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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