American Cinematographer - March 1995 - 44

image. They used this filter dur¬
ing the war to photograph at
night, and it occurred to me to
use it in the
daytime."
Figueroa drew an infra¬

Figueroa wades
through the
angles with
director John
Huston

on

Night of the
Iguana.

red filter from its ancient leather

pouch. "I bought this from the
Agfa distributor in Mexico City
when he

was

called back to Ger¬

many to fight in the war. It gave
me an f2 - ASA 100 - at mid¬

day in Acapulco where the sun is
even
stronger than here. I later
bought a set of Wratten filters
and combined greens with
slightly lighter reds so that I
could obtain the infra-red effect
in

varying intensities. We had to
paint the actors' lips brown so
that they wouldn't appear white;
the only cinematographer
such a connection with
the muralists. I always found in
them what I liked, and they saw

embodying the technical finish of
American films plus a quality of
artistic approach which is par¬
ticularly their own.

pictures, liked them and cri¬
tiqued them. They said that my

Candelaria]

I

was

to have

"The

my

murals in movement;

simple - mostly exteriors with a

greater murals, because mine

few adobe huts, a church, and the
water-traced foliage of the region
in which it is set. These simple

films

were

traveled and theirs did not."
With "Dr. A11," the

pseudonymous painter known
for his theories on landscapes,
Figueroa explored the effects of
curvilinear space. He enhanced
the organic strength of his land¬
scapes by using a 25mm lens (to
which he later added

a

diminish¬

ing glass) that gave a slight curve
to the

horizon and added

a

feel¬

ing of movement to the sky.
"All these artists inspired
us to create a Mexican image for
the cinema," he said. "Somehow
we found a common basis, and I
was fortunate enough to see my

images accepted all over the
world."
Maria Candelaria

won

elements the

cinematographer
fashioned into a film composition
that is truly poetic. The exteriors
achieve a stunning realism - not
of a harshly documentary type,
but of a rich quality that may
truthfully be called rotogravure.
The result is due to the correct

of

heavy filters, the capable
placement of reflectors, and
angles that enhance the natural
pictorial quality of the back¬
grounds."
Figueroa revealed that

use

his

use

American

a

Painting/ da Vinci says
important than any¬
thing is the color of the atmo¬
sphere. 'What color [is it] if we
don't see anything?' I asked my¬
self. But I began to investigate
what this color was and I began
to

on

more

see

it

on

the

screen.

by using

was

able to eliminate this

an

infra-red filter I

at

between the

camera

ject, giving

me a

Cinematographer

I found

that

cinematic style

are

photography of
remarkably
three-dimensional. Separation of
the subject and background is
heightened, especially in the
closeups, by the fact that the faces
are
brighter than the middle grey
skies and darker than the white
clouds against which they are
framed. In an interview with
Mexican historian Marguerita de

Orellana, Figueroa explained that
he sought to "incorporate Mexi¬
can

landscape in balanced forms,

chiaroscuros, half-toned skies,
and the kind of immense clouds
we

all fear, so that the cinema¬

tography could achieve a very
image through black

Mexican

& white."
so

As his prominence grew,
did his responsibility. During

the labor

struggles of the mid-

eryone

that

evolving

in¬

The

Maria Candelaria is

Leonardo da Vinci called Trea¬
tise

studios south of the border

was

didn't have any

Forties, Figueroa was called upon

Cannes, Venice, and Madrid film
festivals, where critics started

last

of certain filters

we

problems."

spired while studying Renais¬
sance
painting: "In a book by

prizes for best photography at the

talking about "the skies of
Figueroa." American Cinematogra¬
pher acknowledged the crafts¬
manship of the picture:
"Admittedly drawing on
knowledge, technicians, and in¬
spiration from Hollywood, the

42

[of Maria
almost painfully

sets

are

otherwise,

March 1995

'smog'

and the sub¬

much clearer

in the

political arena. In 1944, ev¬
who worked in the film
industry in Mexico belonged to
an
all-powerful union called the
STIC. Soon after becoming secre¬
tary-general of a division of this
union that included actors and

technicians, Figueroa found him¬
self at odds with the system: "We
had a mess with the union be¬
cause

the

people who managed

the cinemas and the distribution
of films were gangsters. They had

control of the whole

industry,
American Cinematographer - March 1995

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