Lesson 14:Lesson 14:Mexican FilmMexican Film
Professor Aaron Baker
Previous LecturePrevious Lecture
• Critical Study of Whiteness
• Hollywood Portrayal of Race
• African American Cinema
• Do the Right Thing (1989)
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This LectureThis Lecture
• Mexican History, Society and Cinema
• Como Agua Para Chocolate (1992)
• Amores Perros (2000)
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Part I: Mexican History, Society Part I: Mexican History, Society and Cinemaand Cinema
Spanish ConquestSpanish Conquest• 1519 Spanish Invasion• Mestizo Society:
European, Indian, African• Highly Stratefied
Independence in 1821Independence in 1821
• More Spanish Failure Than National Ambition
• Long Process of Unification
• Land Lost to U.S. 1848
1910 Revolution1910 Revolution
• Internal/Land Reform
• Poverty; 30 Year Life Expectancy
• 10 Years• 1.5-2 Million
Killed
Emiliano Zapata“Tierra y Libertad!”
Modernization/UrbanizationModernization/Urbanization
• Capitalism
• Loss of Cooperative Culture (El Pueblo)
• Infrastructure (Railroad)
• Not Democracy
Early CinemaEarly Cinema• Documentaries
-Lumieres
-Propaganda Films Showing Revolution:
• Revolution Orozquista (1912)
• Sangre Hermana (1914)
• Government Censorship
Mexican CinemaMexican Cinema
• Shadow of Hollywood
• Mexico 1916-1929: Six Features/Year
• Hollywood: Six Hundred
• Ana Lopez: “One way or another, all other nations aspiring to produce a national cinema have had to deal with Hollywood’s presence.”
Most Popular in Latin AmericaMost Popular in Latin America
• 1930s: Stability after Revolution
• 1938: 57 Features Made
• Comedia Ranchera Cowboy Musical
• Alla en el Rancho Grande (1936)
1940s Epoca de Oro1940s Epoca de Oro
• U.S. Propaganda Films/Europe at War
• 1945: 82 Features
• Dominated Latin American Market
Teatro Chapultepec, located in Mexico City, Mexico, pictured here in 1944
StarsStars
• Cantinflas – Mexican Charlie Chaplin
• Tin Tan – Pachuco, Spanglish
• Delores del Rio
• Pedro Infante -"la vecindad"
Maria Candelaria Maria Candelaria (1943)(1943)
• Directed by Emilio Fernandez
• Starring Delores del Rio and Pedro Armendariz
• Cannes Award• Georges Sadoul:
Authentic View of Rural Mexico
Banco CinematograficoBanco Cinematografico
• Established 1942
• Just to finance Mexican movies
• Unique in world
• 1945: 4000 film workers
• William O. Jenkins (1878–1963)
• Time Magazine in 1960: Richest Man in Mexico
Los Olvidados Los Olvidados (1950)(1950)
• Luis Bunuel, 20 movies in Mexico
• Street Kids in Mexico City
• Best Director Award at Cannes in 1951
• Cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa
ChurrosChurros
• 1950s-60s
• Financing if Profitable
• Donuts; Formulaic; Churned Out
• Genre Films: Soft Porn, Lucha Libre, Rancheros, Brothel Melodramas
Closed IndustryClosed Industry
• Few New Directors
• STIC Union
• Little Innovation
• TV, 1950 = Outlet and Competition
1960s: New Latin American 1960s: New Latin American CinemaCinema
• Influence of European Cinema (French New Wave, Italian Neorealism)
• 1963: Film School CUEC at UNAM
• Political Radicalization
Third Cinema (El Cine Tercer)Third Cinema (El Cine Tercer)
• Manifesto by Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino
• Anti Imperialism (1970 80% US Films in Mexico)
• Not Entertainment, Nor Art Film--
• To promote social justice
Arturo RipsteinArturo Ripstein
• Assistant to Bunuel
• Five Ariels
• Themes of Repressive Family, Masculinity
• Tiempo de Morir (1965)
• Fuentes, Marquez
Political CrisisPolitical Crisis
• Repression by President Diaz
• Protest by Students, Workers, Peasants
• Olympic Games• October 1968
Tlatelolco• 500 Killed by Police,
Army
New Government
• 1970-76: President Echeverria
• Apertura Democratica
• Social Themes in Movies
• 1974: CCC Second State Film School IMCINE – Mexican Film Institute
• 1974: 50% Mexican Films
1980s Govt. Support Lost1980s Govt. Support Lost
• Cuts in Banco Cinematografico
• Economic Crisis 1982-86
• Inflation
• Political Openness
• Private Production
• Co-Productions
Part II: Part II: Like Water for ChocolateLike Water for Chocolate
BestsellerBestseller
• Laura Esquivel Novel (1989)
• New York Times Best Seller for One Year
• Translated into 30 Languages
• Magical Realism
• Presold Movie
Film VersionFilm Version
• Released in 1992• Esquivel Screenplay• Directed by Husband
Alfonso Arau• $2 Million Budget• Earned $21 Million in U.S.
Alone• Highest Grossing Spanish
Language Film in U.S.
Romantic View of MexicoRomantic View of Mexico• Idealized View of Mexican
Folk Culture• Like Churros• 1991: 41 Million in Poverty
• Shaw: “It promotes a conservative, romantic image of rural Mexico that would please the Ministry for Tourism and that belied the reality of mass poverty.” 39
Gender And Class OppressionGender And Class Oppression
• Simplified• Tita’s Oppression
Individualized Within Family
• Mama Elena• Melodrama• Just Needs Cooking and
Love• Faithful Servants
““Natural” WomenNatural” Women
• Domestic Work
• Generous, Nurturing,Maternal
• Natcha, Tita
• “Unnatural” Women:
Mama, Rosaura, Gertrudis
• Self Interest
• Please pause to view the clip.
Quail in Rose Pedal SauceQuail in Rose Pedal Sauce
• Food Substitutes for Sexual Pleasure
• Mother Rejects Its Power
• Gertrudis Abandons Family
NarratorNarrator
• Tita’s Great Niece
• Modern Kitchen
• 1990s Like Past
• Vows to Keep Tita’s Memory Alive
• Women Still Defined by Domesticity
Indigenous WomenIndigenous Women
• Nacha, Model
• Cooking, Magical Healing
• No Class Critique
• Shaw: “The fact that they are exploited as servants and that Nacha’s dedication to the De la Garza family has meant that she is unable to have a family of her own is not problematized.” 42
Essentialist FeminismEssentialist Feminism• Women Given Spaces
by Patriarchy• Can Redefine Them
With Creativity, Nuturing.
• Shaw: “Laura Esquivel has argued that Like Water for Chocolate furthers the women’s movement by raising the status of women’s creativity in the kitchen, which has been devalued.” 45
SummarySummary
• Tourist View of Mexico
• Causes of Social Inequality Ignored, Individualized
• Tita Seduces Pedro with Cooking, Nuturing and Beauty
Part III: Amores Perros
Critical, Commercial HitCritical, Commercial Hit
• $8 Million in Mexico Alone
• Highest Selling Video/DVD
• $5.4 Million in U.S.
• Prizes at Cannes, Chicago, Tokyo
• Nominated for Oscar
New Image of MexicoNew Image of Mexico
• Beyond Genre
• Poverty, Crime
• Music– Like Water – Classical– Amores Perros – Rap
• Inarritu: “It has more music, more young people, more drive and edge.”
Class DifferencesClass Differences
• Upper – Daniel, Magazine Editor, Valeria, Model
• Middle Class – El Chivo, former Professor, Radicalized, Redeemed
• Working Class - Octavio
CrashCrash
• Classes Inseparable
• Connected
• One Story, Three Chapters
• Crash Occurs in Each Chapter
• Please pause to see clip.
Director Inarritu on Director Inarritu on Amores Amores PerrosPerros: :
“It’s a story that deals with human pain, love and death—which make no distinction of social class.” 57
Nuevo Cinema MexicanoNuevo Cinema Mexicano
• 1990s-2000s
• Directors:
Alejandro Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro
• 17 Oscar Nominations in 2007
Discussion QuestionDiscussion Question
• Which of these two filmic representations of Mexico do you prefer and why?
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End of Lecture 14End of Lecture 14
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