OH MAMACITA

What a movie, whew, that was a good one. I thought that the movie showed an amazing portrayal of teenage behavior, both good and bad. Anyone reading this would probably wonder what good the teens did, but in the face of many difficulties (ie..car breakdown, getting lost, pig poop in the tent) I thought that they were very resilient.

Now, the teens did exhibit overt promiscuity, drugs and foul language, but come on out of the Victorian Age...this is what teens do. And I thought that this movie transcended geographic culture and just showed the truth of what happens when the youth are given to their own devices. Not too long ago, many of us were that age and many, many of us did the exact same things. We are talking the 70's and what we could have been exposed to could be cured by a shot. Drug charges were also just slaps on the wrist. In 2010, when you can die from promiscuity and drug charges are severe that they can lock you up for a first offense, this movie seems very much over the top.

I was happy that the boys went to the store to get condoms, I just never saw them used, maybe this was one of the edits of the film.

I know that many of my fellow students will read this and think I am some kind of a nut with all of these ideas. I just know that even when parents do every kind of thing to monitor their teenagers, this kind of stuff does happen. I tell my daughters that I know they are not saints, I just do not want to visit them in prison or at the morgue for discretions in their behavior.

El Vieja de Carol

This was a very touching, tragic story of resilience of a beautiful girl, Carol. She adapted quite well with her change in culture. Because she was bilingual, I think that she was able to adjust to living in a different area.

She was definitely a tomboy, so her befriending three young fellas was fitting. I believe that she was fighting for her right to be herself, wearing boys clothes, having a boyish hair cut and embracing the ideals individualism.

Carol is unconventional which is probably more her northern climate culture from living in the United States. She fights for her hat, stolen from a young boy. She ends up befriending him and his friends. This boy becomes the love of her life, and although this ends tragically. I guess it is the old saying, "It is better to have loved and lost, than not to have loved at all."

I think that she actually assimilates to this culture pretty well. I was shocked that she was going to take communion from the priest even though she was not Catholic. I think that she really tried to engage herself into the culture.

Volver

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Thursday, May 20, 2010
Volver

This was a very unusual movie. Women were the very prominent and strong characters in the film. The men were portrayed as weak, flawed and ignorant. Penelope Cruz's character, Raimunda, is the center using her beauty, intelligence and sensuality to out trump the men. When her daughter kills her husband her reaction is that of a typical woman, taking the blame for the act and wanting nothing but the best for her daughter.

The tribute to women was demonstrated by the situations of Irene's marriage to her cheating husband. She in the end triumphs after she realizes that her daughter was incestuously impregnated by her husband, and she burns him up and his lover. As a "ghost", Irene helps take care of her Aunt, and wishes to return to her daughters to help them understand that she is responsible for their father's death, because of the horrible crime he commited against Raimunda.

Raimunda also triumphs, repairing the relationship with her daughter, who is really her sister and her daughter because of the incest of her father. She has had a strained relationship with her mother and sister, but during the course of the film she is able to come to closure with her relatives. She was in a horrible marriage, having to support Emilio by working many jobs. He is an alcoholic, and because of his advances to Raimunda's daughter he ends up dead in the deep freeze.

The superstition and real life is also about the name of the movie "Volver", which essentially means the return. Irene comes back from the dead to avenge her troubled marriage and the estrangement of her daughter, Raimunda. She is not really dead but because of the fire, her husband and his lover are mistaken as the couple and are buried together. The beginning of the film also shows a return as the relatives of the dead clean and groom the headstones of their loved ones. Agustina, a friend cleans her own gravestone, and it is said that people do this in this part of Spain because they view their final resting place as a second home....that is some vacation destination.

There is also the superstition of the wind. It is blamed for the fire that burnt Raimunda's family and making people crazy which Agustina is supposed to be because she has cancer but believes that she sees ghosts. Which of course is Raimunda's mother who is not dead.

I enjoyed this movie. Perhaps it was the viewing of powerful women, instead of women that were beaten down by their men. Perhaps it was the great acting by Penelope Cruz, who I think is fantastic, but in actuality, it was just a interesting film that portrayed very powerful ideas, incest, murder and death in a very different way.
Posted by kristine at 6:02 AM

Volver

This was a very unusual movie. Women were the very prominent and strong characters in the film. The men were portrayed as weak, flawed and ignorant. Penelope Cruz's character, Raimunda, is the center using her beauty, intelligence and sensuality to out trump the men. When her daughter kills her husband her reaction is that of a typical woman, taking the blame for the act and wanting nothing but the best for her daughter.

The tribute to women was demonstrated by the situations of Irene's marriage to her cheating husband. She in the end triumphs after she realizes that her daughter was incestuously impregnated by her husband, and she burns him up and his lover. As a "ghost", Irene helps take care of her Aunt, and wishes to return to her daughters to help them understand that she is responsible for their father's death, because of the horrible crime he commited against Raimunda.

Raimunda also triumphs, repairing the relationship with her daughter, who is really her sister and her daughter because of the incest of her father. She has had a strained relationship with her mother and sister, but during the course of the film she is able to come to closure with her relatives. She was in a horrible marriage, having to support Emilio by working many jobs. He is an alcoholic, and because of his advances to Raimunda's daughter he ends up dead in the deep freeze.

The superstition and real life is also about the name of the movie "Volver", which essentially means the return. Irene comes back from the dead to avenge her troubled marriage and the estrangement of her daughter, Raimunda. She is not really dead but because of the fire, her husband and his lover are mistaken as the couple and are buried together. The beginning of the film also shows a return as the relatives of the dead clean and groom the headstones of their loved ones. Agustina, a friend cleans her own gravestone, and it is said that people do this in this part of Spain because they view their final resting place as a second home....that is some vacation destination.

There is also the superstition of the wind. It is blamed for the fire that burnt Raimunda's family and making people crazy which Agustina is supposed to be because she has cancer but believes that she sees ghosts. Which of course is Raimunda's mother who is not dead.

I enjoyed this movie. Perhaps it was the viewing of powerful women, instead of women that were beaten down by their men. Perhaps it was the great acting by Penelope Cruz, who I think is fantastic, but in actuality, it was just a interesting film that portrayed very powerful ideas, incest, murder and death in a very different way.

Guantanamera

The Hispanic culture was very prevalent in the film, Guantanamera. The background music from the opening scene to the travel through Cuba. There was salsa and merenge that punctuated the action. Magic realism was also prevalent, showing a vision of a young girl dressed in old costumes, a ghost of the past shown as a vision to the old man, Candido. Also, the relationships of men and women, especially the lover boy, Mariano, and his list of women in every port. Adolfo also ruled over Gina, treating her like he owned her.

The Cuban element was also very prevalent. I have never been to Cuba, but have a friend who is from there. She has gone back very infrequently due to difficulty obtaining a travel visa, but her stories are great. I did not realize how much that culture is about rum, tea and coffee. Also, since I did some background reading before I saw the film, I knew it was about a funeral traversing the country to get to the burial destination.

I found out that because of the socialist government, travel is permitted with permission, that is why Adolfo allowed Candido to travel with them. If there is a vacant seat, the car must stop at checkpoints to pick up other travelers. This was shown by the truckers having to transport lots of people to different places. I thought this was a great idea, but probably not very practical. I did not realize that at each point that the body was moved to, the government had to provide food to the bereaved. This system was shown not to work out very well, when people were fighting over food, and they closed the station down and the government worker, Adolfo, ate the sandwich.

I enjoyed this film, finding it more humorous than our previous comedy. This type of humor seemed to transcend culture, since it was a satire on the serious side of death. Maybe since I am a nurse, I found it funny. The mix up with the body was very clever, and I wonder if the old man was buried next to the other man or if he was forever next to Yoyita.

The message of this movie, also was that love does conquer all, and I believe it demonstrated the emergence of the female, even hispanic, finally being able to do what she wants, which is a very modern idea, indeed.

The Official Story

Gaby is the five year old daughter of Roberto and Alicia, loving, caring, affluent, intelligent parents. But there is a dark secret that has been hiding for both Alicia and Gaby. Roberto knows the past of Gaby, that she is a baby that has been born in captivity to parents that are young, poor and probably subversive in political ideas. Gaby was taken from those parents, when they were murdered and given to the childless but deserving parents of affluent and conservative political background.

In Argentina, like many South American countries, there was a political cleansing of ideas that the military performed. Many people were held in captivity, murdered, and taken due to their political or social status. Years later, the women: mothers, grandmothers, and daughters took to the streets to protest what had gone on in this country.

What will happen to Gaby?? She is a beautiful, intelligent and happy child, who has lived with Roberto and Alicia for five years. I hope that she will be with her mother Alicia. Who is a wonderful role model, because she has taken from the past and learned from it to better herself and society. I believe that she will raise Gaby with the knowledge of who her real parents were and that she will allow her biological grandmother to have an influence in her life.

As for Gaby's father, Roberto, he should have to make restitution for his crimes against humanity. He was raised quite different than how he turned out, because he had very selfish ideas. When he yelled at Gaby's grandmother and turned against his beautiful wife, I was shocked and felt that he had shown the pig he truly was.

I believe that Gaby will be influenced by her past and will be able to forge ahead to the future, with the ability to know that her biological mother and father loved her, and that she will now continue a loving home with her mother, grandparents and her biological grandmother.

Like Water For Chocolate

Yum. What a visual experience this movie. The central theme of this movie was cooking. First, Dona Elena forced her daughter Tita to become a servant in her own home, because she was the youngest daughter. As a servant, she waited on her mother and learned to cook. Her older sister, however did not have to spend time in the kitchen, so she did not have any culinary experience. Tita became an excellent cook, using the recipes her grandmother had, and making them with love.

When Tita's mother did not allow her to marry, Pedro used bad logic to marry her sister so he could be near Tita. As they all sat at the table, Pedro carried on his romance with Tita by enjoying her cooking. When his new wife made dinner, Tita's sister, he could not love the experience, because she was not able to cook.

Pedro gave Tita roses because she was such a wonderful cook, and he absolutely adored her. Her mother requested that she throw the roses out, but Tita made a recipe of quail in rose petal sauce, which was so delicious that everyone loved it.

Tita's cooking was more than wonderful, it was magical. The movie created a use of magic by allowing Tita's cooking to create experiences for the audience to view. When her sister was married to her boyfriend Pedro, Tita made the cake for the wedding. Her tears in the batter caused the guests to have vomiting and illness. When Tita cooked, strange things happened. The movie used the theme of magic for the realistic act of cooking. Tita made her dishes with love. So, when Tita cooked, her food was fantastic, because it was made of ingredients that she had embellished with her love. No one else was able to cook like Tita. She gave of herself like no one was able to.

Motorcycle Diaries

This was such an inspirational movie. I believe that Che was motivated by many of his experiences in South America. The pivotal point that sticks out in my mind was when he met the couple in the desert. The man and woman were dirty and talked about the hardship of losing his job and having to give up their children so that they could find work. They said that their hardship was due to them being communists. Che gave the woman his coat and they shared their drink with the couple. When they travelled to the mines, it was Che that became very angry that the men were not given anything to drink and he tried to tell the man in charge that that was inhumane and even threw a rock at the truck, showing his anger and frustration. Later in the movie, when his freind asked him again for the money he said that he had given the American dollars to the couple, I thought that was such a selfless act. Che had gone through near starvation, asthma attacks, walking on foot etc..and never once thought about spending that money on himself.

There were many things in the movie that assisted this man in becoming who he was. He could have taken the easy path, taken his tests, became a doctor and married well. But, he decided to go with his friend and travel, and also go to the leper colony. He had such selfless compassion for others. He left having fun with a beautiful woman to see a dying, elderly woman and he even gave her his medicine so that her last days would be easier. He did not use gloves to take care of the patients with leprosy to show that he did not fear touching their wounds. This was a man that not only did not take the easy route, but he was shaped and molded by his experiences. He did not ignore the calling in him to do more than just what was expected. Many times, it is far easier to just do the status quo and ignore doing the right thing. Che exemplified the human spirit and did above and beyond what is expected of him.

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

How are Spanish speaking women interactions with men within the same culture?


The women in this film are very subservient to their men. I view Pepa, Carmen and Candela all trying to please the men in thier lives. Even, Lucia, who obviously has mental issues, wants to please the men, especially Ivan, who obviously treats them as objects and uses them for his own pleasures. The film portrays the women as feeling they are nothing without their men. I find this difficult because I have such a different view of relationships with men in my life, especially my husband. We are equal partners, but I do not need him. I am self sufficient.

Of course this film was set in the 1970's but it was released in 1988, certainly not in times that were not modern. This film made me laugh because it was so outrageous in the relationships between men and women.

Do you find differences between women in the film and today's Amernican women?


Obviously, today's American woman is much more self sufficient and they do not need men. I can speak for myself as an American woman. I work, usually more than 40 hours a week. I go to school,obviously. Cooking, cleaning and child rearing are assumed that it is a shared responsibility between my husband and myself. Since my children are older, I also expect that they help around the house.

If my life was a comedy, I probably would not throw my phone, break glass, spike my meals with barbituates, but I may get a few laughs...enjoying my husbands and daughters company, not antagonizing them by stalking them.


What could have been different in the film if the context was the U.S.?

As above, I believe that the film would have had hillarious moments of the women being the equal to the men in the movie and not being beneath the men. I could imagine that in the scene of Pepa burning the bed that maybe she would be imagining that she was burning up Ivan and Lucia. As a unmarried pregnant female, I think that she would find a lawyer that might get even with Ivan, financially, instead of feeling that she was alone and having to bear the burden of pregnancy on her own. Perhaps when Ivan's son was womanizing everyone in the film, there could have been a scene that all of the women would have tied him up and taken advantage of him.

My impression of this film's plot?

I believe that this film was very funny. The plot of a mistress being pregnant by her lover who was previously married to a psychopathic woman, and the man continues to be a womanizer is not a prevalent plot for most movies in the U.S. However, I thought it was cleverly done.

Do you think there is a difference among women from Spanish America and Spanish Europe?

The women in this film seemed very sophisticated. The young women, like Carmen and older women like Pepa and elderly women, Lucia were different than women portrayed in films like Machuca and La Misma Luna. The women in those films were very into their families unlike the women in this film. Of course, those films dealt with a more serious theme, this film showed women in a different role than previous movies that we have viewed.

Machuca

Gonzolo and Pedro became friends like children do. They stuck up for one another, both were underdogs, Gonzolo was bullied by other kids in his class, and Pedro was the new kid in the class. The lives of the children were different, but both of them had family issues. Pedro's father was an alcoholic and not supportive. Gonzalo's father was supportive but his mother was having an affair with a rich man and had Pedro lie to his father about where he obtained things like shoes and books.

The classes were very apparent in this movie. Pedro lived in a shanty town with limited means. He had holes in his clothes and not very much food on the table. But he had a mother who loved him. Gonzolo had food on the table, a closet full of clothes, even Adidas shoes and a mother who slept with an old man to give him a lot more than that.
The messages were amazing to me. In 1973, I was a 15 year old in Cleveland. I had no idea that this went on in Chile. We as citizens were totally oblivious to this. The idea that people were beaten and killed because of their political belief put me beside myself. If the CIA backed this up, it is incomprehensible.
The class system is a curse and a blessing. We have so much in this country, that we take for granted how unfortunate others are. The human element of this film was very touching. That children, or people for that matter that meet are able to connect and form a friendship, it does not matter if they are poor, rich, in power or not.

Ok, I am going to try this....a first time blogger, to be sure.