A Mexican film that is still talked about nowadays is Macario (1960). The main character is Mexican actor, Ignacio Lopez Tarso, who played the role of a poor indigenous woodcutter during the colonial period in Mexico. Macario lives frustrated because he is so poor and hungry. His bad economic situation keeps him and his family at the extremity of starvation. When he witnesses a procession of roast turkey, he dreams that he eats a whole roast turkey all by himself. Macario let his family know about his dream and he also stated that he wouldn’t eat anything until his dream came true. To help him out, his wife steals a turkey and gives it to him before he goes to work.
Additionally, when Macario is getting ready to eat the turkey, three men appear to him. The first to appear is the Devil in the appearance of a fine gentleman, who tempts Macario to give him a piece of turkey. The second man to appear is God in the form of an old man. Macario doesn’t share the turkey with either because he feels that both men have the necessary means to get themselves whatever they want. The third figure appears and it’s a peasant just like Macario, this time Macario shares the turkey with this man. This third man is the Death itself. The Death feels unsure why Macario shared the turkey with him and not with the Devil and God. Macario responds to this, “Whenever you appear, there is no time for anything else.”
Thoroughly, the Death is surprised by his answer and names Macario his friend and gives miraculous water that can heal any disease. The “friendship” between both of them lasted for years, but they never talked to each other and just stared. The Death hints Macario will meet him later that day. When Macario returns home, he finds his son cold from falling into the well. Macario tries on the water on his son and becomes known as “miraculous healer” causing a lot of furor that the church itself accuses him of heresy, the Viceroy also asks for his services to cure his son. Freedom is promised to Macario if he can save the boy or he will be turned to stake.
Sadly, the Death takes the child, Macario in desperation tries to escape to only enter into the Death’s tavern and gets reprimanded for turning his “gift” into merchandise. The Death shows Macario that the cavern is filled with candles which represent a person’s life. When Macario sees his candle how short it is he asks the Death to save it, but the Death declines. Macario in despair runs out of the cavern and doesn’t hear the Death shouting behind him.
In the last scenes of the movie, the downturn begins on the day Macario shares the turkey with Death. He doesn’t come home and his wife and villagers are looking for him out in the woods. Macario was peacefully found dead next to a turkey that was divided in halves. The first half was eaten, and the second one was intact, meaning that Macario died not satisfying his dream of eating a whole turkey for himself.
*Fangusu / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
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