Constructing the Image of the Mexican Revolution: Cinema and the Archive

264 Pages·2010·30 MB·English

by  Zuzana M. Pick

constructing the image of
the mexican revolution
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Constructing the Image of
the Mexican Revolution
cinema and the archive
zuzana m. pick
university of texas press
Austin
Copyright © 2010 by the University of Texas Press
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Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2010
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♾ The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of
ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
library of congress cataloging-in-publication
data
Pick, Zuzana M.
Constructing the image of the Mexican Revolution : cinema and the
archive / Zuzana M. Pick. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-292-72108-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Mexico—History—Revolution, 1910–1920—Motion pictures and
the revolution. 2. War films—Mexico—History and criticism. I. Title.
f1234.p55 2010
791.43'658—dc22
2009024825
To Leutén, Simone, and Patricia
for their unconditional backing, patience, and complicity
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Contents
acknowledgments ix
introduction. visualizing and romancing
the revolution 1
Chapter 1
the revolution as media event:
documentary image and the archive 11
Chapter 2
historicity and the archive:
reconstruction and appropriation 39
Chapter 3
pancho villa on two sides of the border 69
Chapter 4
avant-garde gestures and nationalist
images of mexico in eisenstein’s
unfinished project 97
Chapter 5
reconfiguring the revolution: celebrity
and melodrama 125
Chapter 6
the aesthetics of spectacle 145
Chapter 7
competing narratives and
converging visions 176
viii constructing the image of the mexican revolution
conclusion. thoughts on working
with the archive 209
notes 219
bibliography 231
index 243
Acknowledgments
Research funding and academic leave to prepare the manuscript was made
possible by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council (SSHRC) and the Marston Lafrance Fellowship of Carleton Uni-
versity. SSHRC’s financial support enabled me to disseminate the pre-
liminary results of the work done on this project in Mexico, Canada, and
the United States. The feedback I received at conference presentations,
lectures, and seminars was extremely rewarding. During the completion
stage, I received additional funding from John Osborne, dean of the Fac-
ulty of Arts and Social Sciences, Carleton University.
First and foremost, I want to thank Gary Cristall. Without his knowl-
edge and magnificent library, this project would not have been formulated.
My gratitude also goes to Julianne Burton-Carvajal, Elisa Cárdenas Ayala,
Valdeen Ciwko, Federico Dávalos, Aurelio de los Reyes, Michael Dorland,
Chris Faulkner, Elena Feder, Alberto Fierro, Barbara Gabriel, Esperanza
Garrido, Bryan Gillingham, Brenda Longfellow, Mark Langer, André Loi-
selle, George McKnight, Eugenia Meyer, Ángel Miquel, Enrique Ortiga,
Paulo-Antonio Paranaguá, Francisco Peredo Castro, Patricia Torres San
Martín, Gregorio Rocha, Paul Théberge, Eduardo de la Vega Alfaro, and
Marta Vidrio, scholars, colleagues, and friends, for their generosity, en-
couragement during various stages of the project, and willingness to play a
part in carrying it out. Most of all, I want to acknowledge the attentive and
courteous response to the manuscript from my readers, Marvin d’Lugo
and Sergio de la Mora.
My appreciation goes to José Sánchez Mosquera, Carmen Fernández
del Rio, and Anthony de Mello, for assisting with the research; Julio Valdés,
for helping me to finalize the manuscript; Peter Harcourt, for introducing
me to the wonders of image technology; Barbara Stevenson, Nancy Duff,
Paul Shannon, and Jessica Stewart, at the Audio-Visual Research Centre;
Jack Coghill, at the School for Studies in Art and Culture, Carleton Uni-
versity; and Simone Rojas-Pick, for lending a hand with the illustrations.
My special thanks go to Víctor Urruchúa for guiding me around Mexico