Servando González Fernández was born in Mexico City in 1923. After the death of this father, the young González went to work to help support his family, trying various professions (carpenter, painter, printer), before securing employment in the laboratories of the newly-opened CLASA studios. Beginning as a “gofer” (or, as González said in 1997 interview with Proceso, a “traidor: el que trae la Coca Cola, la torta” [the one who brings the Cokes, the sandwiches]), he progressed through the ranks and at the age of 30 was named head of the Churubusco studio film lab.
However, at this point Servando González left the technical side of films for the creative side: in 1955 he was hired by the ruling political party PRI to make documentaries, and in 1958 became an “official” civil servant as coordinator of the government department of documentaries.
In December 1960, González directed his first feature-length fictional film, Yanco. Because it was made outside of the unions, the picture was considered a “pirate” production and was in danger of being suppressed; however, González utilized his political connections and brought Yanco to the attention of the wife of former president Miguel Alemán, who helped promote it (the picture was also sponsored by Instituto Nacional de Protección a la Infancia). Made on an extremely low budget with amateur performers–Ricardo Ancona was a music student, Jesús Medina was a street musician, and María Bustamante worked in studio cafeteria (she was also the mother of future actress Rosa María Vázquez)–Yanco also marked the debut of cinematographer Alex Phillips Jr., whose father was a well-known director of photography. The screenplay was written by Jesús Marín Bello, a veteran assistant director, who would work with González on a number of his later pictures, as assistant director and/or scripter.
Based (uncredited) on a story by Polish author Henrik Sienkiewicz, Yanco deals with a young indigenous boy who is given violin lessons by an old man; after the man dies, the boy sneaks the violin out each night from the shop where it is for sale, and plays, replacing the instrument before morning. The townspeople think a ghost is responsible for the music they hear.
Yanco received wide international distribution. González did not return to directing until late 1962, when he made a second independent picture, Los mediocres, a multi-story film not released in Mexico City until 1966. The four stories were all set in Mexico City and filmed on location. This time, González did have the benefit of professional actors, including Carlos Ancira, Enrique Lucero, Manuel Arvide, Carolina Barret, and Blanca Sánchez.
González went to the United States for his next project, The Fool Killer, a tale of a young boy in post-Civil War America. Although by Hollywood standards a low-budget, independent “art” film, the picture certainly had a much higher budget than his previous projects and starred well-known actor Anthony Perkins. Alex Phillips Jr. lensed his third consecutive film for González, but the cast contained no Mexican performers (the movie was shot in English and dubbed into Spanish for its Mexican release as El asesino de tontos). Whether González initiated the project or was brought in after it was already on the drawing board, it is likely his work on Yanco was pivotal in securing the job, since both films deal with the relationship between a young boy and an older man (in the case of The Fool Killer, an old man and a younger man).
Returning to Mexico, González made his first film within the regular film industry, Viento negro. This tale of the arduous construction of a railroad through the Mexican desert would be his greatest box-office success, playing 22 weeks in a Mexico City theatre during its first run. The “construction” motif of Viento negro would be repeated by González in Las grandes aguas (a dam) and El último tunel (a railroad and tunnel), with less success.
After the relatively big-budgeted Viento negro, González returned to “personal” filmmaking with El escapulario (an episodic fantasy film) then took what was apparently a director-for-hire job on El hijo pródigo, a Libertad Lamarque melodrama. González subsequently returned to political filmmaking, working for Luis Echevarría during the latter’s presidential campaign, and then (after Echevarría’s inevitable election) becoming head of the president’s film unit. He would not make another fictional film until 1972: De qué color es el viento tells the story of a young blind boy and girl. The boy regains his sight after an operation but, disappointed that his friend is still blind, decides to lose his vision once more (he changes his mind after some good advice). De qué color es el viento was an Estudio Churubusco production–beginning with this picture, the last five directorial efforts of Servando González were all financed by the Mexican government (Churubusco was owned by the government by this time).
El elegido, which dealt with a spectacular Easter pageant and the lives of the performers who appear in it, was one of a number of “art” films produced by the government, in this case the CONACITE DOS agency; Los de abajo, based on a famous novel about the Mexican Revolution, and Las grandes aguas were both CONACINE productions. The latter picture was made in 1978, and González did not get another chance to direct a feature for eight years. El último tunel (financed by IMCINE) was a sequel to his biggest success, Viento negro, but did not pave the way for future projects by the director. After 1986, only received a story credit on the Gabriel Retes film El ciudad al desnudo (1988). González took proposals for several films to IMCINE and the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes in an attempt to receive funding, but was never able to finance another movie. Servando González died on 4 October 2008 at the age of 85.
Although his 11 feature films encompass a variety of genres and settings–he made almost as many urban films as rural films, period films as contemporary films–a Servando González directorial style can be discerned in many of his efforts. While his films often have realistic settings and characters, with working-class protagonists shown in their homes and jobs, González makes extensive use of unrealistic film techniques (optical effects, attention-getting camera movement and angles, distorted sound and visual effects) in an expressionistic manner. Repeated themes and motifs include the rigors of childhood (Yanco, The Fool Killer, De qué color es el viento particularly, but in other films as well), indigenous people (especially Yanco, Viento negro, Las grandes aguas and El último tunel , and man vs. nature (the construction movies). Rather surprisingly for someone who has worked in the political and governmental sectors, González occasionally casts a critical eye on bureaucracy and officialdom (Los mediocres, El elegido, Viento negro) although this aspect of his pictures is fairly minor and his criticism is not really too pointed.
Feature Film Filmography: as Director unless Noted
1960: Yanco
1962: Los mediocres [The Mediocrities]
1963: The Fool Killer
1964: Viento negro [Black Wind]
1966: El escapulario [The Scapulary]
1968: El hijo pródigo [The Prodigal Son]
1972: De qué color es el viento [What Color is the Wind]
1973: El elegido [The Chosen One]
1976: Los de abajo [The Underdogs]
1978: Las grandes aguas [The Great Waters]
1986: El último tunel [The Last Tunnel]
1988: El ciudad al desnudo [Naked City] story only
