Film Analysis Of Malla Mala

The film Mala Mala was a documentary that centered on the transgender community in Puerto Rico, depicting the average life of a variety of transgender people living in Puerto Rico. Throughout the film, the audience is able to hear the stories of the struggles these transgender people face, as well as their views on the progress of the transgender movement in the country and their struggle to gain equal rights. The use of a typical narrative structure and the subjects focused on, as well as the different filming techniques used contributed to a telling depiction of the transgender movement in Puerto Rico.
Though the film was a documentary, it was structured in a way that resembled a more typical narrative film. The argument could be made that

When the film was shot, the filmmakers used a sort of first person style of shooting to convey the story of the transgender people in the film, which gives the film a more personal feeling. To achieve this, the film utilizes hand-held cameras for a variety of scenes, such as when the woman Ivana is driving in the car. The film also uses medium close-up shots to interview the subjects of the film, which is a good shot for capturing the reactions of the subject. As described by the textbook, medium close-up shots also: “...tend to produce a greater sense of intimacy by allowing viewers to focus on the actors’ faces and character emotions…” (Pramaggiore, Wallis 142). In addition, the filmmakers use close up shots of a variety of everyday objects to contribute to or comment on the gender stereotypes in the film, with shots that focus on traditional feminine objects, such as makeup, or even religious objects, such as the cross in Samantha’s car. In a traditional sense, the film also uses establishing shots to show the audience a change in scenery and reorient them. In addition, the film uses voice overs at various times to allow the characters to comment on an issue, while also showing more scenes of their lives. Each of these filmmaking devices contributes differently to the overall feeling of the film and allows the filmmakers to address the issues in the community in a fluid way, where the filmmaking does not interfere with the focus on transgender