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| HISTORICAL FILMS: 16th CENTURY | |||||||
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THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN
Director: Irving Lerner Writer: Philip Yordan Cinematography: Roger Barlow Music: Marc Wilkinson 1969. 118 minutes. Rated G. Aspect ratio 2.35:1 Setting: Spain & Perú, 1530s Language: English Availability: DVD 
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Based on play by Peter Shaffer.
British actors play Spaniard and Inca alike in this stiff, verbose
drama, which isn't nearly as cool as the cover suggests. We begin with a
long debate between Francisco Pizarro (Robert Shaw) and King Carlos about
whether Spain should fund another expedition to Cuzco. In the first long
scene the film is not successful in shaking its origins as a play. When
we finally get to Peru, Christopher
Plummer brings a welcome eccentricity to the role of Emperor
Atahualpa, awaiting the aid of his gods as he is held captive by
conquistadores. This Cinemascope production seems like a last gasp from
the old-school historical epics before a grittier style took over.
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AGUIRRE, DER ZORN GOTTES (Aguirre, the Wrath of God) Director: Werner Herzog Writer: Werner Herzog Cinematographer: Thomas Mauch Music: Popol Vuh 1972. 100 minutes. Rated PG. Aspect ratio 1.66:1 Setting: Peruvian Amazon, 1560 Language: German Availability: DVD
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Incan and Amazonian Indians only play minor parts on screen but
loom large over the fate of the hubristic explorers in this masterpiece by
director Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski is brilliant as the mad Lope de
Aguirre driving his companions to doom on the unknown Amazon, in search
of the fabled City of Gold. Although
based on historical events (see also El Dorado below), Aguirre
feels more like a masterful horror film than a historical costume drama.
Thematically, it is quite similar to Heart of Darkness.
Cinematographer Thomas Mauch won two awards for Aguirre.
Sinopsis en español: |
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EL DORADO Director: Carlos Saura Writer: Carlos Saura Cinematography: Teodoro Escamilla Music: Alejandro Massó 1988. 149 minutes. 2.35:1 Setting: Perú, 1500s Language: Spanish Availability: VHS (not subtitled) or Region 2 DVD
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It's surprising that anyone attempted to bring this story to the screen
again after Herzog's achievement with Aguirre, widely regarded as
a masterpiece. Saura has not added a bold new vision to the myth, or even
a new twist. He simply made a longer movie. Many reviewers complained
about the slow pace of this
film and the time required for Lope de Aguirre to emerge as an interesting
character. But despite its undeniable inferiority to Herzog's film,
El Dorado is still a good movie, with fine cinematography, acting,
and costumes. If you watch this one before seeing Herzog's Aguirre,
you'll find this large-scale production from Spain quite satisfying.
Sinopsis en español: |
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| 17th CENTURY | |||||||
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EL BIEN ESQUIVO (The Elusive Good) Director: Augusto Tamayo San Román Writers: Augusto Tamayo, Alejandro Rossi Cinematographer: Juan Durán Music: Víctor Villavicencio, Irene Vivanco 2001. 130 minutes. Setting: various parts of Peru, 1618 Language: Spanish, occasional Quechua Availability: VHS (no subtitles)
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A soldier in the Spanish army returns to his native Peru to find legal
proof that he is the legitimate son of a Spanish captain. He seeks out
the small town where his Quechua mother, whom he has not seen in years,
is now dying. Meanwhile, the Jesuit priests are carrying out a purge of
all traces of the pagan religion, seeking huacas (Incan tutelary
figures in honor of their gods) hidden in homes and churches. A parallel
plotline tells the story of a novitiate who secretly writes poetry. The
two stories are connected thematically, both exploring the conflict
between church suppression and the individual's need to be true to
oneself. With excellent cinematography and rich in symbolism and meaning,
El bien esquivo is one of the greatest films of Peru.
Official site:
http://argos.com.pe/elbienesquivo/principal.htm
Sinopsis en español: |
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| 18th CENTURY | |||||||
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TÚPAC AMARU Director/writer: Federico García [Hurtado] Cinematography: Rodolfo López Music: Juan Márquez 1984. 95 minutes. Setting: Cusco, 1770s-1780s Language: Spanish, Quechua Availability: DVD (Spanish subtitles for the Quechua, no subtitles for the Spanish dialogue)
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A retelling of the 1880 Incan uprising led by Túpac Amaru II (1742-1781),
played by Reynaldo Arenas.
Born José Gabriel Condorcanqui, Tupac was the cacique of a Peruvian town
which he governed for the king of Spain. When he was unable to persuade
the government to improve the living conditions of the Indians, he rejected
Spanish culture, adopted the name and native culture of his great-grandfather
(Tupac Amaru I, the last Incan king), and he rebelled against the Spanish.
He was defeated, and the film ends with the execution of Tupac Amaru and
his family. This film can be confusing, with many references to Incan
history and culture, but it is worth the effort. See the director's website at http://directorgeneralccsm.blogspot.com/2009/01/pelculas-de-federico-garca.html
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| EARLY 20th CENTURY: Fiebre de caucho | |||||||
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EL SOCIO DE DIOS (God's Ally) Director: Federico García [Hurtado] Script: Federico García Hurtado, Roger Rumrill Cinematography: Rodolfo López 1986. 120 minutes. Setting: Putumayo and Iquitos, 1895-1908 Language: Spanish Availability: VHS (no subtitles)
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At the beginning of the 20th century, Rubber Fever (fiebre de caucho)
invades the Amazon.
Julio Cesar Arana, a hat seller, rises to power as the owner of a rubber
tree plantation in Putumayo. He earns the nicknamed Socio de Dios for his
extensive power and territory. He makes the Huitoto Indians work under
brutal conditions and punishes them with whipping, burning, and death,
until the Indians rebel. The film moves slowly, with no compelling
characters to carry it off. Good, but it should have been better. Based
on actual events: Julio Cesar Arana was a real person, a contemporary of
Fitzcarraldo, who makes a cameo in this film!
Sinopsis en español:
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FITZCARRALDO Director/writer: Werner Herzog Cinematography: Thomas Mauch Music: Popl Vuh 1982. 158 minutes. PG. 1.85:1 Setting: Amazon River in Perú, early 1900s Language: English Availability: DVD
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Werner Herzog's thematic sequel to his Aguirre. This time Klaus
Kinski plays Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (nicknamed Fitzcarraldo), an
English entrepreneur who wants to build an opera house in the Amazon. In order to
finance his grandiose, Gatsby-esque dream, Fitzcarraldo tries to make his
rubber business more profitable by sailing his ship upriver to where the
unexploited rubber trees are.
When this proves impossible, he must haul his ship over a hill, enlisting
the aid of the Ashaninka Indians to heave the mostronsity over the hill
with a complex
system of pulleys. The Englishman doesn't realize that the Ashaninka have
their own motive for helping him. Fitzcarraldo is surprisingly
similar to Herzog's previous Kinski-in-the-Amazon film, Aguirre (see above), and
many critics view it as inferior, but it is a magnificent film in its own
right. Despite a slow beginning, there is more Indian content, and the scenes
of the Ashaninka people are well worth the wait. You should also check out
Burden of Dreams, a feature-length documentary on the making of
Fitzcarraldo, available on DVD.
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LOS PERROS HAMBRIENTOS (Hungry Dogs) Director/writer: Luis Figueroa Cinematography: Kurt Rosenthal Music: Omar Arayo Editor: Juan Carlos Macias 1976. 100 minutes. Setting: village in the altiplano, early 20th century Language: Spanish Availability: VHS (no subtitles)
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Based on the classic 1937 novel by Ciro Alegría (1909-1967), this film
follows the lives of several families--white, cholo, and Indian--in an unnamed
hamlet in the altiplano. We meet the weathly landowner Don Cipriano, his mayordomo
Don Romulo,
and various families who work the land through times of plenty and times of drought.
We also meet the bandit brothers Blas and Julian Celedón, who steal from their
neighbors and are finally ambushed and killed by a sherrif from the city.
The army forcibly conscripts Mateo, whose wife and 9-year-old son are left to fend
for themselves. And then there is the central family of Simón Robles, a famed
storyteller and sheepdog breeder. They each have their
own story, and it can be confusing to keep track of them all if you haven't read the
book (which has never been published in English). The film has a documentary-like style,
with an anthropologist's attention to
detail, showing the family working the fields, cooking and eating on the
ground, scrubbing their home-made dishes with corn cobs,
feeding their sheep and dogs, singing their folksongs, telling stories,
or just wandering the countryside. Like the novel, the film begins with a
slice-of-life feel to be savored for its images and humor, but slowly turns into a
excruciating account of a drought told in gruesome detail.
Luis Figueroa also directed Kukuli and Yawar Fiesta. Check out
his blog at luifigueroa.blogspot.com
CAST:
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YAWAR FIESTA: FIESTA DE SANGRE
Director: Luis Figueroa 1982. 100 minutes. Setting: Puquio (a town in the Andes), 1930s Language: Spanish, Quechua Availability: VHS (only the Quechua is subtitled)
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An Indian community in the Andes plans to hold a traditional festival,
which involves capturing a wild bull and tying a condor to its back for a
bullfight. The festival gives them the chance to make a show of courage and
manhood that they have to repress in front of their landowner
bosses. But the authorities, both secular and religious, forbid
the festival, leading to racial tensions. Based on the 1941 novel by
José María Arguedas (1911-1969). Arguedas was brought up bilingually,
having learned Quechua from the servants in his house, and became an
anthropologist, novelist and poet. He wrote his poetry in
Quechua, but invented for his novels a hybrid of Spanish words and Quechua
syntax which allowed him to view the world through Indian eyes. Figueroa's
film translates this poetic vision to the screen through a naturalistic
style that shows an unsentimental admiration for the Quechua people.
Sinopsis en español: |
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| CONTEMPORARY SETTING (story takes place about the same time the film was made) | |||||||
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ALTIPLANO
Directors/writers: Peter Brosens and Jessica Hope Woodworth Cinematography: Francisco Gózon Music: Michel Schöpping Editing: Nico Leunen 2009. 109 minutes. Aspect: 1.85:1 Setting: Turubamba (a village south of Quito) Language: Spanish, Quechua Availability: DVD will be released by First Run Features
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War photographer Grace, devastated by a violent incident in Iraq, renounces her profession.
Her Belgian husband, Max, is a cataract surgeon working at an eye clinic in the high
Andes of Peru. Nearby, the villagers of Turubamba succumb to illnesses caused by a mercury
spill from a local mine. Saturnina, a young woman in Turubamba, loses her fiancé to the
contamination. The villagers turn their rage on the foreign doctors, and in the ensuing
riot Max is killed. Saturnina takes drastic measures to protest against the endless
violations towards her people and their land. Grace sets out on a journey of mourning to
the place of Max’s death. Altiplano is a lyrical and probing film about our divided but
inextricably linked world. Official site: www.altiplano.info
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ANTUCA Director/writer: Maria Barea [Paniagua] Cinematography: Cesar Perez, Horacio Faudella Music: Chalena Vasquez Editor: Gianfranco Annichini 1993. 79 minutes. Setting: Andean village Language: Spanish, plus a song in Quechua Availability: VHS (no subtitles)
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Antuca (played by Graciela Huaywa Collanqui) is taken from her native village to work for
her godmother's brother,
a colonel in Lima. She is not allowed to go to school and receives no salary
and so has no means to leave. When the colonel's son tries to rape her,
she finally escapes and returns to her native village, ten years after she
left. Here she rediscovers her indigenous life, and the film shows many
facets of that culture: a parade, dancing, ceremonial dress, weaving,
shepherding, and making music. Antuca lacks the narrative drive to
make it a really compelling film, but the scenes of Andean folkways make
up for the leisurely pace. A rousing soundtrack features a variety of
styles from authentic folksinging to more pop-inflenced songs. The story is based on
testimonies of the maids' union in Lima, and was originally conceived as a documentary.
Director Maria Barea was one of the founders of Grupo Chaski and the producer of
Perros Hambrientos and Yawar Fiesta. Her website:
www.gratisweb.com/mariabarea/index.htm
Sinopsis en español:
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LA BOCA DEL LOBO (The Wolf's Mouth) Director: Francisco J. Lombardi 1988. 128 minutes. Setting: Chuspi, a village in the Andes, 1983 Language: Spanish, some Quechua Availability: VHS or region 2 DVD
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El Sendero Luminoso ("The Shining Path"), a communist terrorist group,
has visited the Indian village of Chuspi, leaving behind their flag and
threatening graffiti. The Peruvian army is sent in to apprehend the Senderistas
(we never
see them on screen) or its sympathizers. One of the soldiers rapes a
girl in the village, and when she reports him to the lieutenant, the
lieutenant covers up the incident. When the same soldier tries to crash
a village party and is thrown out, the lieutentant once again feels he
has to cover up for him, leading to a series of events
that culminates in horrors. A terrifying cautionary tale of the
machismo that turns armies into marauders as evil as the enemy they were
sent to defeat. The official English title is "The Lion's Den," though the
original Spanish title means "The Wolf's Mouth."
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EL CASO DE HUAYANAY Testimonio de parte Director: Federico García [Hurtado] 1981. 86 minutes. Setting: Andean village Availability: not available
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Ancient Incan law is put to practice in a modern village in the Andes: A
man is judged by an assembly of the entire community and sentenced to
maximum punishment for robbery, rape, and homicide. They deliver the body
to the authorities, who in turn order the arrest of the 216 heads of the
family who committed the vigilante justice.
Sinopsis en español:
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CHULLPICHA
Director/writer: Luis Aguilar De La Cruz 2007. Setting: Ayacucha, the presnt. Language: Spanish Availability: none
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The loves and adventures of two girls, Chullpicha and Anacha, who are caught up in a
complicated story taking place in military barracks. A tale of love, hate, jealousy and
violence, showing the deep roots of Andean culture.
Sinopsis en español:
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THE DANCER UPSTAIRS Director: John Malkovich Writer: Nicholas Shakespeare Cinematographer: José Luis Alcaine Music: Alberto Iglesias 2002. 132 minutes. Rated R. 1.85:1 Setting: Perú, 1980s Language: English, some Quechua and Spanish Availability: DVD
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A big-budget U.S. production with A-list actors Javier Bardem and Juan
Diego Botto, The Dancer Upstairs puts a police-story/love-story
spin on the terrorist reign of The Shining Path. Based on the novel by
English author Nicholas Shakespeare, the film doesn't mention The Shining
Path or even Peru by name, but is closely based on the real events, the
major fictional departure being a love interest between the detective
(Bardem) and the woman harboring the leader of the terrorist group.
Bardem's character is part Indian and speaks Quechua, and Indigenous
actors speaking Quechua are used for some minor roles. It's
a fine film, complex and subtle, but too Hollywoodish and North American
in its references, actors, and soundtrack. U.S. audiences could have handled a
more authentically Latin American ambience, as they did with John Sayles'
Men with Guns (set in Guatemala.)
Another objection is that all the Indian characters are portrayed as
absolutely devoted to the Shining Path (one character says of their leader,
"He is the wind in every tree"). Since the film is a police story set in
Lima and told from the detective's perspective, we don't see the Shining
Path's horrifying recruiting practices that are the focus of Peruvian
films on the same topic. Even when the detective travels to his home town,
an Indigenous village where his father once owned a coffee farm, we see
no trace of dissidence, only militant revolutionaries.
Sinopsis en español: |
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DIARIOS DE MOTOCICLETA (Motorcycle Diaries) Director: Walter Salles Writer: Jose Rivera Cinematography: Eric Gautier Music: Gustavo Santaolalla 2004. 126 minutes. Rated R. Setting: Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, 1952 Languages: Spanish Availability: DVD
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Before he became "El Che," the medical student Ernesto Guevara (played by Gael García Bernal) and his biochemist friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) embarked on a road trip across South America, where they saw the poverty and injustice that would eventually make a revolutionary out of Ernesto. Most of the Indians appear during their passage through Peru. Although the books upon which the film was based--Che's Diarios de Motocicleta and Granado's Con el Che por America Latina)--discussed numerous Indigenous cultures they encounted along the way--Mapuche, Aymara, Quechua, Yagua, and others-- the movie only shows snapshot scenes of the Indians. Somewhat superficial as an adaptation, the film is very effective as a Road Trip movie, full of adventure, humor, and and pathos, not to mention wonderful cinematography and fine performances from both Bernal and de la Serna, which will no doubt inspire people to learn more about Che Guevara and South America. | |||||
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DIOSES
(Gods) Director/writer: Josué Méndez Cinematography: Mario Bassino Music: Leonardo Barbuy Editing: Roberto Benavides 2008. 90 minutes. Setting: Asia (coastal resort town 60 miles south of Lima) Language: Spanish; a few lines of Quechua Availability: not yet on DVD
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Agustín is a wealthy factory owner with two spoiled blond children and a brand-new trophy
girlfriend, Elisa, played by Maricielo Effio). Elisa struggles to read up on topics of interest
to Agustín's friends' wives, and struggles to make herself seem sophisticated--a goal
which includes keeping her indigenous origin a secret. She has a
dream that her mother and grandmother show up at her new home in their humble
Andean clothing and she pretends to Agustín that they are the new maids. Later we see her
visiting her family, evidently with affection, but when she marries Agustín at the end,
the family is nowhere in
sight. Dioses is a mordant satire of the rich, and there is much more to this fine
film which I won't go into. The indigenous theme is just a small but crucial part of it.
Magaly Solier (Madeinusa,
La Teta Asustada, Altiplano) has a brief role as one of the maids, who are the only
likable people in the story. Official site:
diosesthemovie.com
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DON MELCHO: AMIGO O ENEMIGO
(Sir Melcho: Friend or Enemy) Director/writer: Arnaldo Soriano Vásquez Cinematography: Julio Urruchi Breña Editing: Arnaldo Soriano Vásquez, Wilfredo Paucar, Luís Calderón 2009. 57 minutes. Setting: Huancavelica, a city high in the Andes, 1980s. Language: Spanish Availability: Youtube
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Based on the life of the controversial Don Melcho, a Robin Hood-type figure who gained
notoreity in the 1980s by bribing and corruping officials and giving money to the poor.
He was semi-illiterate, and some say a delinquent, killer, and rapist. He was finally
captured and killed by a paramilitary group.
The entire movie is available (in six parts) on Youtube:
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JATUM AUKA: El enemigo principal Director: Jorge Sanjinés Writer: Jorge Sanjinés, Oscar Zambrano 1973. 118 minutes. Setting: Perú, 1970s Language: Spanish Availability: none |
A terrorist group arrives at an Andean town to recruit volunteers,
promising to free them from exploitation. They demonstrate their
earnestness by executing an hacienda owner and his chief. This is one of the films
Jorge Sanjines made while in exile. His other films are listed under Bolivia.
Sinopsis en español: |
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KUKULI Directors: Luis Figueroa, Eulogio Nishiyama, and Cesar Villanueva Writers: Hernan Velarde, Lucho Figueroa, Cesar Villanueva Cinematography: Eulogio Nishiyama Editing: Ricardo Nitzal Music: Armando Guevara Ochia 1961. 87 minutes. Setting: Paucartambo, a province of Cuzco Language: dialogue in Quechua, narration in Spanish Availability: not available
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This was the first film recorded in Quechua and marks the beginning of
cine andino (Andean cinema). During the fiesta of Paucartambo,
15-year-old Kukuli (played by Luis Figueroa's sister Judith) is pursued
by the evil bear Ukuku (played by Perez Aranibar). Based on
an Andean legend. This was the first full-length film made by Cine Club
Cuzco, which, like Sanjines in Bolivia, strove to create a cinema by and
for the indigenous community. Soundtrack
by Armando Guevara Ochia, Leopoldo La Rosa, Castro Pinto, and Cazorla.
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KUNTUR WACHANA Donde nacen los cóndores Director: Federico García [Hurtado] 1975. 90 minutes. Setting: Cuzco Availability: not available
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The history of campesino struggles in Cuzco is told through the
testimony of Saturnino Huilca, Mariano Quispe, and friends of
Jose Zuniga Letona.
Sinopsis en español:
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LAULICO Director/writer: Federico García [Hurtado] Cinematography: Pierre Maury Music: Carlos Hayre, Ricardo Eyzaguirre, Talleres de la Cancion Popular, Escuela Nacional de Musica 1979. 84 minutes. Setting: Fuerabamba (Andean village in southern Peru) Language: Quechua; some Spanish Availability: not available
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Legend tells that Fuerabamba suffered a drought when the Spanish conquerors
captured the Wamani, the spirit of the land, and imprisoned him in their hacienda.
Ever since then, the Fuerabambinos lost their role as farmers and became
abigeos, or cattle thieves. For generations they tried to attack the
hacienda and free the imprisoned spirit, but they were always driven back.
Laulico's father led a failed attempt, and now Laulico, chief of the community
(played by Monorato Ascue)
leads another attack and succeds in taking the hacienda.
But he doesn't find the Wamani, and instead he incurs the wrath of the
white people, who crucify Girucha, Laulico's childhood friend. The community must
then decide whether to continue to search for the Wamani, and whether or
not to renew their attack on the hacienda. Laulico sports a great
soundtrack of Andean music, and the actors are from the communities of
Fuerabamba and neighboring villages. The film was dedicated to novelist
José María Arguedas.
Sinopsis en español:
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MADEINUSA Director/writer: Claudia Llosa Cinematography: Raúl Pérez Ureta Music: Selma Mutal 2005. 103 minutes. Setting: Manayaycuna (village in Cordillera Blanca) Language: Spanish; some songs in Quechua Availability: DVD
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In the small village of Manayaycuna, in the Cordillera Blanca region of
Peru, Holy Week is celebrated as a kind of Saturnalia. They believe that
from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, God is asleep and sees no sins, therefore
nothing is a sin and everything is permitted. The mayor, Don Cayo, plans
to devirginize his daughter on this "Tiempo Santo." Madeinusa (played by
Magaly Solier)
is only 14; her mother ran away to Lima for unexplained reasons, and her
sister Chale (Yiliana Chong) is nearly as abusive as her father. Into this
cauldron walks Salvador (Carlos J. de la Torre), a young geologist from
Lima stopping over on his way to another town. He is arrested for no
particular reason, and Madeinusa takes an interest in him, frees him from
her father's barn, and arranges to have Salvador deflower her before
her father can. Madeinusa is director Claudia Llosa's first film,
and also Magalay Solier's first film. It has excellent acting and directing,
and plenty of footage of indigenous customs--dancing, singing, religious
processions, etc. Solier wrote two of the songs sung in the film. I do not
know if there is a community that actually celebrates Holy Week in this
way. See more info and trailer at
www.filmmovement.com
Sinopsis en español: |
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NI CON DIOS NI CON EL DIABLO (With Neither God nor the Devil) Director/writer/cinematographer: Nilo Pereira del Mar Music: Raúl Pereira del Mar Editing: Hitler Mego 1989. 90 minutes. Setting: Pachacayo (Andean village); Lima Language: Spanish Availability: VHS
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Jeremías, a 16-year old alpaca herder, finds that one of his flock has delivered a
two-headed calf. The village shaman interprets the omen to mean that
God and the Devil have made a pact against Jeremias. When Shining Path
terrorists come to the village, it looks as if the omen may come true,
and Jeremias flees his mountain home to lose himself in the urban sprawl
of Lima. Finding work as a construction helper, security guard, and butler,
Jeremias mistreated by his employers and eventually betrayed by his
Godfather. The only relief from his difficulties is his girlfriend. This is
a pessimistic film with only occasional comic relief in the scenes where
Jeremias tries his hand as a butler, learning to use a telephone and
trying champagne for the first time. Jeremias is played by Marino Leon,
who starred in Gregorio and its sequel Anda, Corre, Vuela.
Sinopsis en español: |
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PALOMA DE PAPEL (Paper Dove) Director: Fabrizio Aguilar Writers: Fabrizio Aguilar, Gianfranco Annichini Cinematographer: Micaela Cajahuaringa Music: Irene Vivanco Editor: Enrique Rio 2003. 90 minutes. Setting: an Andean village, 1980s Language: Spanish Availability: DVD
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A village in the Andes is terrorized by the Communist group El Sendero
Luminoso (Shining Path). Three children are kidnapped and forced to proclaim
their allegiance to El Sendero. Beautiful cinematography highlights this
gruesome tale of the notorious terrorist group in Perú, which was also
dramatized in La Boca del lobo and La Vida es una sola.
Sinopsis en español: |
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EL PERRO DEL HORTELANO
(The Gardener's Dog) Directors: Renzo Zanelli, Oleg Kheyfets Writer/cinematographer/editor: Renzo Zanelli 2009. 98 minutes. Setting: Madre de Selva (in the Amazon) and Lima Language: Spanish Availability: DVD
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This film follows the story of a young Bora-Huitoto painter, Brus, as he discovers a unique
path to helping his community resist the encroaching Petrol Company that threatens the
future of their ancestral lands as well as their culture in the Madre de Dios rainforest
of Peru. His work has just premiered at the most prestigious gallery in Lima showcasing
psychedelic Amazonian jungle art from “indigenous artists”. But Brus is not interested
in ascending the ranks of haute culture. Instead he has reached an ideological impasse
about his own culture. The oil company is going to drill in his village, and throughout
their ancestral lands. He seeks support at a local NGO and finds himself entangled in the
subversive work of an American researcher, Angie. Ultimately, Brus navigates his way
through the surreal world of “development” pioneers, well-to-do volunteers, and corporate
strategists discovering his own way of bringing strength to his community. You can order the DVD from the film's website: www.perrodelhortelano.com
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SECRET OF THE INCAS Director: Jerry Hopper Writers: Ranald MacDougall, Sydney Boehm Cinematography: Lionel Lindon Music: David Buttolph, Moises Vivanco 1954. 94 minutes. Setting: Cuzco, Machu Picchu, 1950s Language: English; some Spanish and Quechua Availability: DVD
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Charlton Heston plays Harry Steele, a tour guide and archaeological thief looking for a gold sunburst which disappeared at the time of the fall of the Inca empire and which, when found, will signal the return of the empire. But others are also looking for the sunburst--Steel's rival thief Morgan, a team of archaeologists, and of course the Quechua Indians. Secret of the Incas bears surprising similarities to the Indiana Jones movies, but lags way behind in suspense or action. Filmed on location in Machu Picchu, and filled with throngs of indigenous actors in traditional costumes. Secret of the Incas may be most famous for a performance by Peru's legendary singer Yma Sumac. This scene is actually poorly synced, and her operatic style seems grotesquely out of place against the rugged Andean landscape. DVD available from Yammering Magpie. | |||||
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SIN SENTIMIENTO El ultimo amanecer (Without Feeling: The Last Dawn) Director: Jesús Contreras Writers: Jesús Contreras, Jean Carlo López, Rolando Sotil Cinematography/Editing: Jean Carlo López Music: Porfirio Ayvar 2007. 100 minutes. Setting: Pampa Cangallo (village in Ayacucho) Language: Spanish Availability: none
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A tiny village in the mountains of Ayacucho is beset with a series of murders. The people
suspect a the stranger Jorge, a merchant passing through the village. Crisilda, a timid
girl and sister to Fortunato, the most prominent businessman in the village, falls in love
with Jorge and decides to run off with him. Fortunato raises a lynch party to pursue them.
Website: zankayproducciones.wordpress.com/2008/04/13/sin-sentimiento-ayacucho-2007 Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIKeYl6aYfE
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LA TETA ASUSTADA (The Milk of Sorrow) Director/writer: Claudia Llosa Cinematography: Natasha Braier Music: Selma Mutal, Los Destellos de Edith Delgado (chicha band), Los Pakines, La Sarita, Magaly Solier 2009. 100 minutes. 1:1.85. Setting: outskirts of Lima (?) Language: Spanish, some Quechua Availability: not yet on DVD
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Fausta (played by Magaly Solier) is a melancholy young woman who becomes even more
depressed after her mother dies. When her uncle takes her to the doctor because of her
fainting spells, the doctor explains to the uncle
that Fausta has an infection because she keeps a potato in her vagina (which she believes
will keep men from touching her). But her uncle explains that her illness is "la teta
asustada," a disease transmitted through the milk of mothers who were raped or abused
during Peru's terrorist war. Fausta remembers watching her mother's rape from inside the
womb, and believes that her soul has hidden in the ground ever since. In order to raise
money to take her mother's body back to her hometown for burial,
Fausta must overcome her fear of the outside and accept a job as a maid at the home of a
wealthy concert pianist. The pianist, a cold woman, has writers' block and plagiarizes
the folksongs she hears Fausta singing in Spanish and Quechua (the actress Magaly Solier
wrote many of these songs herself). Unique, fascinating, and touching, La teta
asustada is director Claudia Llosa's second film, and her second collaboration with
Magaly Solier (see Madeinusa above).
Sinopsis en español: Fausta padece una muy conocida enfermedad, llamada “teta asustada”, una enfermedad que se transmite por la leche materna de las mujeres que fueron violadas o maltratadas durante la guerra del terrorismo del Sendero Luminoso en Perú. La guerra se terminó hace tiempo, pero Fausta vive recordándola a causa de su enfermedad, “la enfermedad del miedo”, que le ha robado el alma. La muerte de su madre la pondrá en una situación extrema, teniendo que enfrentarse a sus miedos y al secreto que oculta con más recelo. Y es que se ha introducido una papa en la vagina, a modo de escudo, ya que sólo el asco detiene a los asquerosos. La película, de algún modo, cuenta la búsqueda de un florecer, un viaje del miedo a la libertad.
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LA VIDA ES UNA SOLA (You Only Live Once) Directed by Marianne Eyde 1992. 85 minutes. Setting: Rayopampa (fictional Andean village), 1983 Language: Spanish, some Quechua Availability: not available in U.S.
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The low-budget look takes nothing away from this harrowing account of a conflict between local Peruvian authorities and
the communist group The Shining Path (El Sendero Luminoso). Both sides
seek the loyalty of a humble farming community in the Andes, and yet neither
is willing to protect them. The Shining Path, led by a Chinese woman,
force the community to betray and even execute their own neighbors in
order to prove their willingness to kill for the communist cause, while
the local authorities expect the community to fight the terrorists but
refuse to offer any assistance. This film is a gritty companion piece to
the somewhat slicker film Paloma de papel, also dealing with the
Shining Path. Director Marriane Eyde was born in Norway and moved to Peru
in the 70s, where she founded her own film company, Kusi Films.
Sinopsis en español: |
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EL VIENTO DEL AYAHUASCA
Director/writer: Nora de Izcue Cinematography: Jorge Vignati, Gianfranco Annichini Music: Luis David Aguilar 1983. 85 or 108 minutes (?) Setting: Iquitos; Amazon Language: Spanish, some Quechua Availability: not available
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Miguel (played by Johnny Palacios), a Lima sociologist visiting Iquitos, meets Nexy
(Silvia Chavez Toro), an Amazonian native. Miguel
finds that Nexy has many phobias, including a fear of Yacurunas, mythic creatures of the
Amazon. To cure her fears the couple seek the help of Meliton (Meliton Delgado), a curandero, who administers an ayahuasca ritual and helps her relive her
infancy and the destruction of her home. After Nexy disappears, Miguel submits to the
ayahuasca ritual to better understand the beliefs of the Amazon people. El viento del
ayahuasca is Nora de Izcue's only fiction film; she has made several documentaries on
indigenous peoples of Peru, the Agrarian reform, and the Fujimori administration.
Viento del ayahuasca is seemingly impossible to find, but there is a clip on
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCyt9tGZ0kM
Sinopsis en español: |
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| THE GRUPO CHASKI TRILOGY | |||||||
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GREGORIO Directors: Grupo Chaski Cinematography: Alejandro Legaspi Music: Arturo Ruiz del Pozo Editing: Alejandro Legaspi, Stefan Kaspar 1984. 85 minutes. Setting: Andean village; and Lima Language: Spanish, some Quechua Availability: Grupo Chaski (no subtitles)
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An Andean family moves from their ancestral mountain village to Lima in
order to find work, and they experience a culture shock
at the noise, confusion, and inhuman sprawl of the city. When the father dies,
the son, Gregorio (Marino León de la Torre), must work as a shoeshine boy,
making a long daily
trek from the shantytown slums to the city center. Working on the streets,
he befriends a gang of street punks and is lured into a life of petty
crime. The film begins in Quechua and switches abruptly to Spanish upon
arrival in the metropolis, and the story is occasionally interspersed with
scenes of a slightly older Gregorio facing the camera and telling what he
has learned from his experiences. Thus the film has a documentary feel to
it, which the filmmakers gradually move away from in the next two films in
the series, Juliana and Anda, Corre, Vuela.
Sinopsis en español: |
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JULIANA Directors: Fernando Espinoza, Alejandro Legaspi Writer: Rene Weber Cinematography: Danny Gavidia Music: Jose Barcenas Editing: Roberto Aponte 1988. 85 minutes. Setting: Lima, 1980s Language: Spanish Availability: Grupo Chaski (no subtitles)
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Juliana (played by Rosa Isabel Morffino) is a 13-year-old girl who sells
flowers at the cemetery. Envying the more freewheeling life of her little
brother, she abandons her mother and stepfather and disguises herself as
a boy to join her little brother's street gang, led by the creepy Don
Pedro and his sidekick Cobra. They sell cigarettes, perform on buses,
whatever brings in a little money to hand over to Don Pedro for the
privilege of living in his hideout. Juliana shows hardly any trace
of Indian culture, as these slum kids are disconnected from their
ancestral inheritance by the forces of poverty and neglect. Although the
two films are not related, the main characters of Juliana and
Gregorio come together in the film Anda, Corre, Vuela. The
film won awards in Berlin, Biarritz, and Huelva, Spain.
Sinopsis en español: |
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ANDA, CORRE, VUELA (Go, Run, Fly) Director: Augusto Tamayo San Román Writer: José Watanabe Cinematography: Danny Gavidia Music: Herman Condori Editing: Gianfranco Annichini 1994. 90 minutes. Setting: Lima, 1980s Language: Spanish Availability: Grupo Chaski (no subtitles)
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Gregorio and Juliana, now 19 and 21, are young adults faced with the
meager opportunities available to people in Lima in the 1990s, when the
armed forces and the communist terrorist group El Sendero Luminoso ripped
the country apart in civil war. With humor and creativity Gregorio and
Juliana learn to survive in this violent world. The rock soundtrack and
action-movie-style editing are quite a stretch from the quasi-documentary
style of Gregorio, thereby creating a sense of completion to the
trilogy, which traces the path of Indian integration into mainstream
society, for better or for worse.
Sinopsis en español: |
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| FILMS NOT YET REVIEWED: | |||||||
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| SHORT FILMS / CORTOMETRAJES: | |||||||
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KENTISHANI Y CHAAVAJA Director/writer: Aldo Salvino Cinematography: Juan Durán 1996. 29 minutes. Setting: Ashaninka village in Amazon Language: Ashaninka Availability: VHS (subtitles in Spanish)
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Two Ashaninka children, Kentishani (played by Fredie Iñapi) and Chaavaja
(played by Yerme Aquituari) return from a visit to relatives and find
their village destroyed and in flames. The only survivor they find is
their grandfather, who tells them to run to Shima and warn their
relatives of the coming danger. As the two children head toward Shima
they encounter a wounded soldier who commands them to take him down river
in their canoe. Although they don't speak each other's language, the
children and the soldier eventually learn to respect each other. After
a brief stay at the militar base, Kentishani and Chaavaja return home
to rebuild their village.
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Chicle (Gum) (Josh Hyde, 2005, 14 min.) [This film addresses the innocence and incorruptibility of a young boy trying to survive and remain on the path to morality in Cuzco, despite the depraved actions of those around him. Pablo, a gum seller, discovers a lost American girl and helps her find her mother. Meanwhile, his older brother robs an American tourist who happens to be lost girl's mother and gives the stolen money to his own mother. Pablo has to return to his family heartbroken and empty-handed. But his spirits are raised when his brother presents him with a stolen photo of the girl, and his mother gives him two American dollars to buy gum for the next day. This film is currently being remade into a feature-length film, Postales.] Chullachaqui (Dorian Fernández, 2007, 30 min.)
Danzak (Gabriela Yepes, 2008, 19 min.) Leyenda de las Islas de Pachacamac (1985, 15 min)
Nakaj (Daniel Aizenstat, 1994, 20 min.)
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| MAP OF INDIGENOUS GROUPS AND LANGUAGES IN PERU: | |||||||
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