Torero (1956)
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A documentary follows bullfighter Luis Procuna’s career and the fear he feels each time he faces the ring.
The story
Through dramatic reenactments and footage shot in 1956, the film recounts bullfighter Luis Procuna’s life, focusing on his fear as he enters the bullring. It begins with memories of his childhood, when he carried bundles at a market and helped his mother sell tacos. As a young man, he receives salon bullfighting lessons from novillero Valentín at Nonoalco and Plaza México. An early attempt to fight a bull leaves him injured, but Algara hires him to fight alongside Luis Briones, setting him on the path to a career in the ring.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The film recounts the life of bullfighter Luis Procuna through dramatic reenactments and footage shot throughout 1956. It focuses on the fear Luis Procuna felt when entering the bullring. It begins with Procuna’s memories of his childhood, when he carried bundles at the market and helped his mother sell tacos. A few years later, he received lessons in salón bullfighting from the novillero Valentín in Nonoalco and at Plaza México. After an attempt to fight a bull in which he was injured, Algara hired him to fight alongside Luis Briones. He triumphed as a novillero, took and confirmed his alternativa, and went on to fight in Madrid, where he was gored. When he returned to Mexico, that incident, together with Manolete’s recent death, left him so afraid that he could not fight for a while. When he returned to the ring, he was gored again, more seriously. After recovering, he decided to stop fighting for a while and enjoy life. Under pressure from the press, he returned to the ring, where he won the corrida, and his companions carried him home on their shoulders. The documentary ends with his fearful thoughts about the next corrida.
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