Fantastico!

Juan Orol had the kind of life destined to become a movie. Orol was born in Spain, but his mother sent him to Cuba as a child to search for a lost relative (who remained lost). He made his way to Mexico, where he attempted to make a living as a baseball player, a boxer, a bull fighter and eventually a gangster -- none of those careers panned out for him. Orol found his niche when he was cast in a movie -- but what he really wanted to do was direct. He tried his hand at it and discovered he had a peculiar talent behind the camera. It's peculiar because he ignores continuity, shoots in a slapdash manner and never lets the script trump a sudden flight of fancy. The Fantastic World of Juan Orol, Sebastian del Amo's film biography of the "involuntary surrealist," is a tribute to both the man and the golden age of Mexican cinema. The Fantastic World of Juan Orol screens at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Moore Auditorium on the Webster University campus (470 East Lockwood Avenue; 314-968-7487 or www.webster.edu/filmseries). Admission is $5 to $6.
Tue., Nov. 12, 2013