Mi Vida Dentro

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The film, Mi Vida Dentro (2007) by Lucia Gaja, is a documentary detailing the imprisonment of a young Mexican woman Rosa Jimenez. Rosa is an undocumented immigrant who illegally crossed the Mexican border to Texas in order to search for a better life. In order to support herself, she took up a job as a nanny. That job ended in disaster when a young boy Rosa was taking care of, ended up dying while in her care. She was charged with his murder, even though she states that it was an accident. Rosa must now live the rest of her life behind bars, while her two children have to grow up without her. In this essay, the concepts that I will be using as analytical categories are the concepts Basic Model of cinematic analysis, the female, feminist, …show more content…

Mi Vida Dentro, or my life inside, “not only refers to her life in prison,”(Iglesias, CCS 400, Lecture 10 April 3)but also the actual inside or Rosa, such as her soul and mind. For example, throughout the film, we do see what is happening inside the prison, but we also see how Rosa reacts to it and what she is feeling inside. One such scene is when she misses her kids, and how she hopes to see them again. (Mi Vida Dentro)his strategy and element make the audience connect with Rosa straight from the beginning. They understand that the title isn't just referring to the prison, but also to her personally. It creates a connection when people can see what she is feeling and how that affects her life. The title isn't just a random title; it is a title with meaning and is used for a specific purpose, which is to showcase Rosa's heart, mind, and soul and this strategy makes the audience connect and feel the pain Rosa is feeling. Furthermore, the next element of the Basic Model of Cinematic Analysis and strategy that is successful at showing Rosa's subjectivity and humanizing her is the ending. In the ending, it, unfortunately, states that "Rosa received 95 years in prison, and that the next time her case can be revisited is 2035." (Mi Vida Dentro) Additionally, the ending focuses on close-ups of her family members. This strategy is done in order to show the audience that she is never going to see her family again and that her family must now build a life and move on without her. She received 95 years in prison, which means that she is spending the rest of her life in prison. By adding close ups of her family right after this is stated, it creates a sense of sorrow and shock. It is successful in humanizing Rosa because it shows that she will never see her family again. Additionally, even though she is labeled a criminal, showing her shows that her

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