''El Búfalo de la Noche'' (The Night Buffalo) is a 2007 film directed by
Jorge Hernández Aldana and based on
Guillermo Arriaga
Guillermo Arriaga Jordán (; born 13 March 1958) is a Mexican novelist, screenwriter, director and producer. Self-defined as "a hunter who works as a writer," he is best known for his Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and BAFTA Award ...
's novel of the
same name. The film was released in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
on August 17, 2007, and in the United States on April 14, 2009.
The film follows a young
schizophrenic
Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
man, Gregorio (Gabriel González) who commits suicide, affecting the lives of his girlfriend (Liz Gallardo) and best friend (
Diego Luna
Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer, best known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in ''Rogue One, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (2016) and the Disney+ series ''Andor (TV series), ...
), who were involved in a secret relationship, betraying Gregorio's trust and inevitably becoming affected by guilt.
Plot
It follows the plot line of the book, structuring it in a much more cinematic manner. The setting is contemporary México, and the characters are college students, struggling to get ahead in a world that is getting more and more alienated, where physical contact fills the gaps in interpersonal communication.
Arriaga explained during an interview: "It's a novel I wrote after teaching at the university for some time. After some years I realized young people are getting more emotionally damaged, their capacity as human beings of being introspective and relating to each other is every time more deteriorated, this is precisely what the movie tries to reflect... Since the novel came out its natural audience has been people under thirty, who understand it better because they are going through the same confusion stages as the characters."
The apparent incongruency of the characters' actions, thoughts and personalities reflects a great deal of Latin American idiosyncrasies. The director has stated: "The importance of making this film is the contradictions of the characters, that's what gets them close to real people. The stories of young people we get to see on the big screen at Latin America usually come from other countries, and therefore reflect a reality we do not have here; we dedicate this film to address these problems on Latin American youth with our own language... Before we started shooting I did not know México has a high rate of suicide and youth schizophrenia, one of the highest on the world. This told me we made the right choice in talking about these issues: besides entertaining, we want to make a portrait of Mexico, and a great deal of Latin America."
Production
Another production company originally bought the rights to the novel, but the rights were revoked when the writer, Guillermo Arriaga, saw the project turn into something he did not agree with. Having gone through a similar ordeal years before with the 1999 movie ''
Un Dulce Olor a Muerte'' (
A Sweet Scent of Death
''A Sweet Scent of Death'' () is a 1999 drama film directed by Gabriel Retes based on the novel of the same name by Guillermo Arriaga who also wrote the screenplay. It was entered into the 21st Moscow International Film Festival. It is a co-produ ...
), also based on one of his novels and directed by
Gabriel Retes
José Ignacio Gabriel Jorge Retes Balzaretti (March 25, 1947 – April 20, 2020) was a Mexican film director, writer, producer, and actor. His 1977 film ''Paper Flowers (1977 film), Paper Flowers'' was entered into the 28th Berlin International Fi ...
. He had promised himself he would not let another movie turn the message of his work into something unrelated.
Upon this decision, he took the project himself and set out to produce along with a local businessman. He admittedly looked for a novice director to get a fresh outlook and finally settled for Jorge Hernández, whom he had awarded as a member of a jury of a Venezuelan short film contest.
Soundtrack
Omar Rodríguez-López
Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López (born September 1, 1975) is a Puerto Rican guitarist, songwriter, record producer and filmmaker. He has formed or played in several bands, including The Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Antemasque, and Bosnian Rainb ...
of
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms the core of the ban ...
wrote the score which was performed mostly by Rodríguez-López himself, with guest appearances by his Mars Volta bandmates. Portions of the soundtrack were used jointly in The Mars Volta's 2006 album ''
Amputechture
''Amputechture'' is the third studio album by American progressive rock band the Mars Volta, released on September 12, 2006, on Gold Standard Laboratories and Universal Records. Produced by guitarist and songwriter Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the alb ...
'', while Rodríguez-López released ''
Se Dice Bisonte, No Búfalo'' as "a response and expression of his feelings of the film."
See also
*
El Búfalo de la Noche (book)
*
The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms the core of the ban ...
Reception
''The Hollywood Reporter'' said, "There's an abundance of sex and very little joy to be found in "The Night Buffalo," a pretentious mess that seems interminable even at 97 minutes."
References
External links
Official Site*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bufalo De La Noche, El
2007 films
2007 drama films
2000s Spanish-language films
Films with screenplays by Guillermo Arriaga
Mexican drama films
2000s Mexican films
Spanish-language drama films