Summarizing a film
Film is a powerful medium through which societies express concerns and aspirations, providing us an opportunity to explore visually some of the topics of the course. You will receive a list of films from which you will select one. Your review should include a very brief summary (maximum one page double-spaced) and your reaction (minimum one page double-spaced) to the piece. What is the film’s argument? What are the writer and director trying to say to the viewer? Also include any questions you still have of the film. Reviews should not exceed one double-sided, double-spaced page. write 3 pages
Some of these films are available on Netflix, some on Youtube, some at Videorama, some on Amazon.
Group One: Conquest and Colonization
Cabeza de Vaca (Mexico): Story of a 16th century explorer in present-day Mexico and United States
The Mission (US): On the 18th century Jesuit missions in present day Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay
Aguirre, Wrath of God (Germany): On failed expedition to El Dorado, greed and madness in the 16th century Amazon
Fitzcarraldo (Germany): An early- 20th century rubber baron in the Peruvian Amazon
I, The Worst of All (Argentina): On the life of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, brilliant 17th c. Mexican intellectual, poet and nun.
The Other Conquest (Mexico): On the conquest of the Aztec Empire
La monja alférez (Spain): About Catalina de Erauso, a transgendered lieutenant-nun living in 17th c. Peru
Group Two: Early-to mid 20th Century
La Patagonia Rebelde (Argentina): On worker/anarchist rebellion in 1920s Southern Argentina
Black Orpheus (France/Brazil): A Greek-style tragedy unfolds in a 1950’s Rio favela during Carnival
Machuca (Chile): On the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende
Missing (US): On Pinochet’s coup in Chile
Romero (US): On the assassination of Bishop Romero in 1980s El Salvador
The Official Story (Argentina): On the aftermath of the military Junta
La Cautiva (Argentina): On the children of the desaparecidos
The Panama Deception (US): Documentary on US invasion of Panama in 1989
Innocent Voices (El Salvador): Violence in 1980s El Salvador
Ché (Spain, France, US): Two part film on Ernesto Guevara (Part One: Cuba; Part Two: Bolivia)
Motorcycle Diaries (Argentina, Brazil, US, etc.): On the journeys and memoir of Ernesto (Che) Guevara
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Argentina): On the struggles of a group who opposed the military regime
El Norte (US-Guatemala): The story of two undocumented immigrants from Guatemala
Fitzcarraldo (Germany/Peru): About greed and madness in early 20th century Amazon
Paper Dove (Peru): About a young man in Peru’s civil war
Group Three: Modern Social Issues and Movements
Bolivia (Argentina): The story of a Bolivian migrant in Argentina
The Revolution will not be Televised (Venezuela/Ireland): Coup attempt on Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez
Cocalero (Argentina/Bolivia): Documentary on Evo Morales’ rise to President of Bolivia
City of God (Brazil): An extremely violent view of life in the favelas
Madeinusa (Peru): On the complexities of intercultural relations in Peru
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru): On the lingering effects of Peru’s violence
The Maid (Chile/Mexico): A realistic portrayal of a Chilean family, through the eyes of its maid
The Gift of Pachamama (Bolivia/Japan): A child coming of age in a salt-harvesting family of Bolivia
The Pinochet Case (France/Chile): What was hoped to be the long-awaited justice for Pinochet
La dictadura perfecta (Mexico): On the media, society and politics
Siete soles (Mexico): The story of undocumented immigrants making their way to the US
César Chávez (México/US): Follows the life of the 1960s-70s Mexican-American labor leader
Sins of my Father (Colombia): The life and death of drug lord Pablo Escobar, as told by his son
The Devil’s Miner (US/Germany): A documentary on Bolivian silver miners
Even the Rain (Spain/Bolivia): Fictional account of a film crew making a documentary about Columbus in Bolivia
