Having studied at the right hand of famed documentarian Robert Flaherty, young aspiring director Fred Zinneman was eminently qualified to collaborate on the direction of the Mexican "actuality" film The Wave (aka Redes). The film was the brainchild of New York-based photographer-documentary producer Paul Strand, who wrote the script and shared directorial credit with the fledgling Zinneman. Filmed on location in Vera Cruz from 1934 to 1935, the continuity follows a group of peasant fisherman as they come to grips with being exploited by local business interests. Strand concentrated on most of the documentary aspects of the film, shooting endless footage of fisherman at work and play, while Zinneman selected the principal actors and handled the dramatic scenes. The Wave was intended as the first in a series on Mexican life, but the money and distributor support just wasn't there; in retrospect, however, Fred Zinneman did pretty well for himself all the same.
by Hal Erickson
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