Gael Garcia Bernal

THERE ought to be a name for them, "Gael's Groupies" or "Bernal's Babes" -- something like that. Pleasant, seemingly respectable women who turn into starry-eyed teeny-boppers in the presence of Gael Garcia Bernal. Women, for instance, like Win Beaumont and her daughter, Christine. "He's so young, and he's done so much," the elder Beaumont gushes about the man who, according to Google, is the most famous Mexican this side of Frida Kahlo or Pancho Villa. "If he can get me going -- and I'm 80!

In the United States it's business as usual for political ideas to be branded and sold like breakfast cereals. But when those marketing tools were used in Chile in 1988, the outcome reshaped an entire nation - and generated the stuff of high drama. Twenty-five years ago, a majority of Chileans just said no to extending the regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Only it wasn't guerrilla revolutionaries that toppled the right-wing strongman. It was a slick, Madison Avenue-style advertising campaign that urged Chileans to vote "No" on Pinochet's plebiscite and yes for restoring democracy after 15 years of the general's autocratic rule.

"Bienvenida al [fin] del mundo," he blurted into the phone. (Loosely translated: Welcome to the rump of the earth). After flying for 13 hours, not sleeping in 24 and only vaguely remembering when I had my last meal, I agreed with him that I had indeed, landed at the end of the earth -- Chile, to be exact, on the southernmost edge of South America. I did it all for him -- Gael Garcia Bernal, 23 and already the star of some of Mexico's most celebrated films.

In "The Loneliest Planet," the faces and bodies of the adventurous couple at the center of the film's journey do most of the talking, and pretty eloquently I might add. So driven is filmmaker Julia Loktev to immerse us in the couple's existential experience that dialogue is nearly nonexistent and stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg are often little more than specks on the horizon. It's as if Strasberg's Method acting techniques - that focused approach to "become" someone else, all baggage explored and absorbed by the actor - has been adopted by the director.

Racked by corruption, poverty, ethnic inequality and violent drug trafficking, Mexico certainly has no shortage of subject matter for documentary films. Nor does it lack a pool of talented young documentary filmmakers. What it needs is more financial support for documentary production, and possibly a jolt of Hollywood-grade star power. That's where Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, two of Mexico's most bankable young actors, think they can help.

"Rudo y Cursi": A May 10 Calendar article about the film "Rudo y Cursi" and its stars, Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, misidentified their Canana Films partner, Pablo Cruz, as Pancho Cruz.

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- There's a sudden pregnant pause, a moment of anticipation. Gael Garcia Bernal, omnipresent Mexican actor and first-time movie director, is about to make an auteur-like suggestion. Turning to a reporter, he asks politely, almost apologetically: Um, could we move to another table so we can watch the rugby match? It's a guy thing. It's also a Gael thing. The scene: a hotel bar in South America's largest city.

In the United States it's business as usual for political ideas to be branded and sold like breakfast cereals. But when those marketing tools were used in Chile in 1988, the outcome reshaped an entire nation - and generated the stuff of high drama. Twenty-five years ago, a majority of Chileans just said no to extending the regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Only it wasn't guerrilla revolutionaries that toppled the right-wing strongman. It was a slick, Madison Avenue-style advertising campaign that urged Chileans to vote "No" on Pinochet's plebiscite and yes for restoring democracy after 15 years of the general's autocratic rule.

In "The Loneliest Planet," the faces and bodies of the adventurous couple at the center of the film's journey do most of the talking, and pretty eloquently I might add. So driven is filmmaker Julia Loktev to immerse us in the couple's existential experience that dialogue is nearly nonexistent and stars Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg are often little more than specks on the horizon. It's as if Strasberg's Method acting techniques - that focused approach to "become" someone else, all baggage explored and absorbed by the actor - has been adopted by the director.

Carlos Reygadas admits that when he first heard the concept behind the new movie "Revolución" — a compilation of 10 short films by 10 different Mexican directors — he felt "a little reluctant" to join in. Omnibus movies, he knew, often add up to less than the sum of their parts. And the theme of this particular film came spring-loaded with significance: the legacy of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. Furthermore, the movie's release would be timed to coincide with this year's heavily hyped centennial celebrations taking place on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Carlos Reygadas admits that when he first heard the concept behind the new movie "Revolución" — a compilation of 10 short films by 10 different Mexican directors — he felt "a little reluctant" to join in. Omnibus movies, he knew, often add up to less than the sum of their parts. And the theme of this particular film came spring-loaded with significance: the legacy of the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. Furthermore, the movie's release would be timed to coincide with this year's heavily hyped centennial celebrations taking place on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Rudo y Cursi": A May 10 Calendar article about the film "Rudo y Cursi" and its stars, Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, misidentified their Canana Films partner, Pablo Cruz, as Pancho Cruz.

Oversexed, underfed, overgrown adolescents. That's how Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal appeared when they hit the road together in "Y Tu Mama Tambien," the 2002 coming-of-age story that gave the young Mexican actors a following in global cinema and remains possibly their best-known work.

Mexico has had its share of debilitating transnational news lately, but the arrival of the puckishly entertaining, fleet-of-foot drama-comedy "Rudo y Cursi" deserves a hearty welcome. The story of close-but-competitive brothers seeking personal glory in professional soccer, it marks the directorial debut of Alfonso Cuaron's younger brother Carlos -- the pair wrote (and Alfonso directed) the nimbly sexy "Y Tu Mama Tambien" -- and reveals a family steeped in filmmaking talent.

SAO PAULO, Brazil -- There's a sudden pregnant pause, a moment of anticipation. Gael Garcia Bernal, omnipresent Mexican actor and first-time movie director, is about to make an auteur-like suggestion. Turning to a reporter, he asks politely, almost apologetically: Um, could we move to another table so we can watch the rugby match? It's a guy thing. It's also a Gael thing. The scene: a hotel bar in South America's largest city.

THERE ought to be a name for them, "Gael's Groupies" or "Bernal's Babes" -- something like that. Pleasant, seemingly respectable women who turn into starry-eyed teeny-boppers in the presence of Gael Garcia Bernal. Women, for instance, like Win Beaumont and her daughter, Christine. "He's so young, and he's done so much," the elder Beaumont gushes about the man who, according to Google, is the most famous Mexican this side of Frida Kahlo or Pancho Villa. "If he can get me going -- and I'm 80!

Mexico has had its share of debilitating transnational news lately, but the arrival of the puckishly entertaining, fleet-of-foot drama-comedy "Rudo y Cursi" deserves a hearty welcome. The story of close-but-competitive brothers seeking personal glory in professional soccer, it marks the directorial debut of Alfonso Cuaron's younger brother Carlos -- the pair wrote (and Alfonso directed) the nimbly sexy "Y Tu Mama Tambien" -- and reveals a family steeped in filmmaking talent.

Oversexed, underfed, overgrown adolescents. That's how Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal appeared when they hit the road together in "Y Tu Mama Tambien," the 2002 coming-of-age story that gave the young Mexican actors a following in global cinema and remains possibly their best-known work.

Racked by corruption, poverty, ethnic inequality and violent drug trafficking, Mexico certainly has no shortage of subject matter for documentary films. Nor does it lack a pool of talented young documentary filmmakers. What it needs is more financial support for documentary production, and possibly a jolt of Hollywood-grade star power. That's where Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, two of Mexico's most bankable young actors, think they can help.

"Bienvenida al [fin] del mundo," he blurted into the phone. (Loosely translated: Welcome to the rump of the earth). After flying for 13 hours, not sleeping in 24 and only vaguely remembering when I had my last meal, I agreed with him that I had indeed, landed at the end of the earth -- Chile, to be exact, on the southernmost edge of South America. I did it all for him -- Gael Garcia Bernal, 23 and already the star of some of Mexico's most celebrated films.