SPN 325: Hispanic Cinema.
In this class, we gained knowledge of the social issues present in Spain, Latin America, and Brazil, and how cinematographers expressed the often harsh realities that normal people faced during times of tumultuous change in their own countries (MLO 3.2). Spanish directors including Luis Bunuel and Pedro Almodovar presented a post-Franco Spain in their work, where new freedom (particularly drug related) was being abused by the recently liberated populace. My favorite film among the Spanish films was probably "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", which progressed like a romantic comedy, where everything that could go wrong, was going wrong.
Perhaps other countries' films were more direct in their approach and representation of their material, but they all focused on change in their countries. Brazilian films such as Terra em Transe demonstrated Glaubert Rocha's directors' frustrations with the politics and leaders of the country, while City of God used untrained actors to portray the gang-ridden slums of Rio de Janeiro. Argentinian films discussed "The Dirty War", a US-backed coup of their government that led to many families being separated. The Man Facing Southeast criticizes man's lack of compassion for his fellow man, hinting at the horrors of the Dirty War, though other films such as The Official Story attempt to tackle the issues head-on. The Official Story followed a woman who worked as a teacher, but who was woefully oblivious about the war- in part because of her marriage to a government official. They had adopted a child, Gina, whose origins were unknown, but the teacher feared that she was one of the "Lost Children", or a child of someone who had been imprisoned during the war. To further complicate matters, an older woman who claimed to be Gina's grandmother began hassling the teacher and her family, wanting custody of who she believed to be her grandchild.
Mexican and Cuban films were also explored in the class, and as groups, we synthesized and presented further information on the culture and important films of the various countries we studied. With three other students, I presented on the history of Mexican cinema, which included numerous military coups of the government, and even more revolutionaries, like Emilio Zapata and Pancho Villa. (MLO 3.2)
In this class, we gained knowledge of the social issues present in Spain, Latin America, and Brazil, and how cinematographers expressed the often harsh realities that normal people faced during times of tumultuous change in their own countries (MLO 3.2). Spanish directors including Luis Bunuel and Pedro Almodovar presented a post-Franco Spain in their work, where new freedom (particularly drug related) was being abused by the recently liberated populace. My favorite film among the Spanish films was probably "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", which progressed like a romantic comedy, where everything that could go wrong, was going wrong.
Perhaps other countries' films were more direct in their approach and representation of their material, but they all focused on change in their countries. Brazilian films such as Terra em Transe demonstrated Glaubert Rocha's directors' frustrations with the politics and leaders of the country, while City of God used untrained actors to portray the gang-ridden slums of Rio de Janeiro. Argentinian films discussed "The Dirty War", a US-backed coup of their government that led to many families being separated. The Man Facing Southeast criticizes man's lack of compassion for his fellow man, hinting at the horrors of the Dirty War, though other films such as The Official Story attempt to tackle the issues head-on. The Official Story followed a woman who worked as a teacher, but who was woefully oblivious about the war- in part because of her marriage to a government official. They had adopted a child, Gina, whose origins were unknown, but the teacher feared that she was one of the "Lost Children", or a child of someone who had been imprisoned during the war. To further complicate matters, an older woman who claimed to be Gina's grandmother began hassling the teacher and her family, wanting custody of who she believed to be her grandchild.
Mexican and Cuban films were also explored in the class, and as groups, we synthesized and presented further information on the culture and important films of the various countries we studied. With three other students, I presented on the history of Mexican cinema, which included numerous military coups of the government, and even more revolutionaries, like Emilio Zapata and Pancho Villa. (MLO 3.2)