Bunuel_Luis_My_Last_Breath

door, people hug each other, idrink, even sing. Finally, they stop atthe assassin's house, where, despite their appeals, the door remainsobstinately closed.This movie uses other aspects of Latin American culture, such asmachismo, a notion imported from Spain. Machismo used to referonly to a strong sense of male vanity and dignity, but in Mexicomen seem inordinately sensitive to slights of any kind. In fact, there'sno one more dangerous than a ~exic& who eyes you calmly andbecause, for example, you refused to drink a tenth tequila'with him,tells you softly, "You're insulting me." Should this happen to you,I'd strongly suggest you grit your teeth and drink that last tequila.In addition to their machismo, Mexicans have a highly developedcapacity for vengeance. My assistant on Sub& al cielo once told mea story about the time he went hunting one Sunday with a few friends.They'd just stopped for lunch when they found themselves surroundedby armed men on horseback who took away their boots andrifles. One man in the group was a friend of an important local officialwho lived nearby, and when they went to protest, the official askedthem to describe their attackers as closely as they could."And now," he added, once the description was complete, "allowme to invite you for a drink next Sunday."When they all returned the following week, their host servedthem coffee and liqueurs, then asked them to come into the nextroom, where, to their amazement, they found their boots and rifles.When they asked who their attackers had been and if they could seethem, the official only smiled and told them the case was closed.Indeed, the aggressors were never seen again-by anyonejust asthousands of people simply "vanish" each year in Latin America. TheLeague of the Rights of Man and Amnesty International do theirbest, but the disappearances continue.Interestingly enough, in Mexico a murderer is designated by thenumber of lives he "owes." People say he owes so many lives; andwhen the police get their hands on someone who owes a lot of them,they don't bother with formalities. I remember an incident that