Liz: Movie at Latin American Film Festival Highlights Indigenous Cultures
As you can see from my pictures, I went to the Latin American Film Festival this weekend! It was a lot of fun and I hope that all of you get a chance to see one of the films before Wednesday. Also! While I was there, I saw a poster for “La misma luna” and it’s coming to the Boardman’s Art Theater at the end of April. I highly recommend it!
This weekend I actually went to see the movie “Madeinusa.” I thought that it was a very interesting movie although it was much more violent and dark than I was anticipating. The cinematography is beautiful, and there are lots of interesting colors and themes throughout the film. I thought the director portrayed indigenous life in a very fascinating way. I visited several indigenous communities when I lived in Ecuador, and they looked very similar to the village represented in the movie. Also, the director highlighted the sense of isolation in the town and how many of the people felt disconnected from everyone else in the country. I think that is true for many rural indigenous communities. One particular example emphasizes the situation. Madeinusa’s sister tells a story of how she had to walk three days so she could get to a telephone to order a pair of shoes she wanted out of a magazine. When she told them where she lived, the sales person said it was impossible to have the shoes sent to her because it was entirely too far away. It really shows how difficult it is for these people to communicate with others outside their own community.
Another interesting thing about the movie was that many times the characters spoke in an indigenous language. I was trying not to look at the subtitles during the movie to practice my Spanish. But sometimes in the middle of a scene they would switch languages and all of the sudden I wouldn’t be able to understand it! It was very cool to hear the indigenous language come out and to see how the people switched back and forth from Spanish so naturally.
Overall, I thought the movie was very well done. I will warn people though, that the movie is very dark and it’s by no means a light hearted movie. But in any case, if anyone else went to the film festival I would love to hear your responses to the movies you have seen!
This weekend I actually went to see the movie “Madeinusa.” I thought that it was a very interesting movie although it was much more violent and dark than I was anticipating. The cinematography is beautiful, and there are lots of interesting colors and themes throughout the film. I thought the director portrayed indigenous life in a very fascinating way. I visited several indigenous communities when I lived in Ecuador, and they looked very similar to the village represented in the movie. Also, the director highlighted the sense of isolation in the town and how many of the people felt disconnected from everyone else in the country. I think that is true for many rural indigenous communities. One particular example emphasizes the situation. Madeinusa’s sister tells a story of how she had to walk three days so she could get to a telephone to order a pair of shoes she wanted out of a magazine. When she told them where she lived, the sales person said it was impossible to have the shoes sent to her because it was entirely too far away. It really shows how difficult it is for these people to communicate with others outside their own community.
Another interesting thing about the movie was that many times the characters spoke in an indigenous language. I was trying not to look at the subtitles during the movie to practice my Spanish. But sometimes in the middle of a scene they would switch languages and all of the sudden I wouldn’t be able to understand it! It was very cool to hear the indigenous language come out and to see how the people switched back and forth from Spanish so naturally.
Overall, I thought the movie was very well done. I will warn people though, that the movie is very dark and it’s by no means a light hearted movie. But in any case, if anyone else went to the film festival I would love to hear your responses to the movies you have seen!
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