El ministro y yo
Encyclopedia
El ministro y yo is a 1975 Mexican film.
") is a notary public
and scribe
for the illiterate people of Santo Domingo, a neighborhood north of Mexico City
's Zócalo. A squatter
friend asks for his help in negotiating with the land census bureau to regularize a land title. After a great deal of frustration with the government bureaucracy, he writes a letter to the cabinet
minister, earning an audience with him. The minister hires Melgarejo to reform the bureau, and the appointee proceeds to lecture the officials on their duties in a democratic society. At the end, he gives up the post, returning to Santo Domingo to help its poor residents.
had replaced the "Cantinflas" character as the cinematic icon of Mexico's urban and rural poor, and critics viewed El ministro y yo as an attempt by Moreno, whose media influence made him one of Mexico's elite, to get back into touch with the common people. The unrealistic portrayal of a sympathetic cabinet minister and the unlikely appointment of a "commoner" to a position of power did not reverberate with the public.
Plot
Mateo Melgarejo (played by Mario Moreno "CantinflasCantinflas
Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes , was a Mexican comic film actor, producer, and screenwriter known professionally as Cantinflas. He often portrayed impoverished campesinos or a peasant of pelado origin...
") is a notary public
Notary public
A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...
and scribe
Scribe
A scribe is a person who writes books or documents by hand as a profession and helps the city keep track of its records. The profession, previously found in all literate cultures in some form, lost most of its importance and status with the advent of printing...
for the illiterate people of Santo Domingo, a neighborhood north of Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
's Zócalo. A squatter
Squatting
Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
friend asks for his help in negotiating with the land census bureau to regularize a land title. After a great deal of frustration with the government bureaucracy, he writes a letter to the cabinet
Mexican Executive Cabinet
The cabinet of Mexico is the Executive Cabinet and is a part of the executive branch of the Mexican government. It consists of eighteen Secretaries of State, the head of the federal executive legal office and the Attorney General....
minister, earning an audience with him. The minister hires Melgarejo to reform the bureau, and the appointee proceeds to lecture the officials on their duties in a democratic society. At the end, he gives up the post, returning to Santo Domingo to help its poor residents.
Criticism
The comedian La India MaríaMaría Elena Velasco
María Elena Velasco is a Mexican actress, film director, award-winning screenwriter, producer, and singer. She is also one of Mexico's few major female film directors...
had replaced the "Cantinflas" character as the cinematic icon of Mexico's urban and rural poor, and critics viewed El ministro y yo as an attempt by Moreno, whose media influence made him one of Mexico's elite, to get back into touch with the common people. The unrealistic portrayal of a sympathetic cabinet minister and the unlikely appointment of a "commoner" to a position of power did not reverberate with the public.