Tango

          This film was truely enjoyable to watch, and different from other films that we have screened in class. Throughout the movie, there is very little conversation. The character's emotions are well portrayed through the use of music and dance. The music consumes most of the video, but tells the story well. The Tango style of dance is very fun to watch. Steps in this style of dance are so precise with the music and the emotions of the dancers are dramtic and intense.
          The lighting and colors used in this film really stand out to the viewer. Often, dark rooms were lit with vibrant backgrounds, and all the viewer could see were the outline of the characters. The colorful backdrops would light the wood floor of the studio for an even bigger color contrast.
          Mario re-creates the military years in Argentina by creating a scene where the characters portray the disappearance of the citizens. Although I first found this scene very confusing, after researching the background of this era, I thought this scene was very interesting. There was no conversation, but once again it was very intense to the viewer because of the music and dance.

Monika Carpenter

Carol's Journey

          Carol, a 12 year old girl, travelled with her Mother to her home town in Spain, where her mother passed and left her in the care of her Grandfather and Aunt. Carol seems to be innocent, but her friendship with Tomiche allows her to overcome the new culture that she is exposed to. Tomiche helps keep her mind off of missing her father, and towards the end of the movie, Tomiche helps find her father when he attempts to hide from being captured. Tomiche even takes a bullett meant for Carol's father.
          After doing some research about the Franco years in Spain, I concluded that Chana was uneducated in reading and writing because that was the standard during this time period in Spain. It was interesting to watch Carol teaching her to read in one scene of the film. Carol's American background seems to interfere with her efforts to adapt to Spains new "franco regime". When she sees her father in the airplane and officials of the town were shooting at the plain, she didn't realize that her father was a target. When her father returned home, it seemed as though she was unaware that he had escaped. Carol was so excited that she wanted Tomiche to meet him.
          Carol went through a tremendous amount of loss at a young age. Her mother died unexpectedly (to her knowledge), and her father is away at war and is captured shortly after escaping and returning home. At one point, Carol was turned over to the custody of her Aunt, who seemed as though she did not care much for the person Carol was becoming. Through all of this, Carol managed to still enjoy being a child through the friendships she had made.

Volver

                I really appreciate the tribute to women and their resilience in the face of like’s most outrageous tribulations that the movie Volver displays. Raimunda reveals that she grew up feeling as though she was last on her mother’s list of priorities. Her daughter is really her sister, and after her husband attempts to rape her daughter, she defends what she has left of her pride and covers up the murder of her husband to protect her daughter. Raimunda was very strong and did a very good job at supporting her daughter when she really needed it. Raimunda worked every day of the week to support her and her daughter, and even ran a restaurant  behind the owner’s back to make money after her husband is dead.

                There are superstitious beliefs throughout the whole movie. First, the people of the village believed that the wind caused people to be “crazy”. I believe it was Sole that thought her mother had come back because she never quit thinking of her. Everyone believed that Sole and Raimunda’s mother had come back from the dead, when she never really died.

-Monika Carpenter

Entre Nos

           The film Entre Nos was very emotional and at times, hard to watch. When Mariana’s husband abandons the family, it turns Mariana and her children’s lives upside down. The three of them were forced to find any type of work to make a dime, including sifting through garbage cans for aluminum cans.

Mariana’s despair when her husband leaves her affects her children in many scenes. Gabi speaks with his mother many times about going to Miami and missing his father. Andrea, although younger, still felt the effects of her father leaving her. She tells Mariana in one scene that she is “not funny anymore”. The burden on the children is extremely sad.

                Gabi and Andrea’s courage was amazing. They were able to find fun even when trying to make money. It’s sad that they were forced to spend their first summer in the United States trying to support their family, but they were able to have some fun in scenes like the one where they sneak to the private pool.

                Mariana had an incredible amount of strength considering the circumstances. The scene where she purposefully miscarried the child in the bathtub was emotional, but very un-selfish.  It was unfortunate that she had to resort to that option, but in her case, she wasn’t able to take care of the two children that she had, so in my mind, she was an incredible person for being strong enough to go through that.

                Single mothers raising children alone is a very typical social issue in this county. The divorce rate in the United States is incredibly high, and it is very unfortunate for the children. Being a woman that comes from a separated family, I know how it affects a person. Fortunately, I was not raised in the same situation as Gabi and Andrea. I pity their family and was glad to see at the end of the movie that Gabi was given the opportunity to finally attend school, and his family was trying to get back on track.

Monika Carpenter

The Official Story

                I do not believe that Alicia is ever able to reconcile her personal thoughts about her suspicions that her daughter is the child of a murdered political prisoner. Although I found the ending somewhat confusing, it felt to me as though she may have acted like she accepted it after she was beat by her husband.

                There are many examples thought the film where Alicia shows the depth of her concern about her daughter’s biological parents. She spent a lot of time searching through archives and visiting the hospital trying to seek the truth. She also hid her feelings often, especially when her husband started accusing her of wanting to “get rid of” Gaby. The curiosity of finding out the truth and her concern of Gaby’s biological parents knowing the truth was all that Alicia could concentrate on. She changed her “hardcore” school teacher attitude once her  mind was occupied with this. She started to involve anyone that would help her find out the truth. There were many scenes where Alicia was at the protests looking at the posters.

                Shortly after bringing home the woman that Alicia suspects is Gaby’s Biological grandmother, Alicia’s husband begins getting more irritated that she is interested in the truth. The scene where Alicia is beat and her hand is smashed in the door was very hard to watch. He acted as though he had something to hind when he treated Alicia so poorly.

Monika Carpenter