Alfonso Arau has had a long and fruitful career both in front of and
behind the camera and is one of the most prominent Latino film-makers in Hollywood. He was a drama disciple of
Seki Sano--a Japanese teacher, classmate of
Lee Strasberg with
Konstantin Stanislavski in
Russia--and traveled the world from 1964 to 1968 with his one-man show,
"Pantomime Happy Madness", after studying with
Etienne Decroux and
Jacques Lecoq in Paris.
A renowned writer-producer-director-actor in theater and film for more
than twenty years, in 1969 he directed his first feature film,
El águila descalza (1971), in
which he also starred. He has directed many films in Mexico, among them
Calzonzín inspector (1974)
and Mojado Power (1981). He has
received six Arieles--the Mexican equivalent of the Oscar--and numerous
international film awards.
Arau has acted in a number of Mexican and Hollywood films, including
The Wild Bunch - Sie kannten kein Gesetz (1969),
El Topo (1970),
Mojado Power (1981),
Mit einem Bein im Kittchen (1980),
Auf der Jagd nach dem grünen Diamanten (1984),
Drei Amigos! (1986) and
Committed - Einmal 7. Himmel und zurück (2000). In addition to
Bittersüße Schokolade (1992),
his directing credits include
Dem Himmel so nah (1995)
with Keanu Reeves and
Picking up the Pieces - Ich habe doch nur meine Frau zerlegt (2000)
with Woody Allen. For television he has done
The Magnificent Ambersons (2001),
based on the script of Orson Welles' film
version
(Der Glanz des Hauses Amberson (1942))
and the novel by Booth Tarkington.
