Han Matado a Tongolele

The Rumbera goddess Tongolele wants to give up the cabaret world and marry her journalist boyfriend. Many dodgy people have big problems with this ... Rumbera meets noir, meets whodunit, meets melodrama and backstage comedy chamber drama. Officially a minor work in Roberto Gavaldón's oeuvre, his directorial genius is evident here: like an architect, he explores the cabaret with all its doors and windows and corridors, organising the actors' passages through the rooms like a choreographer. The plot itself is almost meaningless. Much more important are the moments of conundrums with reality, such as Tongolele playing herself and her former choreographer in an appropriately small role.