Buscando una sonrisa

The cartoonist and engineering student José plays bowling with a hippie friend when he is told that his mother, a jewelry employee, died in an accident. After burying it he remembers that on the beach he fell in love with the blonde Carla, and that he stopped seeing her when he learned that she was very rich and when he saw that he paid a traffic ticket that he could not cover. Now José wanders around the city and plans to kill himself but is almost run over by a car that Carla gets off. Both embrace.

Directed by Rubén Galindo, Buscando una sonrisa leans on a strong ensemble — José José, Nadia Milton, Fernando Luján — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about romance titles of 1972.