''Yambaó'' (also known as ''Cry of the Bewitched'') is a 1957

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna and starring

Ninón Sevilla Emelia Pérez Castellanos (10 November 19211 January 2015), known professionally as Ninón Sevilla, was a Cuban-Mexican actress and dancer. Early life Sevilla was born and raised in Centro Habana, a popular section of Havana. As a youth, she ...

In other media

On June 27, 2014, ''Yambaó'' was released as a VOD title by RiffTrax.

Plot

The story takes place in

in 1850, in the era of the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

. In a sugar cane plantation, Captain Jorge (Ramón Gay) and his wife, Beatriz (Rosa Elena Durgel) live happily and are expecting a child. Their slaves live at quiet peace with them but are not above being punished for their disobedience. One night, as the full moon appears, the sound of drums rises in the air. Yambaó (

), the granddaughter of a witch named Caridad (Fedora Capdevila) supposedly murdered 15 years ago, has reappeared. The plantation slaves are superstitious and fear her, believing she will place curses on them as her grandmother supposedly did. Yambaó's arrival coincides with a new outbreak of black vomit that had not occurred on the plantation for decades, and is now attributed to her using black magic. Though Yambaó is not really evil, Caridad constantly pressures her to take revenge on the plantation. Jorge, who normally stays out of the traditions and customs of his slaves, discovers that they want to sacrifice Yambaó and intervenes. Yambaó swears eternal gratitude for the gesture but also starts to fall for him. Caridad sees this as an opportunity and weaves it into her plan for revenge. Yambaó decides to perform a magic ritual of Santeria over Jorge to make him love her. Her magic spell coincides with Jorge contracting the disease and falling ill. The only medical doctors in the area are themselves ill and cannot come to treat Jorge's critical condition. Yambaó offers to cure him in gratitude for saving her life and is permitted to try despite some initial protest from his slaves. The prolonged contact with Jorge cements Yambaó's feelings for him and is reciprocated when he recovers, which leads her to believe her love spell worked. For several weeks Jorge is infatuated with Yambaó, forgetting his wife, his plantation and shirking all his duties. However, when Jorge is informed that his wife is about to give birth, he rushes to her side and clears all thoughts of lust and infidelity from his mind. Yambaó, heartbroken and jealous, is advised by Caridad to kill Beatriz and her child to get back at Jorge. Yambaó takes a dagger and rushes towards the plantation, eventually cornering Beatriz and her child. But before she can complete her crime, Caridad is discovered by the foreman of the plantation and swiftly killed with a machete. Yambaó shudders momentarily as Caridad's evil influence fades away and then comes to her senses. Realizing what she was about to do, she flees in horror and promises not to cause any more harm. Caridad's body is then subject to a funeral ceremony with exotic rituals which Jorge attends. As the ceremony nears its climax, Yambaó is possessed by Caridad's spirit and rushes over to Jorge in an attempt to stab him. Yambaó, however, cannot bring herself to do it and instead runs to the edge of a nearby stone gorge and hurls herself into it. The film ends with Jorge cradling her corpse as a handful of his slaves quietly look on.

Production

''Yambaó'' was a co-production between Mexico and Cuba and was shot entirely in Cuba. Yambaó is played by the Cuban dancer Ninon Sevilla, who had a long career in the

Cinema of Mexico The cinema of Mexico dates to the late nineteenth century during the rule of President Porfirio Díaz. Seeing a demonstration of short films in 1896, Díaz immediately saw the importance of documenting his presidency in order to present an ...

of the 1940s and 50s, particularly in the subgenre known as the ''

Rumberas film The Rumberas film (in Spanish, Cine de rumberas) was a film genre that flourished in Mexico's Golden Age of Mexican cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. Its major stars were the so-called '' rumberas'', dancers of Afro-Caribbean musical rhythms. The gen ...

''. The Mexican actors Ramon Gay and Rosa Elena Durgel interpreted the characters of Jorge and his wife Beatriz. ''Yambaó'' was released in black and white for the Latin American market, and in color with a dubbed English track in the American market under the title ''Cry of the Bewitched''.

Reception and legacy

It was nominated for three

Ariel Awards The Ariel Award () is an award that recognizes the best of Mexican cinema. Given annually, since 1946, by the Mexican Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (AMACC), the award recognizes artistical and technical excellence in the Mexic ...

winning two for Best Cinematography and Sound Recording. It was the first Mexican film that openly referenced the Afro-Cuban culture, particularly magical and religious rituals, such as Santeria.''Olga Guillot canta a los Santos''
/ref>

Cast

as Yambaó * Ramón Gay as Jorge * Rosa Elena Durgel as Beatriz * Fedora Capdevila as Caridad *

Olga Guillot Olga Guillot (October 9, 1923 – July 12, 2010) was a Cuban singer who was known as the "Queen of Bolero". She was a native of Santiago de Cuba. Biography Daughter of Catalan-Jewish immigrants who moved to Cuba, her father was a tailor and her ...

as Singer slave *

Martha Jean-Claude Martha Jean-Claude (21 March 1919 – 14 November 2001) was a Haitian writer, civil rights activist, entertainer, and composer. She was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and was well known internationally during her life and could perform in many lang ...

as Singer in Sacrifice

References

External links

*
''Yambaó''
on

FilmAffinity FilmAffinity is a movie recommendations website created in 2002 in Madrid, Spain, by the film critic Pablo Kurt Verdú Schumann and the programmer Daniel Nicolás. In 2016, the site listed 125,000 movies and series and had 556,000 reviews writte ...

RiffTrax preview on official YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yambaó 1957 films 1957 drama films Films about American slavery Afro-Cuban culture Films about interracial romance Films about slavery Films about race and ethnicity Films about racism Films directed by Alfredo B. Crevenna Films set in the 1850s Rumberas films 1950s Spanish-language films Films shot in Cuba Films set in Cuba Cuban drama films Mexican drama films Rediscovered Mexican films Films about Voodoo 1950s rediscovered films 1950s Mexican films Spanish-language drama films