What Color Is the Wind? (1973) Poster

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10/10
Two blind children
dsf3g2 March 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I'm going to summarize everything I can remember about this film, since it is, as far as I can gather, not available for purchase anywhere, and these comments will most likely be of interest only to academic researchers and persons curious about the history of the Mexican cinema.

I saw this film ages ago, when I was just a child, so my memory of it is only hazy. The film concerns two blind children who are friends (thus, the title, which roughly translates "What color is the wind?"). One child, the young boy, comes from a poor family. The other child, a young girl, is from a rich family. Despite the fact that they are of different social classes, their mutual blindness joins them, and the two are inseparable playmates.

Several times, throughout the film, the girl's parents are seen consulting with surgeons and discussing the latest medical procedures which may be able to help her. Later, the girl is seen undergoing these surgeries. But the treatments are to no avail. She remains incurably blind. Then, at some point, near the end of the film, an authority figure of some sort (a teacher? a doctor? I don't recall) takes an interest in the boy when he notes that a new surgical procedure may be able to cure him of his blindness. Despite their initial hesitation, the poor child's parents consent to the procedure (they cannot afford to pay for it, but the doctors have agreed to perform the surgery for free). The procedure proves to be a success. When the doctors remove the child's bandages, he is able to see. The doctor then warns the child that whatever he does, he is not to stare directly at the Sun, as this could render him blind again.

Overjoyed by the successful surgery, the young boy returns to see his friend, only to find that the girl's mother refuses to allow him to see her. Class differences, easily overlooked when both children were blind, now rear their ugly heads. The young girl's mother explains that it is no longer appropriate that the children should play together, given that he, a poor boy, can see while she, a rich girl, remains blind. The boy is distraught, and angry. In gaining his sight, he has lost his best friend and playmate. Now, in the final scene, we see the young boy outside, lying on his back, with his face towards the sky. He opens his eyes and stares at the Sun, just as the doctors had warned him not to do. For a moment the camera shows the bright Sun above, as from the boy's perspective. But it is only for a moment. The child thinks twice. He closes his eyes before the damage is done, then picks himself up off the ground and runs down the hill yelling out to a group of boys who are playing soccer down below to let him join in their game. The film ends.

The only other thing I remember about the film was the refrain from the title song, which went: "¿De qué color es el viento? / Dímelo / Dímelo" that is, "What color is the wind? / Tell me / Tell me."

-David Flores
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10/10
Love it!
pereze753 November 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I also saw this movie as a child and it had a very impacting effect on me. The song is very emotional and the tone gives you a sense of compassion towards the blind children in the movie. I remembered a scene were the poor child gets teased by the neighborhood children. In the scene the children play tag and they manage to put the poor child inside of a cactus garden or near a Nopalera and the children call him so he can catch them, but instead he pokes him self with the cactus and he ends up in a lot of pain but not just physical pain but also emotionally. I would like to buy it or see it again. I saw the video of the song in YouTube, you can find it under the same title. .
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