Letras Hispanas Volume 8.1, Spring 2012

Letras Hispanas Volume 8.1, Spring 2012 TITLE: Driving Toward Heterotopias: Taxis and Taxistas in Contemporary Chilean Cinema AUTHOR: Laura Senio Blair AFFILIATION: Sothwestern University ABSTRACT: Throughout the history of representing the vehicle in Hollywood Cinema, the taxi and its driver stand as some of film’s most enigmatic symbols of America’s urban landscape and working-class characters. Within Chilean cinema specifically, experiencing during the first decade of the 21st century a revitalization called by some asel nuevo cine chileno, a study of the representations of taxis and taxistas, evidenced in Taxi para tres/ Taxi for Three (2001) by Orlando Lübbert and El rey de los huevones/ The King of Idiots (2006) by Boris Quercia offers opportunities to comment upon the vehicles by which city space is negotiated and to examine the socio-economic contradictions present in contemporary Chile. In this way, the presentation of the taxi and its driver in Chilean film appropriates theTaxi Driver (Scorsese 1976) formula related to the failure of a capitalist system that places the driver in opposition to those who have already been disenfranchised, working as heterotopic metaphors for the growing urban consciousness of middle-class Chileans that futilely navigate the economic and social identities presented by a failed neoliberal system. KEYWORDS: Taxi, neoliberal, heterotopia, Chile, film, middle-class RESUMEN: Tras la historia de representar los vehículos en el cine de Hollywood, el taxi y el taxista representan algunos de los símbolos cinematográficos más enigmáticos del panorama urbano americano y de la caracterización de la clase obrera. Dentro del cine chileno, experimentando durante la primera década del nuevo milenio una revitilización llamada el nuevo cine chileno, un estudio de las representaciones de los taxis y los taxistas en las películas Taxi para tres (2001) por Orlando Lübbert y El rey de los huevones (2006) por Boris Quercia ofrece oportuni- dades para comentar sobre los vehículos en los cuales se negocia el espacio urbano y para ex- aminar las contradicciones socio-económicas presentes en Chile hoy en día. La presentación del taxi y el taxista en el cine chileno apropia la fórmula de la película Taxi Driver (Scorsese 1976) relacionada al fracaso del sistema capitalista que expone el conductor en oposición a los que ya han sido privados del derecho de representación, sirviendo como metáforas de hetero- pias que encarnan la conciencia de la clase media chilena que naviga en vano las identidades sociales y económicas que resultan del fracaso del sistema neoliberal. PALABRAS CLAVE: Taxi, neoliberal, heterotopia, Chile, cine, clase media DATE RECEIVED: 09/28/2011 DATE PUBLISHED: 03/02/2012 BIOGRAPHY: Laura Senio Blair is Associate Professor of Spanish at Southwestern University. Since earning her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas, she has continued her research on contemporary Chilean narrative, theater, and film. Recent publications have included es- says published in Letras Femeninas and Studies in Hispanic Cinemas. Her current research as a Visiting Scholar in Chile, funded by the Fulbright Commission, focuses on exiled Chil- ean film directors and the Hispanic Road Movie. ISSN: 1548-5633 22 Letras Hispanas Volume 8.1, Spring 2012 Driving Toward Heterotopias: Taxis and Taxistas in Contemporary Chilean Cinema Laura Senio Blair, Southwestern University Throughout the history of representing the taxi and its driver in Chilean films fur- the vehicle in Hollywood Cinema, the taxi ther appropriates the Taxi Driver formula by stands as one of the most enigmatic symbols contextualizing the socio-economic contra- of America’s urban landscape. In parallel dictions present in Santiago’s city streets at fashion to the vehicles they drive, taxi driv- the turn of the millennium. To this end, the ers mark some of the most memorable work- representations of taxis and taxistas in con- ing-class characters portrayed on film, such temporary Chilean films work as symbolic, as Robert De Niro’s iconic interpretation of heterotopic metaphors for the growing urban Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976), consciousness of middle-class Chileans that or Winona Ryder as Corky in Night on Earth futilely navigate the economic and social iden- (Jarmusch, 1991). In recent Hispanic cinema, tities presented by a failed neoliberal system. the rendering of taxis and taxi drivers has be- As taxis constitute an important part come a frequent medium employed by film of the transportation network of any city, directors to facilitate the presentation of the offering services to specific segments of the middle-class and the class conflicts that en- population for a higher price than other mass sue in the age of neoliberalism, exemplified transit options, the symbolic cinematograph- by Mexico’s late Benito Alazraki’s Rey de los ic imagery of the taxi as a representation of taxistas/ King of Taxi Drivers (1989), Spain’s Chile’s emerging middle-class compares Carlos Saura’s Taxi (1996), and Argentina’s quite naturally with the portrayal of the dis- Taxi, un encuentro/ Taxi, an Encounter (2001) enfranchised and/or lower socioeconomic by Gabriela David. Within Chilean cinema class characterized by the desolate junk- specifically, experiencing during the first -de yard wasteland depicted in the first scene of cade of the 21st century a certain revitaliza- Caluga o menta/Candy or Mint (Justiniano, tion called by some as el nuevo cine chileno, 1990) or the micro (bus) seen in films such as a study of the representations of taxis and Johnny Cien Pesos/ Johnny One Hundred Pesos taxistas, evidenced in Taxi para tres/ Taxi for (Graef-Marino 1993). In Johnny Cien Pesos, a Three (2001) by Orlando Lübbert and El rey film set in 1990—the year Chile transitioned de los huevones/ The King of Idiots (2006) by from a dictatorship to democracy—the open- Boris Quercia, offers opportunities to com- ing scene takes place aboard a bus that the ment upon the vehicles by which city space main character, seventeen year old Johnny is negotiated and to examine the contradic- Garcia (Armando Araiza), rides to get to the tions experienced by middle-class Chileans money-laundering locale that he and some in contemporary, urban society. Whereas the acquaintances plan to rob. Scared and naively plot development portrayed in the Hispanic involved in a scheme clearly above his crimi- films mentioned above continue in the line of nal abilities, Johnny accidently fires a loaded Taxi Driver, related to a “failure of a capitalist pistol stored in his school backpack, calling system that pits” the cab driver against those attention to himself and causing the driver of who have already “been disenfranchised ac- the bus to chase him from the vehicle in a fit cording to socioeconomic class, gender, and/ of anger; a clear indication of just how badly or race” (Iannucci par.1), the presentation of the impending crime will progress. Laura Senio Blair 23 In addition to facilitating the presen- and critical acclaim, the sense of urban alien- tation of the arid desolation of the lower- ation and class separation that is witnessed income Santiago neighborhoods through aboard the city bus in Johnny Cien Pesos con- which the bus travels, kicking up even more tinues to be underscored, as evidenced in dirt and debris in its wake, the appearance of the film Play (Scherson, 2005). Cristina, the the micro with its squeaky wheels and bumpy young protagonist of Mapuche origin (Vivi- commute also allows Graef-Marino the op- ana Herrera), having immigrated to Santiago portunity to drive home the sense of alien- from the “South,” works as a home health aid ation felt by disenfranchised youth and other for an ill Hungarian man. In the film, Cristina members of the urban, lower-class during is portrayed riding the micro around Santia- Chile’s shift from dictatorship to democracy; go during her off-hours, failing to ever estab- whose transitional government continued to lish any sustained relationship, even with her promote the rewards of Pinochet’s neoliberal charge, who dies near the film’s end. Her soli- economy at the expense of recovering and/or tary activities, first shown as simple outings to acknowledging a national, popular memory. the arcade to play Japanese-style video games In an interview conducted with the director or walking alone through the various com- upon his return from exile, Graef-Marino mercial malls, takes on exaggerated meaning states that Johnny Cien Pesos was developed when she finds a discarded briefcase in a trash in direct response to witnessing a generation can. Cristina becomes obsessed with the con- of Chilean youth alienated from their nation: tents and with the owner himself, a young, recently dumped thirty-something architect Lo primero que percibí fue una gene- named Tristán (Andrés Ulloa). Pursuing Tris- ración adolescente desorientada y que tán throughout the city, in addition to stalk- además había sido estupidizada por la ing his ex-girlfriend, the film underscores in dictadura. Los habían transformado en no-lectores, no-videntes, mudos, various moments that although Cristina plays en personas sin ideas ni pasiones. an active role in a game of chase, she misses (Mouesca 400) frequent opportunities to establish contact with others due to her disempowered role in In this city, and on this very public system society. In the few hopeful scenes in which of transportation, urban bus commuters as Cristina seemingly befriends a park gardener well as their drivers are shown physically dis- named Manuel (Juan Pablo Quezada), who tant and emotionally alone, separate from all quickly latches onto the dream of escaping other occupants. Whereas the concentration city-life and returning to Cristina’s “South,” of economic growth that took place in the a place he idealizes for its fresh air and trees 80s and 90s mainly occurred in or around yet a place she refuses to consider returning Santiago, the city’s surging population con- to only to be poorer and further “distanced” tributed to the alienation felt negotiating than she is now, the connection between the crowded city-space(s) as well as to the sense two is ultimately lost.

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