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Latin American Cinema

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Latin American Cinema
When a person watches a film what they see can and may change their life forever. Some films are based on fictional dreams while others are documentaries about marijuana. Whatever a film might consist of depends on the topic of interest and the goal behind it. Cinematography is a business and a lifestyle. People have the potential to influence the world from a television screen thousands of miles away. Most people might have herd about the film industry in Hollywood or Europe and before sound that may have been all they saw. In the twentieth century filmmaking erupted throughout Latin America. Some of historical filmmaking countries are Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
Each and every country in Latin America has a story. For years Latin America and the population amongst it have been heavily influenced. There are some films worth talking about from Latin America. First is Camila (1984), directed by María Luisa Bemberg. This film reflected on Argentine history and was very effective on Argentina’s society. It shows the power of the church and the struggle for change and acceptance. The second film is Yo, La Peor De Todas (1990), also directed by María Luisa Bemberg. This film is based on the hardships of the nuns in Mexico during the seventeenth century. A third film that will be discussed goes back in time and is El Chacal De Nahueltoro (1969, directed by Miguel Littín. This was a documentary on a serial killer from Chile who was poor and overly abusive with alcohol. A fourth and final film that will be discussed is La Frontera(1991), directed by Ricardo Larraín. Each movie that will be discussed represents something historically or presently important about each society. The film Camila was one of the top hits of all time in Argentina. It ran on a low budget but still made it into classrooms today. It tells a story of a woman and a priest that fell in love. They flee from Camila’s family estate in her hometown because they cannot be together.



Cited: Graham-Yooll, Andrew. ‘María Luisa Bemburg’, The Independent (24 May 1995), p. 16. Hart, Stephen M. A Companion to Latin American Film. Tamesis: Suffolk, United Kingdom: 2004. Print. King, John. Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America. New Edition. Mercer, Marilyn. "Feminism in Argentina." Feminism in Argentina. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2013. Shaw, Deborah. Contemporary Cinema of Latin America: 10 Key Films (London: Continuum, 2003), pp. 88-100.

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