Latin American Cinema: A Comparative History

376 Pages·2016·7.9 MB·English

by  Paul A. Schroeder Rodriguez

Latin American Cinema
A Comparative History
Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Latin American Cinema
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support
of the Eric Papenfuse and Catherine Lawrence Endowment
Fund in Film and Media Studies of the University of California
Press Foundation.
Latin American Cinema
A Comparative History
Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished
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University of California Press
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© 2016 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Schroeder, Paul A., author.
Latin American cinema : a comparative history /
Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-28863-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) —
isbn 978-0-520-96353-5 (ebook)
1. Motion pictures—Latin America—History.
2. Motion picture industry—Latin America—History.
I. Title.
pn1993.5.l3s28 2016
791.43098—dc23
2015029741
Manufactured in China
25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r 2002) (Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Organization of the Book 4
Latin America’s Multiple Modernities 8
PART ONE. SILENT CINEMA
1 Conventional Silent Cinema 17
A Cinema by and for Criollos 17
Periodization 20
Actualities (1897–1907) 22
Transition (1908–15) 23
Feature Narrative Cinema (1915–30) 27
Film d’art • Religious Films • Popular Entertainment Films •
The Legacy of the Silent Period
2 Avant-Garde Silent Cinema 45
A Cinema Against the Grain 45
São Paulo, A Sinfonia da Metrópole (1929) • Ganga Bruta (1933) •
¡Que viva México! (1931) • Limite (1929)
An Avant-Garde Moment 67
PART TWO. STUDIO CINEMA
3 Transition to Sound 71
Latin American Studios 71
L atin American Studio Cinema as a Vernacular of Hollywood’s
International Style 74
“ Hispanic” Films and the Consolidation of Hollywood’s
International Style 76
The Day You Love Me (1935)
Alternatives to Hollywood’s International Style 79
Fernando de Fuentes’s Trilogy of the Mexican Revolution
4 Birth and Growth of an Industry 88
The Musical Birth of an Industry 88
Out on the Big Ranch (1936)
Argentinean Cinema’s “Golden Age” 92
Prisioneros de la tierra (1939) • Closed Door (1939)
Social Comedies 98
The Impact of the Good Neighbor Policy on Latin American Cinema 100
The Mexican School of Cinema 102
María Candelaria (1943) • Río Escondido (1947)
Studio Cinema and Peronism 110
God Bless You (1948)
The Corporatism of Latin American Studio Cinema 114
5 Crisis and Decline of Studio Cinema 116
From Good Neighbors to Cold War Containment 116
Parody as Symptom of the Crisis of Studio Cinema 117
Aventurera (1950)
Documentary and Newsreel Production During the Studio Era 122
The Legacy of Studio Cinema 125
PART THREE. NEOREALISM AND ART CINEMA
6 Neorealism and Art Cinema 129
Emergence of a Cinephile Culture 130
Convergence of Neorealism and Art Cinema in Latin America 130
Luis Buñuel 133
Los olvidados (1950) • This Strange Passion (1953)
Vera Cruz Studio and Its Aftermath 147
Rio, 40 Graus (1955) and Rio, Zona Norte (1957)
Leopoldo Torre Nilsson’s Gothic Trilogy (1957–61) 154
The Legacy of Neorealism and Art Cinema 161
PART FOUR. NEW LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA
7 New Latin American Cinema’s Militant Phase 167
Documentary Foundations 167
Epic Projections 172
Black God, White Devil (1963) • The Hour of the Furnaces (1968) •
The Battle of Chile (1975–79)
Transition to a Neobaroque Praxis 190
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) • Lucía (1968) •
One Way or Another (1974)
8 New Latin American Cinema’s Neobaroque Phase 210
The Colonial Roots of the Latin American Neobaroque 210
Frida Still Life (1983) • The Last Supper (1976) • La nación
clandestina (1989)
Theory of the New Latin American Cinema 228
Arc of the New Latin American Cinema 237
PART FIVE. CONTEMPORARY CINEMA
9 Collapse and Rebirth of an Industry 245
Neoliberal Restructuring 245
A Melorealist Cinema 250
The Marketing of Nostalgia 251
Strawberry and Chocolate (1993) • Central Station (1998) •
Amores perros (2000)
10 Latin American Cinema in the Twenty-First Century 261
Suspenseful Narratives for Precarious Times 261
¡Y tu mamá también! (2001)
The Rise of the Woman Director 265
Lucrecia Martel’s Salta Trilogy (2001–8) • The Milk
of Sorrow (2009)
From Nostalgia to Suspense 289
Conclusion: A Triangulated Cinema 293
Appendix: Discourses of Modernity in Latin America 303
Notes 307
Index 335
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Acknowledgments
My deepest appreciation goes to my wife, María Monasterios, and to
our daughter, Uma Schroeder-Monasterios, for their patience and
understanding during the ten years I worked on this project. I dedicate
this book to them.
At my home institution, Northeastern Illinois University, I am grateful
to my colleagues in the Department of World Languages and Cultures
and in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s Offi ce for their support
and encouragement over the past seven years; to the Offi ce of Academic
Aff airs for a semester-long leave that allowed me to fi nish a fi rst draft
of this book; and to the interlibrary loan staff for reliably fi nding the
hundreds of materials I requested.
Finally, I am especially thankful to Michael Predmore for the oppor-
tunity to spend a year as a visiting associate professor at Stanford Uni-
versity, during which time I began research for this book in earnest; to
Kris Lane and the anonymous readers for their constructive feedback
on a fi rst draft of the book; to the editors and anonymous readers in
the journals where portions of the book were fi rst published (Latin
American Research Review, Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latino-
americana, Rethinking Marxism, Revista de Crítica Literaria Latino-
americana, Cinema Journal, Valenciana, and Camera Obscura); to
Mary Francis and her editorial team at the University of California
Press for their enthusiastic support throughout the entire editing and
ix