Ultima begins teaching Antonio about the power of the spiritual world, which the novel illustrates as energies associated with the land that defy reason and Catholicism. Worried about Ultima’s aging and declining health, Antonio’s parents ( Dolores Heredia & Benito Martinez) offer to take her in.
This family-friendly film begins, as the book does, when Ultima ( Miriam Colon), comes to live with Antonio’s ( Luke Ganalon) family in rural Guadalupe, New Mexico during World War II. At seven years old, Antonio begins to contemplate his family’s religion, indigenous roots, identity, and all the intersections in between. When Ultima, a mysterious curandera, moves in with Antonio’s family, she presents Antonio with a compelling contradiction to his Catholic upbringing. I was especially drawn to the protagonist Antonio Juan Márez y Luna. Even though the story took place in a rural town in New Mexico in the 1940s, I felt an incredibly strong connection to the story and its characters. When I received the call from our Editor-in-Chief informing me that I would have the chance to review the film adaptation of Bless Me, Ultima, I recalled reading the Rudolfo Anaya novel when I was in middle school in East Los Angeles. Antonio (Luke Ganalon) and Ultima (Miriam Colon).
