The New Latin American Cinema emerged mostly out of the countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico during a time period when there was a large amount of hot button issues, and radical revolutions in Latin America and all over the world. The 1960’s brought about a considerable volume of change and questioning within the film industry and as a result, it gave birth to playing with conventional American formulaic films. These changes allowed for Latin American filmmakers to represent their people in a much more realistic fashion, instead of compromising culture for the sake of ticket sales. These films were intended to provoke discussion within the people by representing real and raw imagery on the screen. New Latin American Cinema is the …show more content…
aesthetically imperfect representation of a national cinema through the formula-less and sometimes crude portrayal of underdeveloped people for the people. The first piece of the theme that is vital in Cinema Novo is that it is a nationalistic cinema or a cinema for the people. If a cinema is to be for the people, then it must foster and cultivate conversation about the issue that the filmmaker is attempting to highlight. Assuming that the film is attempting to push an agenda on the audience, then the sole purpose of the film is not to entertain. Formulaic film, which marked Hollywood film, was to entertain, and Latin American films that followed said formula were not fully representative of the culture as Rocha discusses. Rocha gives the example of Brazilian filmmakers creating a western, but using American conventions that are not true of Brazilian culture, thus furthering American archetypes and not addressing Brazilian culture in the slightest. Cinema Novo is a national cinema because it creates as Rocha says, “an original cinema concerned with the country’s problems.” This argument proves to be true when looking at Cinema Novo films such as “Vidas Secas”, and “La Hora de los Hornos.” The themes of these movies aid in the argument that Cinema Novo furthers nationalistic topics of underdevelopment in Latin America.
One famous Cinema Novo film that is important to analyze is “Vidas Secas.” The theme of this film is very much a comment on the harshness and poverty within the harsh northeastern terrain of Brazil. The larger narrative of this film that follows a family of four seems to display the cyclical and inescapable nature of poverty within this harsh terrain. The movie both begins and ends with the same irritating creak of the oxcart, and image of the poverty stricken family walking the rough terrain searching for the next place to lay their head. The cyclical nature shows the inescapability of poverty in this part of Brazil creating a very nationalistic cinema in Brazil as well a place in which the people are very familiar with the discussion because they live it. The second film in the Cinema Novo period that displays a nationalistic theme is “La Hora de los Hornos.” This is an Argentinean film released in 1968, and is separated into three separate parts. The first part of “Neo-colonialism and Violence” shows several juxtaposed images of the bourgeoisie against the backdrop of the poverty that was rampant in Argentina at the time. The images of poverty and underdevelopment were very harsh, and at times hard to watch in order to fuel the theme of illuminating the suffering that is often overlooked due to the commercialization of Argentina. …show more content…
This is a Cinema Novo film because it is not utilizing entertaining Hollywood formulas to get across its main theme. As well as its theme is to inform the nation in which it is made, of its condition and spark discussion. A second element that is a distinguishing factor in Cinema Novo is its imperfect nature of filming. If New Latin American Cinema is attempting to push nationalistic themes displaying the poverty within the country, then Rocha argues that these films will have an imperfect nature about them. Cinema Novo films are pushing against perfect cinema because perfect cinema is formulaic and therefore does not allow for as much representation of the national, as a result if there is a push for new cinema then that will lead to imperfection within the film making as so there are no compromises in displaying the nation. This is seen in the raw form of “Vidas Secas” with the harsh lighting and landscape of the region. Within Cinema Novo there is a lack of formula across all films during this period.
If these films are to attempt to truly represent the people, then there will be a lack of formula because each nation is different and therefore has its own set of issues. The formula of “Vidas Secas” and “La Hora de los Hornos” appear drastically different. In “Vidas Secas” there is a very slow and harsh tone to the movie, which adequately displays the Barrenness in the title and therefore the region. In contrast “La Hora de los Hornos” is extremely fast paced quickly displaying images of poverty and trailing from story to story to combine to create one message. Rocha describes this idea of a lack of formula in Cinema Novo with the idea of “culture year zero” in that every filmmaker of New Latin American Cinema must begin from square one in order to adequately represent their people and their
message. A distinguishable, and as Rocha argues, a decisive piece in cinema Novo is the distribution of these films. The distribution of these films must lie in the intention of them being seen by the underdeveloped peoples in the area in order to spark discussion on the current state that is in need to radical reform. Rocha claims that the public wants, “to be informed about, and be able to discuss, its own destiny.” Distribution of these imperfect films hinges on the idea that people want to be informed of what is really happening in their country. This distribution fully encompasses the idea that this cinema is for the specific culture in which it was made. The fact that the intention of distribution is quenching the desire that people want to “discuss its own destiny” shows that nationalism is the basis of the Cinema Novo movement. The interest of its citizens makes the distribution of these films possible, because of their radical forms they would not be seen unless there is interest in their distribution. Cinema Novo films break every formulaic convention proposed in American form in order to sufficiently exhibit the problems within underdeveloped Latin American countries. New Latin American Cinema is a nationalistic cinema due to the authentic portrayal of its native people in order to further a message of radical reform in the face of cyclical poverty. Through this reform the question must be asked, if Cinema Novo is a true nationalistic cinema, or a cinema for a specific country and its people, then was all film prior to this movement nationalistic in nature? And if Cinema Novo lacks formula, then can formula films display a national theme?
This book was written by Machado de Assis in 1908, the same year as the death of the author. Aires Memorial is considered an autobiographical work. It notes a relationship between the novel and the old age of the writer. Without presenting a single plot, the story is divided into several entries from a diary of sorts, featuring anecdotes and episodes that permeate throughout the chapters. The work has the theme amorous idylls and the futility of characters belonging to the Brazilian elite of the late nineteenth century. The author was the brilliant writer more exposed their subjective values, fleeing some of its most striking feature: the narrative exemption.
As showed in the film, Latino American often misrepresented and underrepresented both in front of and under the camera. American Hispanic often portrayed as lazy, unintelligent, greasy and criminal. Hispanic women often pictured comfortable sexuality as prostitution in film production; while Hispanic actors limit to criminal characters such as drug dealers, gangster, and provide the power for the white American. Audiences have less interaction with Latino in their real world might be easily framed by media images regarding the race and ethnicity. The lack of Hispanic history and culture understanding allows these media portrayals to change and form unfavorable behavior and attitude against Latino communities.
As the first major U.S. success for a Spanish language film, Como Agua Para Chocolate (Alfonso Arau, 1992) has had a major impact on Hispanic culture and the future of Hispanic cinema. This film has many implicit and explicit layers that challenge typical cultural ideals, not only in Hispanic culture, but in various cultures across the world. Based on his wife, Laura Esquivel’s novel, Arau used this film, known commonly as Like Water for Chocolate, to bring to the surface the liberation of females through the empowerment of food. Although food and cooking are often associated with the oppression and generalization of Hispanic women, Like Water for Chocolate captivates an empowering view of women using intimate and heightened cinematography of the food.
Valle’s most significant contribution to the Spanish theatre is his invention of the literary style of esperpento, which is best represented in one of his most famous plays, Luces de Bohemia. Valle created esperpento with the aim of representing the harsh realities of Spanish twentieth century society through the concave lens of grotesque deformation, so that he could present the lives of the Spaniards in the light of mockery and absurdity. During his writing of Luces de Bohemia, the Spanish society has been brought to a halt, along with the lack of political progress and social improvement, therefore this concerning political situation has influenced and steered Valle towards his literary evolution, the exaggerated grotesque, which he though was the only suitable way to represent the shocking reality and problems of Spain. In this way, he could alarm the people to terminate their complacent acceptance of this reality and he could also produce a distancing effect which renders the reader immune to the play’s purpose, thus making the artistic experience more tolerable. His experience in the killing fields was what made him t...
...tor has adapted massive uses in cinematography techniques to depict Sergio as a character, to offer a subject-objective view toward the revolution and the living in Cuba. Through the use of medium close up, over-shoulder shot and point of view shots, the audience can witness the scene and make inference that Sergio is an emotionally isolated and self-involved Cuban. On the other hand, the camera movement can reveal the background information about Sergio, when the point of view shot can recognize him as an internal hopeless Cuban in the Cuba post-revolutionary. Lastly, the scales of the camera can emphasis the distance between the camera and the subject. Thus, the long shot is used to portray Sergio in a lost and isolated space. All in all, the director is able to convey his political and narrative intention with the use of camera scale, frame, quality and movement.
Another theme found in both films is the idea of resisting the urge to only look out for yourself. In the last vignette of La Ciudad, a woman working a sweatshop needs money for her sick daughter, but has not been paid for weeks. At the end of the vignette, she stops working in protest and all her coworkers stop working as well in solidarity. By doing this, her coworkers are risking their jobs and income, which is a huge deal because they are already living in poverty. However, they take this risk and resist the pressure to look out for only themselves because they understand the woman’s
In Hollywood today, most films can be categorized according to the genre system. There are action films, horror flicks, Westerns, comedies and the likes. On a broader scope, films are often separated into two categories: Hollywood films, and independent or foreign ‘art house’ films. Yet, this outlook, albeit superficial, was how many viewed films. Celebrity-packed blockbusters filled with action and drama, with the use of seamless top-of-the-line digital editing and special effects were considered ‘Hollywood films’. Films where unconventional themes like existentialism or paranoia, often with excessive violence or sex or a combination of both, with obvious attempts to displace its audiences from the film were often attributed with the generic label of ‘foreign’ or ‘art house’ cinema.
The Latin American film genre is one of the most known genre worldwide and one of the most popular and successful of all of the genres in this business around the world. Yearly a number of productions from Latin America become favored and demanded successes, often-earning high levels of recognition and recommendation. In foreign film categories and in events and functions such as the Oscars, which are very highly respected around the world, Latin American films are awarded and praised and unquestionably make audiences sit on seat’s edge to bear mind films being produced in countries here. Latin American films are most likely to be as successful as they are because of the mixture of all of the elements, which their cinema provides, including
However, one can also just say that telenovelas are a reflection of what goes on in Latin America. The current argument is that although it is true that telenovelas affect young minds, they cannot be held entirely responsible. Telenovelas are just a reflection of issues that have been pestering Latin America for years. Telenovelas do, however, help perpetuate the notion of male superiority and that women are objects with expiration dates. There was a previous argument that only scratched the surface of the matter and held telenovelas responsible for the mentality of many Latinos. The previous argument stated that telenovelas are responsible for the way women are treated in society. Telenovelas are so interwoven in Latino culture that they serve as guidelines of what is expected from men and women. Gender roles and stereotypes in Latin America have existed for many years and with the help of telenovelas those ideas are being
To help me understand and analyze a different culture, I watched the film Selena. The film tells the life story of the famous singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez. Not only does it just tell personal stories from her life, it also gives insight to the Mexican-American culture. Her whole life she lived in the United States, specifically in Texas, but was Hispanic and because of that both her and her family faced more struggles than white singers on the climb to her success. Even though the film is a story about a specific person, it brought understanding into the culture in which she lived. Keeping in mind that these ideas that I drew about the Mexican-American culture is very broad and do not apply to every single person in the culture, there were very obvious differences in their culture and the one that I belong. Mexican-American culture identifies with their family rather than individualized or spiritual identities and the culture has gone through significant changes because of discrimination and the changing demographics of the United States.
Throughout his novel, Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes effectively uses the transformation of reality to critique and reflect societal and literary norms. In three distinct scenes, Don Quixote or his partner, Sancho, transform reality. Often they are met with other’s discontent. It is through the innkeeper scene, the windmill scene, the Benedictine friar scene, and Quixote’s deathbed scene that Cervantes contemplates revolutionary philosophies and literary techniques. The theme of reality transformation does not even stop there. Sometimes the transformations of reality scenes act as mimetic devices. Ultimately, Miguel Cervantes’ use of transformative scenes acts as a creative backdrop for deeper observations and critiques on seventeenth-century Spanish society.
In my essay I will discuss the differences between national cinema and Hollywood cinema by using Rio de Janeiro¡¯s famous film City of God. There will be three parts in my following main body, the first part is a simple review of the film City of God, I will try to use the review to show the film structure and some different new points from this, show the how did the ¡®Shocking, frightening, thrilling and funny¡¯ (Nev Pierce) work in the film. The second part is my discussion parts; I will refer some typical Hollywood big name films such as Gangs in New York, Shawshank¡¯s Redemption, and Good Fellas to discuss the main differences between City of God and other national films. The third part is my summary, I will use my knowledge to analyse why there have big different between both kind of films and their advantages.
...against them and it seems that the Hispanics are taking over white Anglo-American society according to racists. Two of the movies presented in class which had Latin American theme were «Spanglish» and “A better life”. Though “Spanglish” was not about racism instead it was about letting go of fear, cultural differences and language, next to “A better life” which had couple scenes of prejudices and stereotypes. For example when the police officer was sure the young boy had tattoos that indicated him being a part of a street gang, and wanted him to take off his shirt for evidence.
Berg, Charles Ramírez. "A Crash Course on Hollywood's Latino Imagery." Latino images in film stereotypes, subversion, resistance. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2002. 66-86. Print.
During the course of this essay it is my intention to discuss the differences between Classical Hollywood and post-Classical Hollywood. Although these terms refer to theoretical movements of which they are not definitive it is my goal to show that they are applicable in a broad way to a cinema tradition that dominated Hollywood production between 1916 and 1960 and which also pervaded Western Mainstream Cinema (Classical Hollywood or Classic Narrative Cinema) and to the movement and changes that came about following this time period (Post-Classical or New Hollywood). I intend to do this by first analysing and defining aspects of Classical Hollywood and having done that, examining post classical at which time the relationship between them will become evident. It is my intention to reference films from both movements and also published texts relative to the subject matter. In order to illustrate the structures involved I will be writing about the subjects of genre and genre transformation, the representation of gender, postmodernism and the relationship between style, form and content.