Dance of the 41

"Directed by David Pablos (‘Las Elegidas’) and selected in the 2020 Morelia International Film Festival, ‘El Baile de los 41’ is a fictionalized account of the 1901 homonymous event, in which a police raid in Mexico City uncovered a party among 41 men - half of them dressed as women -, some of them belonging to the elite of society at that time, causing a scandal that reached the government spheres due to the alleged implication of Ignacio de la Torre, deputy and son-in-law of President Porfirio Díaz. Although it takes some historical licenses, the film presents a re-reading of one of the most important, and often overlooked, events in the history of the Mexican LGBT community (it was one of the first, if not the first, instances in which homosexuality was openly addressed in the Mexican press, even if with pejorative purposes), while also portraying the decadence of the political class of the Porfiriato, in which much of the Mexican imaginary can still be seen today. Even if it does not go too deep, it is a solidly executed period drama, and one that stands out from the weak productions of contemporary Mexican cinema."