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When I Want to Cry, I Don't

Name: When I Want to Cry, I Don't
Director: Mauricio Walerstein
Released: 1973
Duration: 85 min

Representation Score

5.1/10

Fair

1973

Director

Mauricio Walerstein

Runtime

85 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The film stands out as a social commentary, using race and class to dissect the Venezuelan social fabric. By focusing on three men from different backgrounds, it avoids presenting a uniform national identity. However, the film struggles with gender dynamics, often reducing women to passive roles. The absence of LGBTQ+ or disability representation further limits its inclusiveness. Ultimately, the film's strength lies in its critique of bourgeois apathy and political struggle, offering a nuanced view of social hierarchies.

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Category Breakdown

Does When I Want to Cry, I Don't have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The film does not explicitly address queer identities or include non-traditional romantic or sexual encounters. The story focuses on typical heterosexual relationships.

How does When I Want to Cry, I Don't portray gender?

Fair

Women in the film mainly serve as objects of desire or catalysts for male development. They often play minor roles in the overall plot and rarely take charge of their own stories.

How racially and ethnically diverse is When I Want to Cry, I Don't?

Excellent

The story explores racial and class identities through a framework involving three main characters. A mulatto protagonist provides a significant departure from typical casting practices.

How does When I Want to Cry, I Don't represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The film critically examines capitalist and political systems. It showcases a range of behaviors, from political activism to apathy among the bourgeoisie.

Does When I Want to Cry, I Don't include disability representation?

Minimal

No characters with visible or invisible disabilities are featured in the film, nor do such conditions play a central role in the plot.

Present on Screen

The tripartite framework based on race and class effectively challenges a monolithic national identity.
A mulatto protagonist provides a meaningful social analysis.
The narrative offers a sophisticated critique of bourgeois apathy and political struggle.

Limited or Absent

Women often play passive roles and are frequently used as objects of desire.
There is a noticeable lack of LGBTQ+ representation or queer subtext.
The film does not feature any characters with visible or invisible disabilities.

Official Synopsis

In Venezuela, one day in 1948 there were born three children all named Victorino: Pérez, mulatto and son of the poor Lucía; Perdomo, son of a middle-class communist who gets arrested; and bourgeois Peralta. On the day of his eighteenth birthday Pérez escapes from prison using lather pretending it to be a rage attack. Peralta shows a friend of his a car he got from his parents. A young lady gives herself to Perdomo as a birthday present. Pérez finds his mistress with another man and wounds her. Pérez and a few others rob an old man while riding on their motorcycles. Perdomo and a bunch of bushwhackers plan to rob a bank. Pérez sees a friend of his smoking pot while Peralta visits a cousin of his and has sex with her. Perdomo’s father, recently elected a communist representative wants to talk him out of his violent ways. Pérez sleeps with three girls and remembers how he once killed a man in the middle of a robbery. Peralta and his friends shoot dogs just for fun. Perdomo and his pals…

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