FM4: MEXICAN CINEMA SINCE 1990 (NUEVO CINÉ MEXICANO)
- CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION -
Source:
Country profile: Mexico
Mexico is a nation where affluence, poverty, natural splendour and urban blight rub shoulders. Firstpopulated over 13,000 years ago. Early history characterised by Olmec, Maya, Teotihuacan,Toltec, and Aztec civilisations. Invaded by Spanish, under Hernan Cortes, in early C16th. Achieved independence from Spain in 1810. Mexican-American Revolution in 1846-48 which resulted in the loss of almost half of its land to the USA, France invaded Mexico in 1860s, Mexican Revolution in 1910 (key revolutionaries were Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata). Communists(the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI) in power from 1929 to 2000 (after pressure for democracy throughout 1990s). Elections in 1997 saw a resurgent opposition break what was in effect a one-party system with a democratic facade. Democratic elections in 2000 confirmed the trend when Vicente Fox became the first president to come from the opposition.
Overview- Mexico is a major oil producer and exporter. Nearly one-third of government revenue comes from the industry. Much of the crude is bought by the US. But prosperity remains a dream for most Mexicans. Rural areas are often neglected and huge shanty towns ring the cities. Many poor Mexicans try to cross the 3,000-km border with the US in search of a job, and more than a million are arrested every year. Hundreds die of heat exhaustion or thirst while making the attempt.
The exodus can lead to some towns and villages in Mexico being virtually empty of able-bodied men. The impact on the families left behind is worrying for the authorities. Poor and rural areas rely on the money sent home by the millions of Mexicans working in the US. Former President Fox urged the US to take a more lenient approach to immigration and opposed what he called the militarisation of the border. Another persistent issue has been the pressure for greater rights for Mexico's indigenous people. A law passed in 2001 fell short of giving Mexico's Indians political autonomy.
However, demands for indigenous rights have been largely peaceful since 1994, when at least 150 people died during an uprising in the southern state of Chiapas, led by the Zapatista rebel movement. Violent crime is a major concern; Mexico has one of the highest rates of kidnappings in the world. Turf wars between rival drug cartels are said to lie behind many gangland killings. Writers such as Octavio Paz and Carlos Fuentes, the mural-painter Diego Rivera, and popular ranchero and mariachi music mean that Mexican culture is known throughout the Spanish-speaking world and beyond.
Facts
Full name: United Mexican States
Population: 106.5 million (UN, 2007)
Capital: Mexico City
Area: 1.96 million sq km (758,449 sq miles)
Major language: Spanish (most populous Spanish speaking nation in the world)
Major religion: Christianity
Life expectancy: 74 years (men), 79 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 peso = 100 centavos
Main exports: Machinery and transport equipment, mineral fuels (crude oil) and lubricants, food and live animals
GNI per capita: US $7,310 (World Bank, 2006)
Leaders- (Vicente Fox 2000-2006, first president from a non-PRI party for many years). Current President: Felipe Calderon, from the governing, conservative National Action Party, was declared the winner of the bitterly-fought July 2006 presidential election with a lead of less than a percentage point over his left-wing rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. His win was confirmed after weeks of legal wrangling. He took office on 1 December; raucous scenes in Congress accompanied his inauguration. Mr Obrador, a populist former mayor of Mexico City, challenged the poll outcome in the courts and led a campaign of street protests. He refused to recognise Mr Calderon's win.
Mr Calderon says he wants to strive for unity; he has offered to include opposition politicians in government. Soon after taking office he announced plans for an anti-poverty drive, targeting Mexico's 100 poorest towns. He also promised to cut his own salary by 10%. Both themes were central to the election campaign of his rival. He vowed to tackle violent crime, tax evasion and corruption. To this end, he promised to raise salaries in the army - a key player in the fight against crime.
He has predicted that the fight against drug gangs will take longer than his six-year term in office. He has dispatched thousands of troops to combat feuding drug cartels. Mr Calderon has pledged to create jobs, in an effort to stem outward migration, and to pursue major infrastructure projects, including roads, airports, bridges and dams. Born in 1962, in Morelia in Michoacan state, he is married and has three children. A lawyer and an economist by profession, he resigned as energy minister in 2004 to pursue his presidential ambitions. His predecessor, Vicente Fox, took office in December 2000 and was unable by law to run in the 2006 poll.
Media - Mexico's media were traditionally dominated by the Televisa group, which had firm links with the PRI. But the loosening of the PRI's hold led to greater editorial independence and the emergence of competitors. Televisa once had a virtual monopoly in Mexican TV and it is still a major global supplier of programmes in Spanish. New players - such as the Azteca group and foreign satellite and cable operators - have mounted an assault on Televisa's dominance.
The radio market is very large, with around 1,400 local and regional stations and several major station-owning groups. Some high-powered stations on Mexico's northern border beam their signals into lucrative US markets. Mexican newspapers reflect different political views; sensationalism characterises the biggest-selling dailies. The media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said in 2008 that Mexico was the most deadly country in the Americas for journalists.
Links
- Mexican history, geography and politics.
– excellent info on the politics of the border which informs our understanding of the films – several characters want to get over the border or talk about the USA.
FAMOUS MEXICAN ARTISTS
- Frieda Kahlo, married to Mexico’s other leading C20th artist, Diego Rivera(a very interesting artists to consider in relation to the imagery used in Pan’s Labyrinth) – Mexican actress, Salma Hayekplayed her in the film
Salma Hayek is known for Desperado, From Dusk Til Dawn, Wild Wild West, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Grown Ups, Exec. Producer of Ugly Betty TV series and CEO of her own Ventarosa Mexican production company (with MGM).
MEXICAN CINEMA
“Eight years ago the gritty urban drama Amores Perros and the provocative coming-of-age road movie Y tu Mamá También alerted the film world to the abundant talent working in contemporary Mexican cinema. From directors Alejandro González Iñárritu and Alfonso Cuarón, writers Guillermo Arriaga and Carlos Cuarón, cinematographers Rodrigo Prieto and Emmanuel Lubezki (who alongside Guillermo Navarro are among the most in-demand in the world) and composer Gustavo Santaolalla to the electrifying screen presences of Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna, Mexico was recognized for the depth and vitality of its creative filmmaking talent.
The rise to prominence of this group was aided by a new entrepreneurial spirit amongst Mexican financiers and producers and coincided with an emerging generation of Mexican moviegoers thirsting for intelligent, identity-affirming, locally made product. Mexico suddenly had a national cinema to shout about, and global critics and audiences sat up and took notice.
In the years following the release of these watershed pictures, however, Mexican cinema has continued to flourish but also flounder, producing important new cinematic voices despite an industry that remains susceptible to crisis and the hostility of the government. The relationship between cinema and the state is pronounced, creating the Mexican film scene's periodic boom-to-bust cycles: periods of cinematic famine lead to ones of high productivity and critical and commercial success before local talent migrates to Hollywood and the cycle begins all over again…” – Jason Wood/2008
Read much more of this excellent article by Jason Wood, which covers Mexican film industry in great detail (skim over the historical stuff until you get to 1990 to today), follow this link
- Excellent NY Times article on the problems faced by the Mexican film industry today (it goes over several pages so click page numbers at bottom of article)
focuses mainly on history with only a little on 1990s to today.
- Mexican cinema today
TASK:
One of the two questions in the exam on this topic is often contextual, so it really would be an excellent idea to prepare for it by doing this task.
Prepare a detailed essay plan on this exam-type question (and look at the other contextual questions in the past papers I sent you and think about how you’d answer them).
Question:
How are the history and politics of Mexico reflected in the themes, narratives, characters and style of the films you have studied?
(Am using Wikipedia as a source very reluctantly here, but I have to admit it is useful for the kind of quick overview we need here! For goodness’ sake, don’t plagiarise it or use it as main sources at university/work!)
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