La última cita: A Dusty Old Melodrama That Still Stings

Is it worth your time?

If you like old, dusty melodramas where people make terrible life choices while wearing nice clothes, then yes. If you need pacing that feels modern or characters who aren't constantly weeping over lost love, skip this one. It's a classic "good guy ruins his life for a girl" setup that feels as heavy as an old velvet curtain.

Alvaro is our guy. He plays the violin really well, and he seems like he has a decent head on his shoulders until he meets Yolanda. Once he starts playing for her at that cafe, the movie just turns into a long slide down a hill. He ditches his actual career to follow her around, which is a classic move for these kinds of movies, I guess. It’s frustrating, honestly. You want to reach through the screen and shake him.

The whole bit with Magda? That’s where the movie gets mean. She’s the exact opposite of the innocent dancer vibe Yolanda has, and she just swallows Alvaro whole. The scene where he’s forced into a duel with Enrique feels so out of place compared to the earlier music-focused stuff, but that’s the 1930s for you. Everything has to be high stakes and high drama.

Watching this reminded me a bit of the emotional wrecking ball in Her Marriage Vow. It’s that same kind of heavy, slow-moving sadness that sticks to your ribs.

Some random notes:

• The music actually carries a lot of the scenes. You don't need to speak the language to know when the violin is sad.
• Yolanda’s daughter showing up at the end? A total soap opera twist, but it weirdly works.
• The lighting in that cafe scene is surprisingly moody for a movie from 1936.
• I spent half the time wondering if Alvaro ever actually practiced his scales, or if he just spent all his time staring at dancers.

It isn’t a perfect film by any stretch. Sometimes the acting feels like it’s being projected to the back row of a massive theater rather than a camera lens. But there’s a genuine sincerity to the misery here. It isn't trying to be clever. It’s just trying to be sad, and it succeeds.

It definitely lacks the grit of something like Cocaine, but it’s got its own flavor of chaos. If you’re in the mood to watch someone spend twenty-five years regretting their life choices, you’ll be right at home here. 🎻