Latin American Film Scenario - Essay Example

Latin American film scenario: A comparative study The American continent is the birth place of cinematography and it claims the rich tradition of origin and development of the same. The film scenario of the US deeply influences the whole world and its influence is rapidly increasing day by day. At the same time, the Latin American film industry is trying hard to preserve its rich and diverse identity, which is different from the U S film industry. The Argentinean film The Official Story by Luis Adalberto Puezo, deals with the influence of despotic military rule over civilians. The Mexican film Like Water for Chocolate by Alfonso Arau, deals with the influence of social evils over individual freedom. Besides, the film Maria Full of Grace by Joshua Marston, an American film director deals with the cruelties of Columbian mafia. Thesis statement: Evaluation of the films- The Official Story, Like Water for Chocolate and Maria Full of Grace to unearth the socio-political influence on individual freedom. Purpose When one consider the purpose of a film, the mindset of the director towards his/her society gains due importance. In the film The Official Story by Luis Puenzo, the aim/purpose of the director is to unveil the crimes committed by despotic military regime in Argentina. Alberto Elana and Maria Diaz Lopez quote Jorge Abel Martin to illustrate the film’s importance as it portrays human life like a huge mirror which is capable to reflect thousands of faces in it (Elana and Lopez 182). The director’s aim is to force the viewers to identify their own emotions with that of the female characters in the film. The return of democratic system in 1983 opened a new phase of freedom to writers and directors in Argentina. The directors began to use cinema as a medium to express their views on the issues when Argentina was under military rule. So, the purpose of this film is to create awareness among mass about the recent history of Argentina. But on the other side, the purpose/ aim of the director of the film Like Water for Chocolate is to attract the attention of the viewers towards the inevitable change in the Mexican society and its attitude towards womenfolk. For instance, the female character Tita de la Garza is forced to stay unmarried due to the tradition of de la Garza family which does not allow the youngest daughter to lead a married life. Instead, Tita is forced to stay at her home and to take care of her family. This inhuman attitude supported by the tradition crush her love affair with Pedro. So, one can easily identify that the purpose of the film Like Water for Chocolate is to make the Mexican society to be aware of the inhuman attitude of traditional beliefs. Besides, the purpose of these films is to create awareness in the society against despotic military rule and inhuman beliefs based on tradition. Importance Charles Ramirez Berg opines that the films by Mexican directors are symbolic of the identity crisis that they feel in the society (Berg 36). As the directors consider their films as a tool/medium to express their views on their societies, the film as a medium for social change is important. For instance, the film The Official Story is a reminder of the weaknesses of military rule and it is important to make the mass aware of the importance of democratic thought. This film can be considered as an attempt to reserve the memories on the events for the future generations and to point out the importance of democracy and individual freedom for the civilians. The plot is strictly limited to the family matters of Roberto, Alicia and their adopted daughter namely Gaby. But when one tries to explore the connection between plot selected and the political history of Argentina, one can see that the actions in the film takes place in 1983, when Argentine became free from military rule. On the other side, the director of the film Like water for chocolate portrays the influence of traditional belief over personal life. As the film is the independent adaptation of a novel namely ‘like water for chocolate by Laura Esquivel, the director tries to examine the spiritual restlessness and longing for unfulfilled love. For instance, Tita was not ready to marry the rich American doctor and to lead a peaceful life. Instead, she decides to be single and continues to love Pedro. She very well knew that she can never marry Pedro, but she was not ready to give up her passionate love. This Mexican American traditional beliefs and the never ending longing for love embarrassed the viewers in the United States. So both the films undertake the endeavor of social/political criticism. Usage of women’s perspective The directors made use of women’s perspective to express their emotions because almost all social evils deeply influence women, children and aged people. Besides, the themes selected for these films revolve around families and the directors consider that women’s perspective will help the viewers to perceive the film with more ease. In the film The Official Story, the female characters become the focal point of deviations in the plot. They are ready to withstand critical circumstances in their personal lives. But male characters like Alberto feels frustration in personal life and are not ready to change according to situations. The women’s perspective made use by the director represents the significance of women’s movement in Argentina which courageously resisted the military rule. The female characters like Alicia, Ala and Gaby represent the lost identity of civil society in Argentina. They very well knew that their search to reveal the truth will crush their personal life, but they were not ready to give up their noble attempt. In the opening of the film, Alicia is an ordinary teacher, well dressed and serious. Gradually her seriousness and rigid nature undergoes transformation and she became flexible. For instance, change in her dressing reveals that she was ready to shed her seriousness and to open her eyes towards the real world. On the other hand, Alfonso Anan in the film Like water for chocolate made use of women’s perspective to tell the story because the story develops through the female character Tita. Donald Fithian Stevens makes clear that the name of the film’ Like Water for Chocolate’ is a Mexican slang which means unfulfilled sexual desire in women(Stevens 158). As earlier pointed out, the rigid traditions in the society deeply influence the women folk. For instance, the tradition in the Gaza family deeply influences Tita and her love affair with Pedro. Besides, the film celebrates the female domain in every family i.e., kitchen. For instance, Tita began to prepare delicious food to keep her away from the thoughts about Pedro. Her attempt can be considered as an escape mechanism. In Mexican society, love is a revolutionary act. But Tita was not ready to give up her love and it eventually leads Tita and Pedro towards their doom. So the usage of women’s perspective to tell the story made use by both the directors was really helpful for the free flow of narration. Compare/contrast- The Official Story and Maria Full of Grace The film Official Story by Luis Puenzo is strictly based on political events in Argentina in 1970s namely ‘Dirty War’. But the plot of the film Maria full of grace by Joshua Marston is based upon the rural life of Columbia. The film deals with the plight of a Columbian girl namely Maria Alvarez, her connection with Columbian drug mafia. The Columbian drug mafia misuse pregnant women to carry drugs in the form of capsules to escape from US Customs. In this film, Maria Alvarez, impregnated by her boyfriend is entrapped by Columbian drug mafia and is forced to be a carrier of Drugs to New York City. The theme of the film Official Story revolves around three characters: a high school teacher namely Alicia, her husband namely Roberto and a little girl namely Gaby, an adopted child. Alicia’s investigation to unearth the family history of her adopted child Gaby is able to reveal the secret about her parents. But it is not sure that the old lady (Sara) whom Alicia met was Gaby’s real grandmother. Earlier, Alicia was an ignorant high school teacher with a little knowledge about the politics of Argentina. Besides, her research makes her to understand the cruelty of the government against civilians. The story of Gaby forced Alicia to investigate more and shocking information about her own husband’s role in cruelty against the civilians in Argentina. At last, Alicia took the decision to fight against her husband and to find out the real parents of Gaby. The film ends with the fight between Alicia and her husband and her departure to find out the real parents of Gaby. The importance given to the political scenario of Argentina and its relation with personal lives of the common citizens like Alicia provides much importance to the film. The attempt of Maria Alvarez in the film Maria full of grace is to be independent and to preserve her personal life from external influences. But her attempt to decide her own destiny becomes futile. For instance, her search for a new job forced her to be a carrier of heroine pellets to New York City. In this situation, her pregnancy helped her to escape from further investigation by the US Customs Officials. But the cruelty of the heroine mafia by cutting the stomach of her dead fellow drug carrier forced her to quit the new job. So, one can see that both these films reveal the importance of individual freedom to live in the society. But the socio-political and economic circumstance of Columbian and Argentinean societies allow less scope for individual freedom. Besides, both the films represent the social condition of Columbia and Argentina. There is less scope for the fulfillment of decisions taken by the protagonists of both the films because the social condition allows less scope for unearthing the truth. For instance, no one can predict whether Maria Alvarez will be able to escape from the trap of the Columbian drug mafia. Besides, the political condition of Argentina in 1970s and 1980 prove that there is less chance for Alicia to find out the secret behind the death/disappearance of her adopted child’s parents. Directors’ approach The directors can make use of direct or indirect method/approach to tell the story. Besides, they can narrate the story with the help of important characters. In the film The Official Story, the director approaches the story in an indirect way. For instance, the director does not try to portray the incidents at the time of military regime in Argentina. Instead, the director makes use of his characters as his mouth piece to narrate the story. From the perspective of the director, the film The Official Story is an investigation to reveal the truth behind the cruelty imposed upon the Argentinean society by the military regime. From another angle, the theme of the film is limited to the family of Alicia and her husband Roberto. But their relation with the society as a high school teacher (Alicia) and as a business man (Roberto) is helpful to connect the theme with Argentinean society. The director consciously inculcate Alicia’s attempt to investigate the truth behind Gabi’s real identity and it leads to further complexities to the film. At the same time, the director’s aim/approach in the film Like water for chocolate was to create an awareness among the mass about the unwanted traditional beliefs that exist in the Mexican society and its influence on individual freedom. Besides, director points out the tragic life of Pedro by marrying Rosaura, Tita’s elder sister. In addition, Tita’s other sister, Gertrudis does not consider the traditional way of living as important. Instead, she decided to elope with a revolutionary soldier. Gradually, Tita develops an affair with Dr.Brown, another Native American. But it was a temporary affair and Tita was not ready to give up her love towards Pedro and to marry Dr.Brown. One can easily identify that the directors’ approach in both the films provide more importance to the female characters than male characters. Importance of visual clues The visual clues in these films are not helpful to predict the future of important characters. But, one can see that the performance of artists donate much to the flow of the film. Besides, the director shows keen interest and emphasis to close-up shots. The film The Official Story cannot be considered as a conventional type of political film but it contains politics. The film is not focused directly on the victims but reveals their hardships through narrations by other characters. Besides, the director does not leave any proposal for the future of the characters. For instance, the viewers cannot predict the future of Gabi and Alicia. The film ends with Alicia’s attempt to leave her house. But still there is uncertainty on her future. From another angle of view, the film represents the identity crisis felt by adopted children. On the other side, the director of the film Like water for chocolate provide enough visual clues to portray the development of characters and their attempt to withstand their fate. The story of Tita and her love affair with Pedro is narrated by another person with the same name, Tita. In the film, after the death of Pedro by cardiac arrest and Tita’s decision to join him, her sister Esperanza decides to name her daughter as Tita, which is symbolic of Tita’s affection to her family, her faithful love with Pedro and her skill in cookery. The innovative way of narration made use by the director helps the viewers to perceive the film with more ease. Besides, the survival of Tita’s cook book is symbolic of her unsuccessful love. Besides, the sudden change in space and time (20 years) after Tita’s refusal of marriage with Dr. Brown leads the viewers to understand the real passion of Tita towards Pedro. After 20 years, Pedro points out that he decided to marry Tita. But he very well knew that Mexican tradition does not allow him to do so. So, one can see that the visual clues in the film The Official Story and Like Water for Chocolate leads the viewers to have a deeper understanding on the change in characters. Directors’ view point As these films aim to influence the mass by removing the masks over the Mexican and Argentinean societies, it is important to discuss the directors’ view points. For instance, in the film The Official Story, Alicia’s attempt to investigate the mystery behind her adopted daughter and her parents is capable to reveal the cruelty of military rule in Argentina over the civil society. Gradually, Alicia came to realize that her husband’s business and job is only a mask to cover his real identity. But Alicia was not ready to give up her investigation and decides to leave her family in search of truth behind Gabi’s identity. The positive attitude shown by Alicia to sacrifice her personal happiness and family life for the well being of others is really touching and with a greater significance. The director’ view point is the film Like Water for Chocolate is strictly focused on change in Mexican society. The film is based on the novel ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ by Laura Esquivel, but different from the novel. The director’ view on Mexican society and its rigid customs which badly affect individual freedom is portrayed through the characters like Tita and her sister Gertrudis. The directors made use of their films as a mouthpiece to proclaim their views on the evils in Argentinean and Mexican societies and the grand approval from the viewers prove that directors are victorious in their role as social/political critics. Importance of politics In the film The Official Story, national politics of Argentina which was under military rule for years comes to the limelight. For instance, some characters in this film deeply support neo-liberal ideas. Roberto’s attraction towards neo-liberal ideas and his connection with American finance companies prove that he was totally distressed of the democratic government in Argentina. Alicia’s growth from a high school teacher to a person who is ready raise her voices against injustices in the society create much tension in her family matters. The director introduces a new character to add more complexity to the situations in the film. For instance, Alicia’s friend Ala returns from her exile life for long seven years. When Alicia asks about the reason behind Ana’s exile life more information on the disappearances, kidnapping and assassinations of the civilians at the time of military regime in Argentina is revealed. Reunion with Ala transformed Alicia to a new person who is ready to give up a family for the well being of her society. At the same time, politics is less important in the film Like Water for Chocolate. As the aim of the director was social criticism, the scope of politics is limited. But one can easily identify some political images in the film. For instance, the film represents the influence of Spanish invasion and colonization of Mexican society. Besides, the year 1910, in which the Garza family conducts a reunion is symbolic of Mexican revolution which aimed to dethrone Porfirio Diaz and his despotic rule and to spread liberal thought in Mexican society. In short, the director of the film The Official Story shows keen interest to inculcate politics in his film. But politics and related issues are less important in the film Like Water for Chocolate because the director’s aim was social criticism, not political criticism. Portrayal of political issues Jorge Finkielman makes clear that the history of motion pictures is closely connected to the film history of Argentina (Finkielman 5). The film The Official Story is closely attached to the political history of Argentina. For instance, in 1976, the military forces overthrew democratic government in Argentina and the people were forced to undergo strict rules and regulations. From 1976 onwards, military rule began to sponsor terrorism over the civil society and daily events include abductions, murders and disappearances. The national committee of missing people formed by the democratic government in 1983 was able to identify the victims of state owned terrorism against the civilians who protested against the military rule. This innovative attempt to unveil the influence of military over the civil society of Argentina motivated the film directors to inculcate the historical events of 1970s in their films. So, one can see that the theme selected by Luis Puenzo is deeply connected with political cum military history of Argentina. The film is deeply influenced by the political history of Argentina which was full of violence and violation of human rights. On the other hand, the director of the film Like water for chocolate makes use of a period, which was historically and politically important to Mexicans. For instance, the time interval between 1880 and 1914 shows the large scale immigration from Europe to American continent. Besides, the influence of Spanish colonization of Mexico, which deeply influenced the Mexican Americans and their usual way of life, is interwoven with the theme selected by the director. In addition, marital relationship between the conquerors and the Mexican American community created an atmosphere of identity crisis. From another angle, the reunion in the Garza family in 1910 is symbolic of the political issues in Mexican society. For instance, in 1910, Mexican revolution, which deeply influenced Mexico, was announced. So both the films represent the evolution of Latin American political history. Summing up, despotism and rigid traditions and customs hinder the growth of individuals in the society. The analysis reveals that the directors of the films The Official Story and Like water for chocolate made use the same as their mouth piece to proclaim their disagreement on political despotism and evils in the society. As the purpose of both these films is to create awareness against despotism and inhuman beliefs based on tradition, the usage of women’s perspective of story-telling is effective. Besides, the visual clues in both the films lead the viewers to have a deeper understanding on the importance of individual freedom to choose one’s own destiny. The importance given to the female characters provide shocking effect to the viewers. So the films The Official Story and Like water for chocolate represent the evolution of social and political history of Latin American countries, especially Argentina and Mexico. References Berg, Charles Ramirez. Cinema of solitude: a critical study of Mexican film, 1967-1983. USA: University of Texas Press, 1992. Elena, Alberto and Marina Diaz Lopez. The cinema of Latin America. London: Wallflower Press, 2003. Finkielman, Jorge. The film industry in Argentina: an illustrated cultural history. USA: McFarland, 2004. Stevens, Donald Fithian. Based on a true story: Latin American history at the movies. USA: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998. Read More