In Excess: Sergei Eisentein's Mexico - Cineclub

Leiva, who was Best Maugard’s assistant and became close to Eisenstein in
Mexico (and was Eisenstein’s ardent advocate during the scandal over the
return of the material to Sinclair and its subsequent release in the U.S.),
stated in his interview in Todo in October 1933 that: “Adolfo Best Maugard
was his advisor, his mentor, his guide to his knowledge of Mexico. Best
Maugard saved Eisenstein at least six months of research and the reading
of several hundreds of books. The authentic Mexican element of the
picture is basically due to Best Maugard.” 24 Similarly, Gabriel Fernández
Ledesma, another Mexican painter who knew Eisenstein in Mexico, in
an unpublished tribute to Eisenstein claims that: “The Secretary of State
commissioned the painter Adolfo Best Maugard to be the guide in his
travels around the country, serving as his interpreter and to orient him
in terms of the authenticity of our life. Best Maugard was a valuable element
for the Russian fi lmmaker, and it is undoubtedly to some extent
that the interesting form of the coordination and the structure of the
story and its contrasting matrix of the themes of the libretto owes itself
to Best Maugard.” 25
These claims that Best Maugard played an active role in shaping the
stories behind the libretto, however, are undoubtedly an exaggeration:
as we know from Kimbrough’s letter to Sinclair of January 12, 1931, Best
Maugard also suggested his own version of what Eisenstein’s fi lm should
be like.
He suggests using an old Mexican ballad or song that is well known
here, as a basis of the story. The hero of the song is a handsome, courageous,
adventurous Don Juan. He has many love affairs and drinks
and fi ghts. He gets into trouble everywhere he goes and is forced to
fl ee to other sections, either by the police or by his rivals in love. He
is educated and mixes in the best and worst of society. He is romantic
and a little artistic. Likes songs, women, travel, adventure, and scenic
beauty. But due to his recklessness he is constantly in trouble and
forced to move on quickly.
I like Dr. Best’s suggestion. He says THAT is really Mexican. He is
Mexican himself. 26
The only part of this suggestion that might have anything to do with
the libretto (as Eisenstein referred to the script) of ¡Que Viva México! is
the intended use of folk songs as one of the structuring principles of the
narrative: “Sandunga” is a wedding song from Oaxaca, and the plot of
the episode “Soldadera” (the one episode that was never shot) was meant
to be loosely based on the famous revolutionary song La Adelita. There
was also a subplot in the “Fiesta” section that was meant to focus on the
eisenstein’s ¡que viva méxico! : 33