Latin American Cinema A Comparative History Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Latin American Cinema The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Eric Papenfuse and Catherine Lawrence Endowment Fund in Film and Media Studies of the University of California Press Foundation. Latin American Cinema A Comparative History Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2016 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schroeder, Paul A., author. Latin American cinema : a comparative history / Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-28863-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-520-96353-5 (ebook) 1. Motion pictures—Latin America—History. 2. Motion picture industry—Latin America—History. I. Title. pn1993.5.l3s28 2016 791.43098—dc23 2015029741 Manufactured in China 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r 2002) (Permanence of Paper). Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 Organization of the Book 4 Latin America’s Multiple Modernities 8 PART ONE. SILENT CINEMA 1 Conventional Silent Cinema 17 A Cinema by and for Criollos 17 Periodization 20 Actualities (1897–1907) 22 Transition (1908–15) 23 Feature Narrative Cinema (1915–30) 27 Film d’art • Religious Films • Popular Entertainment Films • The Legacy of the Silent Period 2 Avant-Garde Silent Cinema 45 A Cinema Against the Grain 45 São Paulo, A Sinfonia da Metrópole (1929) • Ganga Bruta (1933) • ¡Que viva México! (1931) • Limite (1929) An Avant-Garde Moment 67 PART TWO. STUDIO CINEMA 3 Transition to Sound 71 Latin American Studios 71 L atin American Studio Cinema as a Vernacular of Hollywood’s International Style 74 “ Hispanic” Films and the Consolidation of Hollywood’s International Style 76 The Day You Love Me (1935) Alternatives to Hollywood’s International Style 79 Fernando de Fuentes’s Trilogy of the Mexican Revolution 4 Birth and Growth of an Industry 88 The Musical Birth of an Industry 88 Out on the Big Ranch (1936) Argentinean Cinema’s “Golden Age” 92 Prisioneros de la tierra (1939) • Closed Door (1939) Social Comedies 98 The Impact of the Good Neighbor Policy on Latin American Cinema 100 The Mexican School of Cinema 102 María Candelaria (1943) • Río Escondido (1947) Studio Cinema and Peronism 110 God Bless You (1948) The Corporatism of Latin American Studio Cinema 114 5 Crisis and Decline of Studio Cinema 116 From Good Neighbors to Cold War Containment 116 Parody as Symptom of the Crisis of Studio Cinema 117 Aventurera (1950) Documentary and Newsreel Production During the Studio Era 122 The Legacy of Studio Cinema 125 PART THREE. NEOREALISM AND ART CINEMA 6 Neorealism and Art Cinema 129 Emergence of a Cinephile Culture 130 Convergence of Neorealism and Art Cinema in Latin America 130 Luis Buñuel 133 Los olvidados (1950) • This Strange Passion (1953) Vera Cruz Studio and Its Aftermath 147 Rio, 40 Graus (1955) and Rio, Zona Norte (1957) Leopoldo Torre Nilsson’s Gothic Trilogy (1957–61) 154 The Legacy of Neorealism and Art Cinema 161 PART FOUR. NEW LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA 7 New Latin American Cinema’s Militant Phase 167 Documentary Foundations 167 Epic Projections 172 Black God, White Devil (1963) • The Hour of the Furnaces (1968) • The Battle of Chile (1975–79) Transition to a Neobaroque Praxis 190 Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) • Lucía (1968) • One Way or Another (1974) 8 New Latin American Cinema’s Neobaroque Phase 210 The Colonial Roots of the Latin American Neobaroque 210 Frida Still Life (1983) • The Last Supper (1976) • La nación clandestina (1989) Theory of the New Latin American Cinema 228 Arc of the New Latin American Cinema 237 PART FIVE. CONTEMPORARY CINEMA 9 Collapse and Rebirth of an Industry 245 Neoliberal Restructuring 245 A Melorealist Cinema 250 The Marketing of Nostalgia 251 Strawberry and Chocolate (1993) • Central Station (1998) • Amores perros (2000) 10 Latin American Cinema in the Twenty-First Century 261 Suspenseful Narratives for Precarious Times 261 ¡Y tu mamá también! (2001) The Rise of the Woman Director 265 Lucrecia Martel’s Salta Trilogy (2001–8) • The Milk of Sorrow (2009) From Nostalgia to Suspense 289 Conclusion: A Triangulated Cinema 293 Appendix: Discourses of Modernity in Latin America 303 Notes 307 Index 335 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments My deepest appreciation goes to my wife, María Monasterios, and to our daughter, Uma Schroeder-Monasterios, for their patience and understanding during the ten years I worked on this project. I dedicate this book to them. At my home institution, Northeastern Illinois University, I am grateful to my colleagues in the Department of World Languages and Cultures and in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Dean’s Offi ce for their support and encouragement over the past seven years; to the Offi ce of Academic Aff airs for a semester-long leave that allowed me to fi nish a fi rst draft of this book; and to the interlibrary loan staff for reliably fi nding the hundreds of materials I requested. Finally, I am especially thankful to Michael Predmore for the oppor- tunity to spend a year as a visiting associate professor at Stanford Uni- versity, during which time I began research for this book in earnest; to Kris Lane and the anonymous readers for their constructive feedback on a fi rst draft of the book; to the editors and anonymous readers in the journals where portions of the book were fi rst published (Latin American Research Review, Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latino- americana, Rethinking Marxism, Revista de Crítica Literaria Latino- americana, Cinema Journal, Valenciana, and Camera Obscura); to Mary Francis and her editorial team at the University of California Press for their enthusiastic support throughout the entire editing and ix