- The Mercado Adolfo Lopez Mateos: 6000 merchants, 9000 customers. Every day. The traditional market, situated in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, is not only the largest market of its kind anywhere in Latin America: Mercado Adolfo Lopez Mateos is a microcosm of Mexican life and society struggling to shelter its soul under the stormy age of globalization. Once an object of great prestige, today it is besieged by emerging supermarkets, mismanagement and its own degeneration. The administration mostly is powerless against this chaos and constantly is at odds with the merchants. El Elefante Blanco portrays various persons, who every day face the challenge to cope with their lives, in close symbiosis with the market. A film about life and death and the Mexican soul.—Anonymous
- El Elefante Blanco is a film about life and death and the Mexican soul. It is set in the Mercado Adolfo López Mateos traditional market located in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. With more than 6000 merchants and 9000 customers each and every day, its not only the largest market of its kind anywhere in Latin America: Mercado Adolfo López Mateos is a microcosm of Mexican life and society struggling to shelter its soul under the stormy age of globalization. Once an object of great prestige, today it is besieged by emerging supermarkets, mismanagement and its own degeneration. The administration mostly is powerless against this chaos and constantly is at odds with the merchants. El Elefante Blanco portrays the life of various persons, who every day face the challenge to cope with their lives, in close symbiosis with the market: Alberto, who broadcasts music and self-produced commercials for the market; Hugo and his gang who wait each day for odd jobs; Lauro the grocer who in 1964 helped found the market and today is a moral authority; Roberto, the butcher, who wraps the female clients around his finger; Ariel and his brother Humberto, who make music with the most basic equipment to provide for their family. All these people are connected by the labyrinth of corridors crossing Mercado Adolfo López Mateos. Crammed to the roof with wares, not one meter of space is wasted. Starting with meat, going on with fruit and vegetables up to household goods, flowers, jewelry, complete stair railings or illegal DVDs one is able to receive everything you need for a living. The market never sleeps: In the moment when the merchants leave for home, the shift of the night watchmen begins. Built in the year 1964 its more than a quarter by its own with a remarkable architecture and an eventful history: It is an emporium, living space, curse and chance at the same time.
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