Dona Herlinda and Her Son (DVD Review)  C-
By Kage Alan

Dona Herlinda is the very, very involved and proud mother of her 30 something year old neurosurgeon son, Rodolfo. Just how involved and proud is she? Not only does she brag that she made him learn to write with his left hand so he can truly be ambidextrous, but she also takes care of setting up all of his dates with the local women. It seems that Rodolfo isn’t as interested in who his mother sets him up with, though, because he’s far more interested in Ramon, a very handsome talented young music student who plays the French Horn and who lives in a boarding house. Unfortunately, they are constantly interrupted while at Ramon’s place because of all the neighbors and people stopping by.

Matters are settled somewhat when Dona invites Ramon to come live with them in their huge house. Besides, she informs him, Rodolfo has a big enough bed. Yes, she’s not a stupid woman by any means and is willing to let her son live his life however he wants so long as she gets what she wants; grandchildren. In order to keep his mother happy, Rodolfo marries Olga (Leticia Lupercio) and embarks on a journey to satisfy mama’s needs as well as Ramon’s.

“Dona Herlinda and Her Son” works on some levels because it shows a very tender gay relationship between the two men as well as a mother’s love and understanding. The issue of having a child and being gay while also being married is explored. For 1985, the film is pretty groundbreaking, especially in Mexican cinema. It also works a bit as a comedy in seeing just how well Dona manipulates those around her to get exactly what she wants. What works against the film is how amateurish it’s shot and edited. Some of the performances suffer from inexperience as well and Vangaurd Cinema has released “Dona” in an absolutely dismal looking DVD transfer. Not only are there more print flaws, scratches, grain, specs and film jumps than I care to recount, but the subtitles go by so quickly (some are on the screen for less than a second) that it’s a struggle to keep up. Avoid this version until somebody else bothers to put some effort into its release.