Que viva Mexico and los Olvidados - Essay Example

Eisenstein: Que viva Mexico (1931- 1932) Que viva Mexico has provided a historical and dialectical understanding of Eisenstein’s representation of the Mexican revolution and also shows how Mexicans fought against oppression. It shows collective actions of the natives and how they made contributions towards ensuring the revolution took place. Eisenstein has shown that the revolution was achieved especially due to the radical changes that took place in gender hierarchy. This suggests resonance regarding gender in Mexico. The film indicates that gender transformations led to changes in the ‘woman question’ and this led to their take over in 1917 in Mexico. This film gives the viewers a better understanding of how Eisenstein’s work allowed for sophisticated revolutionary changes to take place therefore leading to women’s liberation and equality in society. There is a dialectical relationship between life and death as shown in Que viva Mexico. Death is seen to be at the epicenter of the culture of Mexico. The film depicts natives dancing wearing skull masks during carnivals. This shows a relationship between life, death and patriarchy. Male dancers can be seen in various scenes dancing with skull masks on and this strongly links the phallus with death. Women, on the other hand, have been shown to be in alliance with the current order but they oppose machismo and violence which is associated with patriarchy (Benshoff, 15). Prologue in Que viva Mexico can be seen when the film shows pre- historic Mexican images which were from before the Spanish conquest. Most of the images in prologue are of pyramids, ancient temples and anthropomorphic curved figures (Benshoff, 8). The episode features a close shot of a native woman placed on the right upper corner while pictures of pyramids are shown on the entire screen. The diagonal lines of the pyramid run parallel to those of the profile of the native woman. This feature tries to interpret Eisenstein’s message which suggests that gods of the temples are actually human. The most striking feature in prologue is a showcase of a male torso in a manner in which the female figure is showcased by the Hollywood film industry. Throughout Que viva Mexico, Eisenstein has fondly indulged in a human form especially that of the male torso. A burial scene has also been featured in prologue in which a frame with three groupings of three men and three women on either side divided by three bowls has been shown. The film shows a link between men and death in some shots that feature women with a symbol of stone idols that have been intercut with an all male funeral procession (Benshoff, 9). Mague episode in Que viva Mexico is the most narrative section of the film and shows scenes of rape, retribution as well as attempted flight (Benshoff, 12). It still emphasizes on the issues shown in the previous episodes since the Christian triptych reappears. Mague consists of a continuation of the theme about Spaniards colonization of the indigenous people of Mexico. It also shows the outbreak as well as growth of the revolutionary consciousness and also explores the roles that gender played in the revolution. It shows a clear exploitation that peons faced from their landowners and this was during the Porfirio Diaz regime (1876- 1909) On an overall basis, Que viva Mexico has focused on a male gaze as the main individuals who play great roles in the capitalist economy and have great class influence. The film shows the nature of the society and its relations and shows the efforts of individuals to replace the society with a more equitable and socially just ideological structure. In the film, Eisenstein has shown a great emphasis on aggressiveness of the natives, their virility as well as their arrogance. Some episodes have a focus on the masculine feature while others have focused on addressing the importance that women play in Mexican civilization. Bunuel los Olvidados: The forgotten ones (1950) The film has outlined a true picture regarding social evils that exist in major cities. It shows how most cities usually hide behide their wealth yet they are faced with social disadvantages. These cities inhabit street families and homes stricken with poverty where decent meals cannot be afforded. Parents are not capable of providing quality education, health care as well food to their children. These parents may also abandon and neglect their children who will then be forced to look for alternatives on how they can provide for their selves (Lim, 185). These children will be forced to be street children and when living alone, they will be forced to come up with strategies that will enable them to survive in their harsh environments. Most children will join gangs where they will steal, rob and kill people so that they can get money and other valuables. Street children find it impossible to escape from their social circumstances since they do not have the basic resources. As they live in the streets, they become more vulnerable to traumatization. Mexico’s social problems are forcing the young children to be part of an evil society. The children frequently deal with continuous cycles of despair ad poverty. According to Bunuel’s ‘the forgotten ones’, there is no opportunity where street children can escape their fate as long the poor social conditions continue to exist in the society (Lim, 186). Jaibo and Pedro are casts of the film and each represents different spectrums of the situation. Pedro is a poor child who is neglected by his mother because she does not like her son’s behavior. His mother does not provide his basic needs. Pedro therefore had to look for means through which he could provide for himself. He moved to the streets of Mexico where he became a gang member. Jaibo, on the other hand is an older youth who has been in juvenile. He escaped from juvenile and formed his own gang in the streets of Mexico. Jaibo and his fellow gang members rob assault and harm people in the streets. Jaibo escaped from juvenile to look for the boy who was responsible for telling on him so that he could revenge. Pedro however did not like street life and vowed to change. He did so by getting a descent job as a blacksmith’s apprentice and abandoned the street life as well as the gang. Jaibo however did not make any efforts in changing his situation as he continued to steal from people. Jaibo can be identified as the societal force that forces young victims like Pedro to join gangs. Despite the fact that Pedro wanted to change his life, Jaibo constantly pushed him back. For instance, when Pedro got the job as a blacksmith’s apprentice, Jaibo got him fired when he stole an expensive knife. Jaibo gives a clear representation of every corrupt and social evil factors of a society which forces young children to be part of it. The film has a highly realistic portrayal of the ruthless and implacable life that children who have been abandoned by the society and their parents face. Bunuel spent a lot of time in the streets of Mexico before filming the movie so that he could get a clear picture of the real life experiences in urban slums. The results that he obtained and used for filming represented an analysis of young children who have been trapped in poverty. Los Olvidados is not a cruel film as it has been rated by many individuals. It actually is a film that should demand love as it is more critical to the poor since it takes their side as a class and demonstrates sympathy on the neglected children. The movie also appears to suggest that the government and the society at large should develop appropriate programs that would alleviate poverty and aid poor families to escape the social circumstances they are facing. Los Olvidados also shows that street children are ignorant, that they do not have any idea that there are social institutions that protect children and that they should benefit from them when they become neglected instead of joining gang groups or live in the streets (Lim, 186). Los Olvidados can therefore be said to have succeeded in giving a real account of street children of Mexico City as the film was inspired by real cases as well as Bunuel’s impression of big cities. The film is believed to be strong enough to drive the society to make changes in favor of poor families and street children and this will have positive impacts in eliminating social evils. . Works cited Benshoff, M. H. (1939). Homoerotic Iconography and Anti- catholic Marxism: Proto- Feminist Discourse in Sergei M. Eisenstein’s Que Viva Mexico. Retrieved from http://cinema.usc.edu/assets/101/16156.pdf Lim. D. (2006). The Village Voice Film Guide: 50 Years of Movies from Classics to Cult Hits. John Wiley & Sons: New York. Read More