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.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
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
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
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 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.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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.
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.
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