Expression of Political Thoughts in Latin American Cinema 1980s - Article Example

Expression of Political Thoughts in Latin American Cinema 1980s Cinema is an influential and powerful cultural institution that depicts the prevailing trends and values of the society. The films are regarded as replicators of social value and cultural artefacts that not only provide entertainment to the people but also act as powerful tool of propaganda, education and awareness creation (Wilson, p127). The review of cinematic evolution within different societies tells that considerable portion of movies produced during some specific time periods uses to reflect the political ideas, thoughts and ongoing trends of revolution and socio-political development (Burton, p33). Likewise, the Latin American and US cinema also experienced strong influence of political and historical evolution especially during the 1980s and many of the movies produced during this time indicate the tremendous artistic and commercial potential obsessed by the filmmakers of that era (White and Esmunte, p18). There are several movies produced by the Latin American filmmakers in 1980s and later decade that tell the stories of war, revolution and social change being witnessed by the Latin American society during that time (Biskind, p160). The following essay aims to discuss some of the popular Latin American movies that presented the political progression of the society from different perspective. In this regard, the essay analyzes some important movies based on political thoughts of that era to illustrate the importance of depicting political thoughts through cinema. The essay discusses some films like “Romero” (1989), “The official story” (1985), “Missing (1982)” and “Men with guns (1997)” that emphasize over different issues and aspects related with war and revolution evolved in the Latin American society during 1980s. Taking these films as examples, the essay basically strives to explain how a small film story could address larger issue of story. The essay discusses the motives of the filmmakers behind the production of these films and highlights the significance of producing such movies that mimic the prevailing political thoughts and revolutionary estimation of the society. Latin American Cinema during 1980s The Latin American cinema collectively represents the movies produced by the filmmakers of Mexico, Brazil, Cuba and Argentine. The cinema witnessed tremendous growth and maturity after the introduction of sound within the field of filmmaking (Biskind, p160). There are some very important films produced during 1980s that address the human side of political instability and dictatorship. The Latin American and US filmmakers developed new brand of genre cinema in 1980s that delicately deal with wide range of issues associated with war, dictatorship, political repression, torture and misplacement of individuals due to war and political turmoil (Wilson, p127). The filmmakers of that era proficiently employed their skills and creative capabilities to reveal huge issues in front of the masses using examples of different individuals and their lives (Wilson, p127). For instance, the official story (1985) tells about the miseries of people that were taken away from their homes during the Dirty War took place in Argentine. Romero (1989), on the other hands tells how the authorities use to brutally deal with the people who publicly talk against their unfair acts. In the same way, Missing (1982) tells the story of American journalist disappeared during the Chilean cope of 1973 in order to refer the prodigious missing of people during the war. These films are based on different situations and stories however; the common theme among these movies is the portrayal of true incidents took place during the war and political turmoil in Latin America during the 1980s. “The official story” was directed by Luis Puenzo in 1985 that basically tells the tale of a woman’s odyssey from complacence to political awareness. It was produced after the demise of regime of the last dictator of Argentine General Galteiri in 1983. The movie is based upon real events occurred in Argentina during late 1970s and 1980s, collectively referred as Dirty war. The movie describes the real political incidents took place in 1976 when the Jorge Rafael Videla reactionary military known as “junta” came in to power in Argentine. The Junta rule suspended the parliament, unions and political parties. The dictator rule initiated the Dirty War during which thousands of people were exiled from their homes. The movie highlights the issue of the disappeared people and tells about the repression and torture being experienced by the people of Argentina at that time. In the movie, Norma Aleandro played the role of high school teacher Alicia that lives with her husband Roberto who was a wealthy businessman and lawyer and uses to remain engage with the government. The couple adopted a little girl named Gaby from the political prisons and after some years Alicia became inquisitive to know about the parents of her adopted daughter. She somehow managed to reach the grandmother of Gaby, Sara that uncovers the identity of Gaby’s dead mother. In her quest to reveal the identity of parents of Gaby, Alicia realizes the seriousness of the issue of the people missed during the war. She also came to know that her husband was also involved in several nasty repression and incentive dealings. The movie very well explains the situation prevailing in Argentine from 1976 to 1983 and highlights the issue of people that were disappeared from their homes and were never came back. The story specifically uncovers the stories of women that were taken away from their homes and raped by the government officials. The children of such women were usually given away to the couples looking to adopt the children. The girl adopted by Alicia also appears to be the daughter of one such woman that was disappeared by the hands of government and raped by the government officials. The review of the movie indicates that it is not the story of a single woman or family but taking Alicia and her family as an example, the director basically uncovers the seriousness of the issue of the people including women that were forcefully exiles from their homes and then tortured by the government officials. The movie addresses a very wide and sensitive issue that painfully touched the hearts of people and created great level of awareness among the people regarding the sensitivity of the dilemma of people disappeared during the Dirty War. It implies that Puenzo very well uses the movie as platform to replicate the political disruption prevailing in Argentine during the dictator rule and unfolds the intense problems being faced by the individuals and families at that time. “Romero” (1989) is another important film produced during the 1980s that is based upon the political situation of the American society. It is often believed that the film very well presented the 20th century’s compressed history of central and South America. The film exposes the brutality and repression experienced by the people during the civil wars. Guatemala and El Salvador saw exceptionally horrible levels of death and destruction. El Salvador, which this film depicts, was in the throes of yet another wave of civil disorder, pitting the large and very poor underclass against the small numbers of privileged upper class with predictable results. The movie is based upon the true story of a catholic priest Oscar Romero living in El Salvador. He experienced the political instability raised during the 1980s when the terror campaign was launched by the government in order to suppress the guerrilla war. During this campaign, the government representatives also attacked the priests and shut down the churches. Romero was also harassed by the government but he continued to speak out against the terror war, death squads and other unfair actions of the government against the inhabitants of El Salvador and ultimately he was also assassinated in 1980. The tragic story of Romero killing basically represents the deaths of over 50,000 people during the civil war in El Salvador. The movie tells that the US Army regarded all the rebellion groups as communist and thus supported the right wing to crush these groups forcefully. This unfair attitude of the US army resulted in the massive killing of the people of El Salvador. Like the movie, “the official story”, “Romero” also addressed a wide and sensitive issue and does not merely tells the story of a person or community but indicate the massive and horrible torture and unjustified behaviour of the authorities that suppressed the masses and resulted in their colossal killing. The portrayal of the character of Romero in the movie very well illustrate how the authorities use to deal with the people that talk against their unfair acts. It is revealed that Romero is not simply the story of an individual killed by the government but it affirms that during the civil war, people were widely killed by the authorities especially those who dare to raise voice against their unlawful actions. The film contains a deep message conveyed through the story of an individual and very well works to inform people about the oppressive attitude of the authorities against the people who attempted to criticize their unfair acts and policies. This film also covers a wide issue that is proficiently and concisely dealt by describing the true story of a victim of political injustice. Missing (1982) is another good example of Latin American films that describe the situation emerging from political unrest in a country of South America. The film “Missing” was produced in 1982 that is based upon the book “the execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice” written by Thomas Hauser in 1978 (Biskind, p160). The movie was directed by Costa Gavras and tells the true story of an American journalist Charles Horman. The movie describes the situations emerged during the Chilean coup of 1973 resulted in the deposition of President Salvador Allende. The movie doesn’t actually mention the name of the Chile city, however, the scenes are filmed in Chilean cities including Vina Delmar and Santiago and the situation portrayed in the movie also clearly indicate that it refers to the Chilean political turmoil. The movie was banned in Chile during the rule of Pinochet. The film tells the story that the American journalist Charles Horman was missed during the Chilean cope and his father and wife meticulously strive to find out him but remain unsuccessful. Horman was a writer who used to raise voice against the biased policies of US government and its accomplices. In the beginning, the father of Horman was not much sure about the fact that his son has been disappeared due to the US backed Chilean authorities but as he went on searching inside for his son, he became aware about certain painful facts and in the end he realized that his son has been assassinated by the US army. Without directly mentioning the name of country and military, the film derisively attacks the policies of US government for backing up the Chilean cope in 1973. There is another importance movie that has been written to describe the political instability of Latin America during the 1980s. “Men with guns” (1997) is the tale of a medical professor written and directed by John Sayles. After his retirement and death of his wife, he decided to visit his former students. The doctor had provided training to seven young physicians that started their practice with Indians in different rural areas of an unnamed South America country. He has the information that his students used to work in a deprived village and he decided to look at them in order to see from his own eyes that his students are doing well in their practical lives. As he took up the journey, he became aware of certain important facts about the political situation and he also came to know about the killing of one of his student. The movie tells that people living at far places are not truly aware of the situation and remain ignorant of the political battlefield however when they travel through the places where insurgency prevails, they came to know about the actual political history of their nation. The journey took by the doctor in the movie make him realize that the world of guerrillas, insurgents and soldiers is quite different from the world that he had imagined in his mind. The doctor went to the jungle and become aware that his students have been threatened by the soldiers whom he refers to “men with guns” in the movie. The film is the story of group of seven doctors that were sent for practice in some depurative villages and were finally murdered by the men with guns, but in larger context the movie make people aware that the armed militants use to execute intimidate people that held opponent beliefs. This movie has also been taken by the director as an opportunity to reflect the realities and horrible side of political turbulence. By taking example of group of seven doctors, the director actually refers to all the people who were executed by the militants in the areas where political insurgency reached its peak. This movie could also be sought as a perfect example of use of cinematic capabilities for the transmission of political through and awareness. There are several other popular movies produced during 1980s that focus upon the political unrest of the Latin American society and in most of these movies, the main intention of the producers and directors of the movies is to highlight some broad issues using the examples of individuals. The above analysis of some of the movies produced during the 1980s tells that these films are basically produced by the people who got some strong inspiration from individuals that experience the horrible aftermaths of political unrest. It has been widely realized by the Latin American directors during the 1980s that the masses are not truly aware of the real situation and incidents taking place during the civil war or other political instability state and thus, they regard it their responsibility to make reality visible to the people. The intention of the directors to uncover the real situation of war time led them towards the production of such movies in which they deal the broad issues taking some specific but influential examples of the individuals, group or families. For instance, “the official story” tells the tale of a woman and her family but in boarder perspective it deals with the issue of people being exiled and tortured during the Dirty War in Argentina. The movie make people aware about the situation of the women that were filched and raped by the government officials and most of the children of such women remain uninformed about their identity and brought up by people who adopt them. Similarly, taking a different stance the director of the movie “missing” also make people aware about the miseries of the people disappeared and executed by the authorities during the war. In “men with guns” and “Romero” the directors strive to create awareness among people regarding the brutal attitude of the authorities against the people having opponent thoughts. The stories, direction and acting performances of these movies made them masterpieces of their era and allow the directors to make their intentions of creating political awareness among the masses through their movies. It is important to create such movies because the movies reveal certain hidden facts in front of the people in quite interesting and convincing manner. The movies also act as the historical records of their era because they impressively describe certain political historical facts along with their interpretation and follow up. In addition, these movies inform people much more then what they could know from the history books and other records. The movies describing certain specific historical event, political instability state or aftermaths of any incident like war allow people of the coming generation to remain aware about the part of their insisters. The stories always guide the people in their future role as they clearly explain what happen to different people during war and insurgency. The movies also encourage people to prevent situations like war and turmoil because the stories of these movies make people feel the pain of the victims of these incidents and ultimately convince people not to get engage in such activities that could generate same pain and miseries again in some people. Thus, the entire discussion could be sum up with the conclusion that the movies like “the official story”; “missing”, “Romero” and “men with guns” are tremendous and sensitive efforts of the directors to uncover the hidden facts and create awareness among the masses regarding the consequences of war and political instability. Work Cited Journals Biskind, Peter, "In Latin America They Shoot Filmmakers," Sight and Sound Vol. 45, No. 3, summer 1986, pp. 160-164 Burton, Julianne, "The Old and the New: Latin American Cinema at the Pesaro Festival," Jump Cut No. 9, October/December 1979, pp. 33-35 White, Ermunte Wenzel, "Latin American Cinema, Its Contribution to Revolutionary Film Language," 1988 Film Studies Annual (Purdue) pp. 18-20 Wilson, David, "Aspects of Latin American Political Cinema," Sight and Sound Vol. 41, No. 3, summer 1992, pp. 127-131 Movies: Men with guns, Dir John Sayles, 1997 Romero, Dir John Duigan, 1989 Missing, Dir Costa Gavras, 1982 The official story, Dir Luis Puenzo, 1985 Read More