The Black Angel

Two women one from Boston and one from Germany flee their empty lives to seek fulfillment in Mexico The Black Angel is a transitional film on one hand it is a companion piece to Willow Springs featuring two Schroeter regulars as characters far from home and in extremis on the other hand it is a film essay about Mexico and as such a harbinger of Schroeters nonfiction work to come While he clearly shares his characters fascination with Mexico the filmmaker also savages touristic exoticism the otherworldly appearances of his protagonists and their rapturous reactions to new surroundings contrast sharply with the sober perceptions of Mexican history and economics featured in the documentary segments and in the prosaic presence of a nonprofessional cast of locals Harvard Film Archive