Ignacio López Tarso, Juror 8 in Twelve Angry Men 
By Jesús Ibarra September 19, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Doce Hombres en Pugna
(Twelve Angry Men)
Teatro Helénico 
Avenida Revolución 1500
Mexico City
Fri, 7 & 9:30pm; Sat, 6 & 8:30pm; Sun, 5:30 & 8pm
Tickets available at www.ticketmaster.com.mx 

One of the pillars of Mexican cinema and theater is actor Ignacio López Tarso. This extraordinary performer, whose career spans 57 years, continues as a powerful stage and screen presence at 83.

His grueling schedule of weekly theater performances and filming a hit television series would tire a man one-third his age.

López Tarso is currently starring in Reginald Rose’s classic play Twelve Angry Men in Mexico City. He talked to Atención’s Jesús Ibarra about his interpretation of the role made famous by Henry Fonda and his role in a TV detective series.

Jesús Ibarra: How do you feel about returning to the stage with Twelve Angry Men?

Ignacio López Tarso: I feel very comfortable with the company and the production. All the actors in the play are very professional. It has been well received by the public. The theater is full every performance. 

JI: How long will it run?

ILT: The play will continue as long as the public wants it to. 

JI: Have you performed in other states?

ILT: Yes, we perform in Mexico City from Friday to Sunday, and some weeks from Monday to Thursday we take the show to other states. We have already appeared in Guadalajara, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Puebla, Tampico, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, and Monterrey. 

JI: Isn’t it tiring for you? 

ILT: Yes, it is. But I like it, and the public has responded positively to the play. 

JI: What is the play about?

ILT: The play is about twelve men with different ideologies, cultures and social and economic status who are called to be jurors at the trial of a man accused of killing his father. They have to decide his innocence or guilt. The twelve actors remain onstage for the two-hour duration of the one-act play. It is about law, justice, racial discrimination and social consciousness. At the beginning of the play, eleven of them consider the boy to be guilty; only one, Juror Number 8—my character—believes he is innocent.

JI: Who is Juror Number 8?

ILT: He is the conscience of the other eleven. He sows the seeds of doubt. He argues the boy’s innocence because the evidence is circumstantial and he has a reasonable doubt about the boy’s guilt. My character is very interesting because the arguments of the other jurors give him more reason to believe the boy is innocent, and he uses their own arguments to convince them the boy could be innocent. 

JI: Did you know the play before?

ILT: Yes. In fact, I acted in a TV version 40 years ago, back when Mexican TV did not have soap operas, only adaptations of plays. I appeared in many of them. The cast was excellent, the great actors of that time: Augusto Benedico, Carlos Ancira, Claudio Brook, José Gálvez. All of them have passed away. Sometimes, when I remember the cast of an old film or play, I think that I am the only one who is still here. 

JI: Do you have any other projects going on?

ILT: Yes. In January I will begin filming the third season of the TV series El Pantera, the story of a young man who fights against crime and corruption and helps the defenseless. My character is an honest old police officer who, along with El Pantera, fights against crime and corruption. 

JI: Is it difficult to combine theater and TV at the same time?

ILT: It is tiring, but I can do it. When we were filming the previous season, I had to be on set at 1am, on weekends, after two performances of Twelve Angry Men. I finished at 5 or 6am. What I cannot do is to travel with the play to the States, since I have to work on the series during the week. 

Ignacio López Tarso

Born in Mexico City on January 15, 1925, Ignacio López Tarso has played a great variety of characters in movies and on the stage. He studied in a seminary but left it since he had no religious calling.

He found his vocation of acting when he participated in a play at the seminary. After he left the seminary, he went to work to the United States as an illegal, but he suffered a serious accident and had to return to Mexico. During his convalescence, he finally decided to study acting at the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA). His professional debut in theater was in 1951 and in movies in 1954. His more acclaimed performances in theater are Moctezuma II by Sergio Magaña (1954, 1968); Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (1962); Le Roi se Mort, by Eugene Ionesco (1968); Tirano Banderas, by Ramón del Valle Inclán (1974, 1992); Equus, by Peter Shaffer (1977); The Dresser, by Ronald Harwood (1983–85); and Hello, Dolly! (1994–96). 

His most outstanding movies are El hombre de papel (The Paper Man, 1963), in which he plays a dumb scavenger; El gallo de oro (The Golden Rooster, 1964), based on a story by Juan Rulfo, playing a poor campesino who makes fortune at the cock fights; Tarahumara (1964), in the role of an archeologist who studies and helps the Tarahumara Indians; El profeta Mimí (The Prophet Mimí, 1972), as a feeble-minded man who murders prostitutes; and the internationally acclaimed Macario (1959), based on a story by Bruno Traven, in which he plays a poor Mexican Indian who suffers a close encounter with death. Macario was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, and Ignacio López Tarso won the Golden Gate Award for Best Actor at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

Cinemateca, September 22–28, 2008

José Luis Pick’n’tip

The Pick

When Father Was Away on Business 

Director Emil Kusturica captures in time an era and country gone forever. An interesting, well-acted and often moving story, even if one doesn’t know a great deal about Tito’s challenge to Stalinism in Yugoslavia after World War II.

The Tip Important: In order to provide the best viewing experience, the show times for some movies may be adjusted to accommodate their length. Be sure to check the schedule carefully. I also want to remind you of our new ticket price: 50 pesos and discount cards buy 12 shows for 450 pesos. Starting Monday, after 11am, buy your tickets in advance for any movie or show of the week. If you have a discount card, collect your pass to secure a seat; don’t take the risk of being locked out. Would you like to receive this info by email? Write to Jose Luis at alephamour@hotmail.com . Thank you.


The Movies

Winner of Best Documentary in the Boston Film Festival 
Lost and Found in Mexico
Monday, September 22 at 5pm
Documentary, English, 53 minutes
Writer/director/producer: Caren Cross
Lost and Found in Mexico explores the question: What lies on the other side of the American dream? This quirky documentary explores the lives of Americans who chose to leave their hard-working, successful and fast-paced lives to live in San Miguel, where leisurely conversations take place in the main square, burros walk the streets and people find their hearts engaged in living once again. While many Mexicans are leaving families behind and risking their lives to cross the border to a better life, this film focuses on the Americans who have decided to cross in the other direction—for a simpler life. Questions and Answers with the filmmaker follow the show. All proceeds benefit the Mexican kids’ scholarships.



Noises Off! (1992) 
Monday, September 22 at 3pm
Tuesday, September 23 at 7:30pm
Friday, September 26 at 7pm
Comedy, English, 104 minutes
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Cast: Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Denholm Elliott, Julie Hagerty, Marilu Henner 
Director Lloyd Fellowes (Michael Caine) is told he must bring a British hit play to the American stage. Rehearsals start off well with his cast—including feature actor Garry (John Ritter), washed-up star Dotty (Carol Burnett), dapper leading man Frederick (Christopher Reeve), bombshell Brooke (Nicollette Sheridan) and seasoned female actress Belinda (Marilu Henner). It seems like a smash hit—until the cast’s real traits come out.



When Father Was Away on Business (Otac na sluzbenom putu, 1985)
Wednesday, September 24 at 7pm
Thursday, September 25 at 5pm
Eastern Europe, Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles, 135 minutes
Director: Emir Kusturica
Cast: Moreno De Bartolli, Predrag “Miki” Manojlovic, Mirjana Karanovic, Mustafa Nadarevic 
Yugoslavian director Emil Kusturica won the Cannes Golden Palm award for this drama that conveys the tensions between Russia and Yugoslavia in the early fifties. The story is told from the viewpoint of six-year-old Malik (Moreno De Bartolli), who’s unaware of the real reason for his father’s (Miki Manojlovic) absence. The family insists that he’s away on business, but he’s really in prison for his affair with the lover of a top-ranking party member.



Even Dwarfs Started Small (Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen, 1971)
Thursday, September 25 at 7:30pm
Friday, September 26 at 5pm
Foreign classic drama, German with English subtitles, 96 minutes
Director: Werner Herzog
Maverick director Werner Herzog’s uncompromising allegory about the consequences of imprisonment and rebellion depicts a coup launched by dwarfs against the mental institution in which they are inmates. With a cast composed entirely of little people (the first time that had been done since the 1938 Western Terror of Tiny Town), this surreal yet strangely beautiful film makes a powerful statement about the repercussions of ostracism.



Kids Movies: Cartoons
Saturday, August 27 at noon