Screening Cuba: Film Criticism as Political Performance during the Cold War

8. Portrait of Teresa

Chapter 8 Portrait of Teresa Retrato de Teresa (Portrait of Teresa, 1979), directed by Pastor Vega, narrates the story of Teresa, a textile worker, wife, and mother of three, whose political and work commitments produce a rift between her and her husband, Ramón. He becomes increasingly resentful at Teresa’s after-hours engagements that include leading a dance troupe organized by the union. Arguing that she is not fulfilling her roles as wife and mother, Ramón convinces Teresa to take a leave of absence from work. Pressured by the union leaders, who argue Teresa’s skills as leader are required for the dance troupe to succeed at the national level, Teresa returns to her work and after-work duties. Ramón, unhappy about this turn of events, leaves Teresa, goes back to living with his mother, and takes a young lover. Her efforts paid off. The dance troupe wins a national competition, and Teresa and Tomás, the coleader of the troupe, are interviewed on television. After seeing them together in this way, Ramón, fearing Teresa’s relationship with Tomás is more than professional, requests a meeting of reconciliation with her. At this meeting, Teresa confronts Ramón regarding his affair, which he claims is over. She challenges him to give her reasons why she should forgive him and, as argument, she points out that Ramón would never forgive her had she had an affair. He, agreeing, claims that the situation is not the same for men as it is for women. The film ends with Teresa walking away from Ramón. Portrait in Cuba Vega began his career in ICAIC in 1960. By 1979, he had directed thirteen documentaries and a fictional feature, De la Guerra Americana (1969). As Carlos 159 Galiano (1979a) comments, in this work Vega attempted to make a portrait of real life in Cuban society (4). Similarly, Portrait owed some of its success to realism. Realism here refers to a set of contingent narrative and aesthetic techniques that are interpreted by viewers/readers as proper ways of depicting reality. In the case of Portrait, realism was conveyed through subject matter, point of view, and the director’s reliance on scientific discourses to validate character development. Portrait addressed an important social issue of the time: gender equity in the home. During the mid-1970s (see chapter 1), the “problem of women” had become central to the public agenda. The Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (FMC) had proposed the Family Code in 1974, and this was made into law in 1975. In addition to becoming official, the Family Code was debated across the nation in all the People’s Organizations (Holt-Seeland 1982, 102). Though the Code included provisions regarding parenting, children born out of wedlock, and, importantly, divorce, the Code’s regulation of life within the home was what caught the attention of people in general. These regulations were the subject of debates because they meant that men would have to contribute equally in child rearing and housework. The Family Code and the debates it originated became key frameworks for the interpretation of Portrait and central to understanding it as a realistic film. Vega’s commitment to realism was mediated by science, which provided the basis for the script. He became interested in making a film on the subject of gender equity after reading a work produced by the Advanced Institute of Brain Research (Amaya 2000). This report described the emotional changes experienced by the adult population as a result of the transformations generated by the revolution. The most typical problems found in the interviewed subjects were conflicts generated among couples because of the new possibilities that the revolution offered to women (Holt-Seeland 1982, 102). After gaining access to some of the files, Vega brought the director of the institute, Dr. José A. Bustamante, to assist Ambrosio Fornet and himself in preparing a script that would draw from the fictionalized files. With Dr. Bustamante’s expertise, the script began to take shape as a psychological, subtle melodrama dealing with the extensive pressures placed on women by the revolution and by the system of gender (Amaya 2000). Actors Daisy Granados (Teresa) and Adolfo Llauradó (Ramón) did their part for bringing realism to the film. They enrolled in the actual jobs that their characters performed for weeks, and in this way they gained precious understanding of the way these workers’ lives [18.221.15.15] Project MUSE (2024-04-26 09...