Unlike the reputations of many of his more prolific contemporaries, Juan Rulfo’s is based on only two works: Pedro Páramo, one of the few Latin American novels of that time to successfully lay bare the inner lives of country people, and El llano en llamas, a collection of short stories. In this program, the late author—a leading exponent of magic realism—analyzes both of those works. He describes his tragic childhood as well, including the Cristero revolt, his family’s financial ruin, the death of his father and mother, and his life in an orphanage in Guadalajara. (Spanish, 47 minutes, b&w)