Museo Taurino! The Film.

Museo Taurino  is a low budget DVD filmed by a company in Ohio. Orders may be taken via the producer, Jeff Stoll, by writing JStollphotographer1@neo.rr.com or found by various distributors online. There are some web pages devoted to the same as well and some trailers on You Tube.

The film revolves around a crazed father who suffers through the death of a novillero  son and subsequent suicide of his life, which drive him mad. He lashes out against those who in his eyes are the blame for the death of his son in the ring and lures them to their death by inviting them to see his Museo Taurino or  bullfight museum. In truth there is no museum, but only a kill room.

The movie shows the killer, Don Guillermo, working up to the day where he tarps and kills Don Carlos, a young bullfighting author, though it is not established until the very end why the madman has targeted this victim.

He reveals his reason and does him in with a pair of mounted bull horns.

There is lengthy bullfighting action in the opening and end title, as well as a long (too long) and surreal dream sequence. One is able to make out clips of a number of Mexican and Spanish toreros, off of old archive movie film. One might pick up Curro Rivera, Alfredo Leal and some other deceased figuras by looking closely.

The film was made on a shoestring budget that would make Ed Wood look rich, so it is NOT great by any means, though it is creative. It is also not a bullfighting movie int he truest sense of the word, but a horror film.

There is a My Space page for this movie at http://www.myspace.com/museotaurino and coverage of it, both pro and con on varied web pages and internet review pages.

Worth adding to any taurine collection just for the novelty element. Not a great DVD, but not a horrid one either.

The Death Of Diego Puerta

Diego Puerta, one of the most beloved figures of  Spanish bullfighting in the 1960s and 1970s, died recently   after a lengthy illness. Following his retirement from the ring, he had spent decades operating a bull ranch where he raised animals for younger men to fight.

At the height of his career, Puerta was considered a figura. He had triumphs in Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona and all the other major rings in Spain as well as success in the smaller rings. while he likewise made appearance sin Mexico and South America.

He frequently alternated on carteles with other toreros of maximum power from the same era, such as Paco Camino, El Cordobes and Antonio Ordonez. At times he even surpassed them. He was willing to face the Miuras and other breeds many of his contemporaries avoided.

The torero paid the price for his persistence, taking a massive amount of punishment and several near-fatal; gorings for his efforts, but he always made a comeback.

Many books in English devoted sections to him and photos, including The Swords Of Spain, Bullfight and How To Fight A Bull. Much more was written about him in the Spanish books, of course, with particular reference to the Botan releases from the late 1960s-early 1970s, covering an annual photographic recap of the Madrid season.

Two pasodobles written in his honor also survive him.

Ferreira

Paulo Jorge Ferreira was born in Azambuja in Portugal and trained under the late cavaleiro, Zoio, to learn the art of rejoneo. On the Portuguese bullrings he found a good amount of success, both in the large and small plazas. The odd  part is, he would find his greatest triumphs elsewhere.

A few years ago, Ferreira appeared in a set fo bloodless bullfigths in the nroth fo California, where for many years now, they have offered complete toemproadas un the Portuiguese-American communities. Bulls fof ightign syock atre used, toreros pergorm and a series of small bullrigns have been built. In keeping with American law, the bulls do not face pciadadores, do not receive banderillas and are not sworded.

 The new form of bullfighting, placing rejones with Velcro rather than barbs to not penetrate the bull was unusual for this cavalier at first, but he caugth on quickly, as well as having to adapt to the circumference of much smaller bullrings. 

 Ferreira found so much success in the USA, he decided to stay, where he makes his current home in Hilmar, California.

 Though he has gained the recognition of being a "Bullfighter For The United States" in the Iberian press, he still contends to make trips and performances in Spain, as well as his native Portugal.

It is just that he has found such overwhelming popularity in the USA, in this uncanny form of bloodless bullfighting, that it seems unwise to change a good thing.