita Montes plays the role of Mercedes. The director later made a stage version of it, and the film has been remade twice: in Mexico under the title La engañadora, then in Spain by Gerardo Vera under the title Una mujer bajo la lluvia.
Who it is for
A black-and-white comedy with a measured pace; one has to accept the back and forth between the life lived and the life dreamed.
Prizes and reception
Honoured at the first presentation of the medals of the Cinematographic Writers Circle; remade in Mexico and then in Spain.