Y Tu Mama Tambien

Wow, What can I say about this film. Definitely not one I would have ever chose to watch. I felt it was an inappropriate film for this class. That being said, this film was based on the lives of two teenage boys, Julio and Tenoch. Both boys were without much of a father figure. Julio was from a middle class family. He was raised by his mother and older sister. Tenoch was from a more influential home with a father being a political figure. These two young men seemed to not have any strong parental supervision. They were sexual promiscuous, using drugs and alcohol on a regular basis. The macho attitude of the Hispanic male was seen strongly in this film. Luisa's husband had many affairs. Julio and Tenoch admitted to having sex with each other's girlfriend. They were angry and referred to their girlfriends as "sluts". What a double standard they portrayed. Again, this film had political issues with demonstrations in the streets. I did not watch the ending of this film but I looked up the ending and found out that Luisa left the boys in bed with each other. I'm sure the scene was awkward when they woke up. They returned home. Luisa stayed at the beaches. Julio and Tenoch happened to meet each other a year later. Luisa had died of cancer a month after their trip. The two young men parted and never met again.

This film will not be listed on my top 6 films. I'm pretty open minded but I would suggest this film not be shown in the future. That's my opinion, that's my final blog.

El Viaje de Carol

I have to admit it was challenging viewing this film without subtitles. Yet I believe I was able to get the plot. Carol was a young girl traveling to Spain, her mother's home, while her english speaking father was at war. Carol portrayed a well adjusted young girl with the American "attitude." She spoke easily to adults, sometimes with words that the adults didn't want to hear. She didn't shy away from conflict in comparison with the other young children of Spain. This could be seen when Tomiche stood silent when the soldiers spoke to him and when the little blond girl did exactly what her mother wanted without any question. Right or wrong, Carol seemed to speak her mind with any adult. Her grandfather even painted over the graffiti written on his house because it made Carol uncomfortable.

I enjoyed the character of Tomiche. He portrayed a young boy of Spain that knew much pain. I wasn't sure if the soldier was his father or not. I thought this, maybe because of the odd relationship between the two. When Tomiche sheltered his ears from the gunshots hear, I felt he must have known someone who was killed in the same way. I wish I could have understood the language. I think this would have been a real tear jerker if I could have known exactly what was being said. None the less I was captivated by the emotion of Carol and the love for her mother, father, grandfather and Tomiche.

The innocent first kiss of Carol and Tomiche was priceless. Their friendship was an honest innocent one. I enjoyed their private moments. I felt this was the first true friend that Tomiche had really ever had.

I was able to see how difficult it was to even get a letter mailed. Having to smuggle a letter to a loved one must have been difficult. I did have the question of what happened to Carol's father after Tomiche was killed. I resisted googling this film before my blog so I could give my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this film, although next time I view it it will be with English subtitles.

Volver

The film Volver showed multiple examples of strength and resilience of these women as they faced life's most outrageous tribulations. The opening scene showed each women washing and polishing the grave stones of their loved ones. The respect shown here was awesome. Even Agustine cleaned her own grave stone because she said it relaxed her.

It wasn't known until the end of the film that Paula, Raimunda's daughter was the result of a rape from Raimunda's own father. Raimunda loved her daughter with tenderness and care. She was able to put aside her own feeling for what her father had done. She also hid the anger toward her own mother for not knowing that she was being abused. Paula was raised in a normal household, until the day she was forced to stab her father Paco for an attempted rape. Again Raimunda put her feelings aside and comforted her daughter and told her she would take any blame for the death of Paco. During all this Raimunda was able to run a restaurant while also dealing with the death of her Aunt Paula. She portrayed a strong, resilient woman through out the film.

The superstitious beliefs shown was when Irene, the mother of Sole and Raimunda, showed herself. She was believed to have died four years before in the arms of her husband. In actuality it was Irene's husband and his mistress that died together. Irene in the fit of rage, the rage blame on the superstitious wind, set fire to the two adulterers. Irene the took care of her sick sister for years. Again she was able to do this because of the superstition of the dead coming back to finish "some unfinished" business. Here again the strength of this woman was seen. She rarely went outside, she spent her life with the thoughts of what she had done. Thoughts that may have made another person crazy. Instead Irene took wonderful care of her sister until she died. I appreciated the character of Irene. Her husband's mistress was the mother of her neighbor Agustine. When Agustine was diagnosed with cancer and had no one to care for her. Irene again posed as a ghost and cared for Agustine. Agustine wanted to know if her mother was dead or alive. I believe that Irene told kind stories to Agustine about her mother as she also cared for her until her death. Irene gave up time with her own daughters and grand daughter to care for someone in desperate need.

What a great testimony to the strength and resilience of these women!

Guantanamera

This was my least favorite film. I thought it was absurd. There were many strong Cuban cultures represented in this film.

I felt the strongest Cuban culture was the macho attitudes of the men. Mariano was a trucker who portrayed a womanizer, having a different woman in each town he passed through. He didn't seem to love them, he just used them for his own pleasure then passed them aside. Woman were just a dispensable item to him. Even when he was reunited with, Gina, the only woman he really loved, he was kissing another woman at the train station.

Mariano's uncle, Ramon, thought he was a better man because he had a woman at home. One that was overweight and unattractive and wouldn't mind his infidelity . Someone to take care of him when he was old. Ramon stated, "there's nothing wrong with the extra woman here and there when you're on the road." Both men shared the same disrespect for woman.

Aldofo portrayed a different kind of macho attitude. He was mentally and physically abusive to his wife Gina. He hit, shoved, and pulled Gina anytime she disagreed with him. Thank goodness the Cuban culture is moving away from this kind of abuse toward woman.

Cuban travel was very peculiar to me. While Ramon and Mariano drove their truck they were required to stop at certain checkpoints. Passengers were waiting, it was comparable to the United States bus stop. A man running the checkpoint would announce the truckers destination and a multitude of people loaded into the truck, to be taken to the next stop. Literature states that this kind of travel still continues in Cuba today.

I was intrigued in the little girl that represented death but that is a separate blog altogether.

I give this film a thumbs down.

The Official Story/La historia oficial

I feel, The Official Story is a powerful heartbreaking film describing the events that occurred during the "Dirty War" in 1976. I was touched immensely by this film.

As a mother of a five year old, I could relate to the struggles of Alicia ( the adoptive mother of 5 year old Gaby ). Gaby was adopted by Alicia and Roberto, a wealthy couple from Argentina. Alicia had always thought that Gaby's birth mother "didn't want her". When Alicia learned that her daughter may have been taken from a tortured subservient woman, her struggle began. I was amazed at the strength that it took for Alicia to investigate the birth of her daughter. First knowing that her husband would not approve and second and more importantly that her daughter may be taken from her if her fears were true.

As Alicia's seeks out information concerning her daughter birth/adoption, she uncovers that her husband, Roberto, may have known all along about the illegal buying of their daughter. Her fears heighten when she questions Roberto. Roberto never admits to any illegal activity concerning Gaby's adoption, but his anger arises.

When Alicia suspects that Gaby's birth grandmother is found, her feelings are torn between the love for her daughter and the pain of the Gaby's birth grandmother. This angers Roberto and leads to one of the last scenes when Roberto brutally assaults Alicia. I will never condone physical violence but I do understand that the fear of both Alicia and Roberto were at their highest points. Roberto knew deep in his heart that what he did was wrong. I also believe that Roberto was a good man and he adopted/bought Gaby because he loved his wife so dearly. He knew how much she wanted a child.

Another aspect of this film that is moving is the nursery rhyme that Gaby sings in several scenes.

" In the land of I-don’t-remember, I take three steps and I’m lost.

One step this way. I wonder if I may.

One step over there.

Oh, what a big scare.

In the land of I-don’t-remember, I take three steps and I’m lost.

One step backward fast, and that’ll be my last…

Because I no longer know where my other foot will go.

Oh, what a big scare."

I researched what this song represents, but I interpreted the first line to represent that ,"the land I-don't-remember", being the life of Gaby's birth parents that she would never know. How scary to not know who you really are or what your heritage is.

To address the question of the ideas of hope and hopeless, I can image both in this film. This film left me with many options of what could happen to Gaby. I believe there is hope in any situation. If both Gaby's adoptive parents and her birth grandmother could come together for the sake of the child and love her for who she is, and allow her to experience the best of both cultures, Gaby could live a fulfilled life. I also see this as hopeless knowing that these two cultures could probably never come together. Roberto couldn't even come together with his own brother and father because of their different beliefs.

Again I must express how heartbreaking this film was knowing that this kind of brutality exist!

Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate was a film about romanticism. It is difficult to discuss only one aspect of the film because it is multifaceted. The film takes place in Mexico, during the Mexican revolution.

This film describes when Pedro and Tita fall in love as children. Tita is the youngest girl of Mother Elena. Tradition stated that the youngest girl is never to marry. She is to care for her mother until she dies. When Pedro comes of age, he and his father ask Elena for Tita's hand in marriage, but the request is refused. Elena offers her oldest daughter, Rosaura, to Pedro. Pedro accepts the offer to marry Rosaura knowing this would be the only way he could be close to his true love, Tita.

Elena is an emotional harsh, cold woman and mother. She almost never shows any gentle emotion with her children. Tears were not allowed in her house. She was exceptionally harsh to Tita. Elena demanded no tears from Tita at her sister's wedding. As punishment Tita was to prepare the wedding banquet. After eating the wedding cake, made under a magic spell of intoxication, the guest were overcome with yearning for the their true love. Pedro used this spell to refuse to have sexual relations with his new wife until the "intoxication" wore off. He finally sleeps with his wife and prays to God that is was only for reproducing.

As the film progresses, Tita and Pedro find other forms of communication to express the forbidden love. Pedro brings roses to Tita on the year anniversary of her becoming chef. Tita is order by her mother to throw the roses out. Instead Tita prepares a meal of quail in rose sauce. The rose sauce is made with the purest true love and when eaten at dinner, everyone is overtaken by an incredible passion.

Pedro and Rosaura have a son together but Rosaura is not able to feed him. Tita secretly nurses him and cares for the child as if he were her own. Tita's mother is always on careful watch of Tita and Pedro. She suspects that they are involved and sends Pedro, Rosaura and the baby away to live with family in Texas. The child later dies because he would not eat. Tita blames her mother for the death of the child and for the first time in her life Tita stands up to her controlling mother once again breaking tradition. Tita retreats into herself as she mourns the love for Pedro and the death of the child. This is when Dr. Brown takes Tita with him and cares for her. He is gentle and kind and only cares for what is best for Tita.

Dr. Brown comes from a more modern world. He explains a story that his native American grandmother had told him as a child. "Each of us is born with a book of matches inside us but we can not strike the matched all by ourselves, we need oxygen and a candle to help. The oxygen being the breath of a person's love and the candle being a whatever triggers the candle to ignite; food, music, a caress, a word or sound." The warning came when Br. Brown explained that all the internal matches could not be ignited all at once or the extreme emotion could cause the person to return to the place in which the emotion came from originally.

Dr. Brown falls in love with Tita and the two become involved. Tita is torn between the forbidden love for Pedro and the peace and safety she feels for Dr. Brown. The film unfolds, Pedro and Rosaura have another child. A daughter, Esperanza and Rosaura intended to carry on the family tradition of the youngest girl not marrying and caring for her mother until she dies. Tita is angry at this. She states, "I am boiling mad". "This tradition stops with me".

Tita refuses to marry Dr. Brown and Rosaura dies of a digestive disorder. 20 years later at Esperanza's wedding Pedro professes his love for Tita again. The final scene ends with Pedro carrying Tita to a candle lit barn. The two make love and the emotion of Pedro's matches being lit all at the same time causes his death. Tita is devastated by the death of her love, Pedro. She eats a book of matches and dies in the arms of Pedro while the intense emotion causes the barn to burn to the ground. Thus the two lovers were joined in death.

Magic realism was apparent in this film in that Pedro and Tita had a forbidden love from the beginning. They both wanted what could never be. Tita had stated in the film that she was more desirable because she was something that could not be touched. If the two had been able to break tradition and be together as lovers from the beginning, then the emotions and passions of that which is forbidden couldn't have come into play.

Diarios de Motocicleta / Motorcycle Diaries

Wow, what a powerful, compassionate film this is! This film describes the journey of two, well to do, Argenentian young men traveling through South America. Ernesto Guevara, 23 years old and his friend Alberto Granado, 30 years old, traveled from Buenos Aires to Venezuela on an old broken down motorcycle. They stated that they were traveling for "the sake" of traveling.

Alberto was a reckless, carefree womanized with a foul mouth. He used his "silver tongued" ways to get the two food, shelter and women. He was close to his friend. He cared for him when Guevara experienced asthma attacks.

Guevara was a young man from a wealthy family. He came from a close family. This could be seen by the goodbyes that were shown on the day of his departure for his journey. Guevara wrote to his mother on a regular basis. His words were full of compassion and realism.

I believe these two just wanted to travel across South America and have fun, like most young people would. But that was not Guevara's nature. From the beginning of the film his eyes showed how much passion he felt for life, people, and the land itself. As he began to travel and feel the strains of hunger and never knowing where he would sleep, he also began to view what the Spanish overtaking was doing to the people.

There were several scenes that I feel helped or began to shape his future as a leader. First, Guevara was well educated and came from a loving and supportive family. He probably never needed for much as a child. As he was traveling and using the fact that he was a doctor to obtain food and shelter from the people, he was asked to help an old woman who was ill. The pain that he felt when he knew there was nothing that he could do for the woman was overwhelming. His eyes could not hide the emotion. The words again were expressed to his mother in the letters he wrote. Another defining moment in the film was when he and Roberto were traveling on foot and they met an older couple, also traveling on foot. As the night progressed they began talking to each other. The man and wife explained they were traveling to find work. They had been put off of there own land and threatened imprisonment for being communist. The couple had left their child with family to protect him from the travel. This is where Guevara felt ashamed that he was traveling "for the sake of traveling", when others were traveling for survival. He wrote in his diary, "This was the coldest night of my life." What a powerful enlightenment he felt at this time in his life. I had to keep reminding myself that Guevara was only 23 years old.

Throughout the film Alberto tried to manipulate Guevara out of money that Guevara had gotten from his girlfriend. Guevara had promised his girlfriend that he would buy her panties when he arrived in America. The two traveler had experienced hunger, no shelter, and ill health, none of which could separate him from the money or the promise that he had made. At a later scene in the film Guevara admitted that he had given this most valued money to the couple. Again he was a passionate man for the people and their sufferings.

Guevara and Alberto spent three weeks in Peru with the people suffering with leprosy. The healthy, physicians, nurses and nuns lived on one side of the Amazon and the ill lived on the other. Guevara was negatively impacted that the heathy and ill were separated when it was said that the illness was not contagious. His passion for the people shone through once more on his birthday. A celebration was prepared for him and he made a toast that he wanted the people to be one. He was overjoyed at the outpouring of love the people of Peru bestowed upon him. But Guevara was a man of all the people, so putting his own illness aside, he swam across the Amazon to celebrate with all the people, not only the healthy but also the indigenous.

Before this film I had never heard of Ernesto Guevara. I admit I have my own prejudices when I hear the words guerrillas and warfare. But I was touched by Guevara's young life and compassion he possessed for the under privileged people. As I read the assignment I was impressed that even, Felix Rodriguez, the man responsible for the death of Guevara stated that after talking (interrogating) to Guevara for an hour and a half, said "I no longer hated him. He faced death with courage and grace."