Experimental Latin American Cinema: History and Aesthetics

Contents

ix Acknowledgments 1 Introduction Mise-en-Scène, a Seemingly International Staging PART ONE A NEONOIR SKEW TO THE ACTION-IMAGE 49 Chapter One A Shimmering Suture: Fabián Bielinsky’s Epileptic El aura 60 Chapter Two Slippery Criminal Pleasures: Intermediality and Voyeurism in Jorge Furtado’s O homem que copiava 74 Chapter Three Endless Quest: Chasing Sex, Lies, and Money at the Gates of Hell in Heitor Dhalia’s O cheiro do ralo PART TWO ROAD MOVIES 91 Chapter Four The Paradoxical Effect of the Documentary: Walter Salles’s Central do Brasil 106 Chapter Five Twin Piques: The Double Discourse of Carlos Sorín’s El camino de San Diego 123 Chapter Six Orphans’ Solidarity: María Victoria Menis’s El cielito PART THREE DRAMA 139 Chapter Seven Sculpting Time: Inés de Oliveira Cézar’s Como pasan las horas 146 Chapter Eight The Past Engulfs the Present: Josué Méndez’s Días de Santiago CONTENTS viii Experimental Latin American Cinema PART FOUR EXPERIMENTAL AUTEURISM 159 Chapter Nine Whether or Not to End One’s Life: Carlos Reygadas’s Japón 168 Chapter Ten Crime and Self-Inflicted Punishment: Carlos Reygadas’s Batalla en el cielo PART FIVE EXPERIMENTAL AUTEURISM AND INTERTEXTUALITY 177 Chapter Eleven The Miracle of Female Bonding in Patriarchal Society: Carlos Reygadas’s Stellet licht 186 Chapter Twelve Cyclical Scapegoating: Inés de Oliveira Cézar’s Extranjera 196 Chapter Thirteen The Irrevocable Nature of Curses: Inés de Oliveira Cézar’s El recuento de los daños 206 Chapter Fourteen Splintered Mirrors, Echoes, and Reverberations: Fernando Pérez Valdés’s Madrigal PART SIX EXPERIMENTAL PSEUDO-DOCUMENTARY 221 Chapter Fifteen Room with a View: Fernando Pérez Valdés’s Suite Habana 232 Chapter Sixteen Life Is and Is Not: Paz Encina’s Hamaca paraguaya 245 Conclusion Possible Futures 251 Notes 265 Bibliography 287 Index ...