Letras Hispanas Volume 17

TiTle: Family Ties and Affective Landscapes in 21st Century Argentinean and Mexican Cinema: El premio (2012) and Mai morire (2013) AuThor: María Soledad Paz-Mackay and Argelia González Hurtado emAil: [email protected]; [email protected] AffiliATion: St. Francis Xavier University; Department of Modern Languages, Argentine Literature and Cinema, Southern Cone Art and Human Rights; 2360 Notre Dame Avenue; Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G 2W5 St. Mary’s College of Maryland; Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies; 47645 College Drive, St. Mary’s City, MD, 200686-3001 Abstract: This article considers the intersection of cinematic work and landscape by analysing the gazes and discourses that affectively frame the rural landscape of Argentina and Mexico as portrayed in the films El premio (2012) and Mai Morire (2013). Landscape evokes emotion and affect, and by focus- ing on the resignification of iconic rural landscapes in the films, we question alternative meanings of rural landscape as portrayed in these two regions. We argue that the films articulate a moment of rupture in the lives of the protagonists by using the landscape to depict the importance of change in their individual lives. Both films imbue the landscape with meanings that represent intensities to pro- voke a more nuanced understanding of the political or social context of the protagonists’ problematic situations. We focus on the formal and the aesthetic devices used to trigger an affective response and reshape the cinematic meaning of Patagonia and Xochimilco. Keywords: Film, Aesthetics, Rural Landscape, Argentina, Mexico, Affect, Emotion. Resumen: Este artículo considera el cruce entre el trabajo cinematográfico y el paisaje analizando las mira- das y discursos que encuadran afectivamente el paisaje rural de Argentina y México representado en las películas El premio (2012) y Mai Morire (2013). El paisaje evoca emoción y afecto, y al enfocarse en la resignificación de paisajes icónicos, este artículo analiza los significados alternativos del paisaje rural representado en esas dos regiones. Argumentamos que las películas articulan un momento de ruptura en la vida de las protagonistas utilizando el paisaje para representar la importancia de ese cambio en sus vidas. Ambas películas dotan al paisaje con significados que representan reacciones intensas para provocar una comprensión más matizada de la complicada situación política o social de las protagonistas. En nuestro análisis nos enfocamos en los elementos estéticos y formales utilizados para provocar una reacción afectiva y construir nuevos significados cinematográficos de Patagonia y Xochimilco. Palabras clave: cinema, estética, paisaje rural, Argentina, México, afecto, emoción. Date Received: 8/12/2020 Date Published: 5/19/2021 Biography: María Soledad Paz-Mackay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Lan- guages at St. Francis Xavier University. Her research areas include contemporary Latin-American Literature, Argentine Literature and Cinema, and Southern Cone Art and Human Rights. She has published several articles on these areas; her latest book, co-edited with Dr. Rodriguez, titled Politics of Children in Latin American Cinema (2019), explores the trend of portraying children and adoles- cents in a subjective, adult-constructed point of view. Argelia González Hurtado is an Assistant Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Her academic interests include Latin American Cinema, Indigenous Media, Mexican Literature and Popular Culture. She has contributed with a chapter in both books: Adjusting the Lens: Community and Collaborative Video in Mexico edited by Freya Schiwy and Byrt Wammack Weber; and Politics of Children in Latin America Cinema, edited by María Soledad Paz-MacKay and Omar Rodríguez. ISSN: 1548-5633 48 Letras Hispanas Volume 17

Family Ties and Affective Landscapes in Twenty-First-Century Argentinean and Mexican Cinema: El premio (2012) and Mai morire (2013)

Argelia González-Hurtado, St. Mary’s College of Maryland María Soledad Paz-Mackay, St. Francis Xavier University

In the first two decades of the twen- depict the importance of the change in their ty-first century, films from Argentina and lives. Both films represent, through land- Mexico have given landscape a central role scape intensities, reactions that provoke a within the narrative. Landscape evokes emo- more nuanced understanding of the political tion and affect, and filmmakers have accord- or social context of the protagonists’ prob- ingly considered transformations within lematic situations. We focus on the formal their societies by highlighting the landscape and aesthetic devices used by the filmmak- as a cinematic element and as a catalyst of ers that trigger an affective response and meaning. Landscape acts as a vehicle to un- reshape the cinematic meaning of Patago- derstand new ways to read through emotion nia, Argentina and Xochimilco, Mexico. In and affect; it presents a different epistemo- addition, by paying attention to the transi- logical approach to address discourses of tional period in the life of the protagonists, the construction of new subjectivities. As we examine the significance of the changes Martin Lefebvre explains in the introduc- that invert their lives through those iconic tion of his edited collection Landscape and landscapes. Film, “in investigating landscape in film The filmEl premio portrays the hard- one is considering an object that amounts ships faced by seven year-old Cecilia (Ceci) to much more than the mere spatial back- and her mother Lucia, as they hide in a se- ground that necessarily accompanies the cluded, small beach house south of Buenos depiction of actions and events” (xii). Our Aires, in the Patagonia region. The family is analysis thus integrates the enduring con- forced to move to this isolated beach in the cept of landscape in the visual arts in order cold winter months to escape the dangers of to understand its functions in the context the brutal repression of the last dictatorship. of the Argentine film El premio (2012), di- The story is set in 1977, where mother and rected by Paula Markovitch, and the Mexi- daughter are hiding while waiting to hear from can film Mai morire (2013), directed by En- the father who has disappeared. Surrounded by rique Rivero. impressive marine landscapes, the protagonists This article focuses on an alternative try to survive their tenuous conditions. Ceci- way of understanding political and familial lia starts attending the local school but must relationships by considering how they are hide her identity to protect her family. Lucia etched in the rural landscapes in El premio is consumed by pain and worry, and is an ab- and Mai morire. We argue that the films ar- sent-minded parent. The mother-daughter re- ticulate a moment of rupture in the lives of lationship deteriorates as the story progresses, the protagonists by using the landscape to in particular because of a prize won by Cecilia Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 49 at the school. The child’s questions are also met suggest how the landscape can express the ten- with long silences that deepen the emotional sions surrounding the protagonists’ personal gap between the mother and the daughter. lives. Furthermore, the films depict socio-po- Mai morire addresses, with a minimal- litical changes through the weakening of the ist and intimate style, the return of Rosario family structure in combination with the use (called Chayo) to her native Xochimilco to of affective landscapes. El premio tackles the care for her dying 99-year-old mother.1 On subjective turn in the discourse of the memo- her return home, Chayo is reunited not only ries surrounding the horrors of the last dicta- with her husband and children (whom she torship, while Mai morire brings to light the previously abandoned to work as a cook), but gradual change of ideas about “la gran familia also with her home landscape of Xochimilco. Mexicana” and the role of women within it. The rhythm of rural life in the lacustrine These films thus offer an affective re-reading area of Xochimilco persists despite being in of two historical and cinematically iconic plac- the middle of large, crowded, and chaotic es in the Argentine and Mexican imaginar- Mexico City, which becomes a central point ies through personal stories. Patagonia and of the film. As soon as Chayo arrives, she is Xochimilco are anchored to certain emotions wrapped up in the slow pace of rural life and that have been codified through time. As we by the dreamy, spectral landscape of Xochi- explain later, these two places, through dif- milco. The landscape invites the protagonist ferent cinematographic periods, have been (and the viewer) to reflect on life, death, self- encoded with certain emotional attribuites: determination, and crucial decisions that af- hope and hostility in the case of Patagonia, fect family structure and relationships. and national pride and nostalgia in the case of Despite their many differences,El pre- Xochimilco. We argue that these films chan- mio and Mai morire both narrate a moment nel the affect (a non-codified feeling) of the of crisis faced by female protagonists—a female protagonist through the landscape. rupture of daily life, a transition to a new In the context of this paper, we consider the positioning of their reality where they must landscape as one important narrative and seek to establish a new normality. Both films symbolic element that engages the audience take place within a recognizable landscape in emotionally and affectively. their respective national imaginaries. These As a response to many recent socio- films incorporate, through an affective land- political and economic changes, Argentinian scape, the intensity of feelings caused by the and Mexican filmmakers are portraying change life-changing situation that the protagonists in an emotional and affective way through are living and the particular familial ties rep- the incorporation of narrative and cinemato- resented. At the center of both films is the graphic devices such as graphic violence, un- portrayal of the mother-daughter relation- conventional narratives, the re-emergence of ship and its struggles in two particular and genre films, and the innovative use of cinema- different stages of life: the formative years tography in order to reach audiences through in El premio and the twilight years in Mai sensation (Podalsky 8). In this sense, contem- morire. In El premio, we see the enraged sea porary films can be characterizedas devices trying to enter the cabin of a woman and her to evoke and provoke certain intensities or daughter who are looking to find a place of visceral reactions through form or aesthetics refuge, while in Mai morire we see the con- that encourage reading and understanding stant presence of the lake as the protagonist the film on a more affective and emotional awaits the slow death of her mother. level (Podalsky 20). These sensory dynam- Both the tempestuous and uncontrol- ics allow us to interrogate the socio-political lable Atlantic Ocean edging Patagonia and the contexts and discourses through anchoring lethargic and enigmatic lake of Xochimilco ourselves affectively to the profilmic event. 50 Letras Hispanas Volume 17

According to Verónica Gariboto, in the early Revisiting the Rural through 2000s a number of social science and hu- manities scholars turned to affect-based ap- Affective Landscape proaches in order to engage with cultural Landscape has been an object of study artifacts since “feelings are cultural, socially for artists for many centuries. More recently, and historically variable as opposed to uni- landscape in film has gained critical attention versal, private, and static” (19). In this sense, in a predominantly narrative cinema. Specifi- feelings can give another perspective of cally, the gaze that frames the cinematic land- how specific historical, political, and social scape embeds many specific meanings (Lefe- events can provoke an emotional or intense bvre). Scholars have paid special attention to reaction and how these feelings influence landscape in film in a wide sense, including not only the thinking process but also the not only the spatial but also sound landscape, way of behaving or reacting to the affective movement landscape, and image landscape. stimulus. As Garibotto points out, films not Martin Lefebvre emphasizes the importance only translate experience in which the audi- of landscape in film, arguing that landscape ence emotionally relates but also create new becomes the centerpiece of films because it affective configurations that “serve as a cata- is anchored in human life. In his view, land- lyst for critical inquiry.” In doing this, “cin- scape is a multifaceted and multidisciplinary ema becomes both a historical register and a spatial object whose meanings and represen- historical agent” (21).2 tations extend from real-life environments to In our reading of El premio and Mai art. In Cinema and Landscape, Harper and morire, we understand emotion and affect ac- Rayner understand that landscape in film is cording to Brian Massumi’s definition wherein produced by human interpretation because it emotion “is a subjective content, the socio- “involves isolation of a certain spatial extent, linguistic fixing of the quality of an expe- and a certain temporal length” (16). In their rience which is from that point onward opinion, landscapes are never neutral in re- defined as personal” (28). In other words, gards to their intention or reception, adding emotion is an intensity that has been quali- that “depicted landscapes are often symbolic, fied, recognized, owned, and named. On the and frequently contribute to social forma- contrary, affect is a sensation or intensity tion” (16). Thus, the centrality of landscape as that has not been qualified or recognized, meaningful space in film creates a need to de- and because of this, has not been verbalized code its symbolism and the feeling it evokes. (28). This distinction will help us to under- Despite the emergence of landscape stand how, through aural and visual repre- studies in film, scholars focusing on Latin sentations of landscape, the abrupt and con- American cinema have centered their studies stant socio-political and historical changes on urban spaces, paying little attention to the of the region are explored in these two films rural or natural landscape in fiction and doc- in the individual and intimate stories of the umentary films (with the exception of Jens protagonists. These cinematic landscapes Andermann, Irene Depetris Chauvin, and translate feelings towards the context that Cynthia Tompkins).3 Andermann suggests the protagonists, in many occasions, can- that landscape has been one of the most im- not articulate with a qualified intensity portant and long-standing modes of critical because of the situation they are immersed counter-politics in Latin American cinema of in. Both films represent a transitional and the twentieth and early twenty-first century. redefining phase that will shape the pro- He argues that landscape reopened world tagonist’s life through an “affective turn” of cinema towards the singularity and strange- iconic landscapes. ness of places, resisting and counteracting Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 51 their neocolonial and subalternizing geopo- areas. For example, Carlos Reygadas in Japón litical inscription (134-35).4 In his article “Ex- (2002), Luz silenciosa (2007), Post tenebras hausted Landscapes: Framing the Rural in lux (2012), and Nuestro tiempo (2019) focuses Argentine and Brazilian Films,” Andermann on rural landscapes to depict the unrecogniz- focuses on the analysis of Argentinean and able and abstract side of the Mexican land- Brazilian films, arguing that the presentation- scape. Diego Quemada-Díez’s La jaula de oro al qualities are “contested by an archival self- (2013) traces an affective geopolitical journey consciousness, that is, by the way in which throughout the crossing of different borders. they both call on and dismiss the repertoire Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán of rurality proper to a previous, national cin- represent northern Mexico in a naturalistic ematic modernity” (53).5 In his work, he ana- and documentary style by locating history lyzes the compositional modes and signify- in the isolated landscape of the Sierra Tara- ing functions of landscape in recent films.6 humara in Cochochi (2009). Alamar (2009), This key point in Andermann’s theories of directed by Pedro Gonzalez Rubio, presents landscape and film is central to our analysis the Mexican Caribbean as a metaphor for since both films we examine are appropriat- fatherhood and alternatives to modern life, ing rural scenery to re-write a more personal while La tempestad (2017), directed by Tatia- and reflective view of society and history. By na Huezo, shows an emotional journey of the turning the gaze to the rural, the films revisit protagonist that depicts the violence gener- iconic landscapes deeply connected to the ated by the corruption of the government and representation of hegemonic notions such as drug cartels upon the rural landscape.7 nation, politics, family, and identity in each Paz Escobar has studied the representa- country, opening them to new or alternative tion of Patagonia in Argentine cinema in the versions. Our analysis therefore builds upon period from 1986 to 2006—considered the Andermann’s preliminary studies, expand- “neoliberal hegemony” (119). She suggests ing research to the analysis of new meanings that at the turn of the twentieth century, Pa- of the rural in connection to Patagonia and tagonia is identified with the rural in a broad Xochimilco and how both landscapes are en- sense because films are mostly set in small tangled with discourses of politics and family. towns and rural spaces. She adds that while Filmmakers interested in the represen- there are some films set in cities, they are in tation of landscape as a meaningful catalyzer fact visually removed from the story.8 Fur- extend across both Argentinian and Mexican thermore, for Escobar, the Patagonian space cinemas. For example, in Argentina Lisan- in the films from this period resorts to a ste- dro Alonso’s films La libertad (2001) and Los reotypical construction, one repeated many muertos (2004) center attention on the land- times before. She argues that most films pres- scape of the north of Argentina, while Liver- ent a utopian (a place of hope and new be- pool (2008) and Jauja (2014) focus on Patago- ginnings) or dystopian (a place of purgatory nia. Martin Trapero’s Nacido y criado (2006) or hostility) vision of Patagonia (14). Escobar is also set in Patagonia. Lucia Puenzo’s Wa- adds that the idea of Patagonia as an empty kolda (2013) represents extreme landscapes place is strong in the films, in particular “One of the south, while XXY (2007) places atten- idea of the rural associated to the predomi- tion on the northeast of Argentina. Other nance of the natural vs the urban-human in Argentine films such as Juan Solana’sNoreste relation to big cities [. . .] that is independent (2005), Esteros (2016) by PaPu Curotto, or El from the economic activities of these places” limonero real (2017) by Gustavo Fontan also (122).9 As noted by Escobar, there are differ- showcase the unique landscape of the north- ent representations of Patagonia; many films east section of Argentina. Likewise in Mexico, present it as a rural retreat where everything many filmmakers choose to highlight rural is nature—sea, deserts, and mountains. The 52 Letras Hispanas Volume 17 film El premio moves away from such uto- Candelaria, Mai morire also presents a mes- pian conceptions of Patagonia by introduc- merizing Xochimilco but instead of reinforc- ing a new meaning connected to the marine ing nationalist or tourist tropes, it depicts a landscapes by appealing to the intensity of the landscape reflective of the inner struggles of relationship between mother and daughter. the protagonist. Although there are few films that take place in Xochimilco either totally or par- Contextualizing El premio and tially, this landscape was immortalized cin- ematographically during the Golden Age Mai morire of Mexican cinema (1930-1950) in the film María Candelaria (1943), directed by Emilio Since the return of democracy in 1983, Fernández. The original title of the film was Argentina’s conflictive relationship with its Xochimilco.10 According to Carl J. Mora, this political past has been a central theme in film remains a classic that prompted a style cultural production—in particular, literature, that subsequent filmmakers perpetuated, de- cinema, and theatre, which often depict the vi- spite creating a touristic vision of Mexico and olence and human rights violations of the last establishing an idealistic and stereotypical dictatorship (1976-1983). The representation representation of Indigenous people “patient- and reinterpretation of the crimes commit- ly paddling their flower-laden dugouts along ted during the last dictatorship show a clear the scenic canals of Xochimilco” (65). Part of evolution of the artistic discourse surround- the success of María Candelaria is due to the ing the tragedy of the desaparecidos and the cinematographic style of Gabriel Figueroa, lasting consequences suffered by their fami- who is recognized as the most important lies. This evolution is a direct product of both Mexican cinematographer for having created social and political circumstances, and the an iconic Mexican landscape.11 As described temporal distance and emotional perspective by Alberto Elena and Marina Díaz, in María of their author.12 The presence of an authorial Candelaria Figueroa highlighted the beauty voice belonging to the child of desaparecidos of Xochimilco by portraying successfully its (Cecilia) in El premio points not only to the flora and fauna and by the use of several tech- generational change but also to the evolution niques: filters to accentuate, and make more of the strategies used to address the political dramatic, the clouds; a deep focus and dra- violence. The choice of a child’s perspective is matic low and high angle shots; the use of one of those typically used in literature and diagonal axis (47). All these elements created films after the turn-of-the-century.13 Direc- a mesmerizing image of Xochimilco that con- tor Paula Marcovitch lived through the vio- tinues in the Mexican imaginary. Fernández’s lent years of the dictatorship, hiding with her María Candelaria placed Mexican cinema in mother in the south of Buenos Aires while the international scope by winning the 1946 her father was taken by the military forces; Grand Prix for best feature film in Cannes, and later she lived in exile in Mexico. Thus in her best photography at the Locarno Film Festival. semi-autobiographical filmEl Premio, Marc- These triumphs not only helped to establish a ovitch embraces this narrative pattern by European market for the Mexican cinema but constructing her story from a child’s perspec- also to position a touristic vision of Mexico. tive.14 However, what sets her film apart from At the national level, María Candelaria—like others using the same format is the original many of the films of the Golden Age of Mexi- and central usage of the marine landscape can cinema—obsessed with the construction as a catalyzer of meaning, representing the of national identity and in particular with an stress suffered by the mother-daughter rela- indigenist ideology as a gesture of reaffirming tionship in their forced enclosure during the a national heritage. Like its precursor María violent years. Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 53

Garibotto suggests that films by second- he shows a “certain tendency” to make films generation filmmakers that return to a child’s in Mexico (López 42). Although these inde- or a teenager’s perspective go backwards in his- pendent filmmakers do not represent a homo- tory by using an “archaic” 1980s format, typical geneous group, they have distinguished them- of the first years after the return to democracy selves by accessing different routes towards in Argentina (142).15 She argues that “these global markets such as the art film festival fictions join Kirchnerist discourse in making circuits, making relatively low-budget produc- the dictatorship an empty signifier, a nodal tions, and adopting styles often associated with point articulating hegemony” (152). Never- “slow cinema,” European auteurs, new forms theless, in our opinion, Marcovitch’s choice of realism, or experimental cinema. Themati- of the child’s perspective is not intended to cally, they tend to move away from national empty or crystallize the dictatorship follow- clichés or mainstream stories like romantic ing the tendency highlighted by Garibotto. comedies and urban violence films17 (López, On the contrary, Marcovitch gives centrality Podalsky). In fact, Mai morire was released to the extreme situation that the protagonists internationally in 2012 at the Rome Interna- are forced to live in because of the political tional Film Festival.18 violence, turning the focus to the private rela- In Mai Morire, Rivero revisits frequent tionship struggles of the protagonist with her themes in the national cinematographic dis- mother. This allows Marcovitch to represent course such as the mother, the family, and the disconnection between them by centering poverty. Particularly in classical Mexican cin- the story around the territorial displacement ema, topics about motherhood and women and focusing on the violent politicization have established, through repetition, not only of the country. The safe place found by the stereotypes such as the devoted mother, the mother to hide and survive brings the family liberated woman, or the “bad” woman, but to a hard confrontation because of the prize also an archive of emotions identified by the won by Cecilia at school, and deepens the audience, such as admiration, inspiration, emotional gap between them. This highlights or disapproval. Tracing the depictions of the impossibility of escaping the violence of motherhood in Mexican cinema, Isabel Ar- the dictatorship, which is represented in the rendondo identifies that women filmmakers use of the affective landscape. of the 1990s—what she calls the third-wave— Unlike El premio, Mai morire is not plot- shift the images of motherhood to a political driven but rather provides glimpses of the dimension by providing a social, economic, transitional period in the protagonist’s life. and judicial context in which the mothers However, like El premio, Rivero’s film captures live (187).19 Rivero moves away from these through the landscape textures of affective representations of motherhood prevalent in states of both the characters and the story. Mai both classic and third-wave cinema. First, morire is Rivero’s second feature film and like Rivero depicts Chayo, the main character, his first film,Parque vía (2008), the filmmak- as a mother who is not self-sacrificing, sub- er presents an intimate story in a minimalist missive, or bad. Second, he does not endow form and slow pace, through non-professional Chayo with a political dimension because of actors. In contrast to Parque vía, where the the lack of context of her situation, leaving actions happen in an interior space, Mai voids of information. This forces the specta- morire unfolds its story in a well-known open tor to question why Chayo initially left Xo- space. With these two films, Enrique Rivero chimilco. What is her relationship with her has been placed by critics and academics in husband and children? How bad is the eco- the group of “radically independent” Mexi- nomic situation of the family? Why is Chayo can filmmakers who differ from recognized not expressing any emotion or feeling about authors, such as the “three amigos,”16 because her current situation? The viewer is invited to 54 Letras Hispanas Volume 17 fill these gaps by speculating about possible In the opening scene of El Premio we scenarios since the narrative does not provide observe framed in a long shot the young pro- enough information. In this way, the film fo- tagonist Ceci (Paula Galinelli Hertzog) walk- cuses on the subjectivity of an inexpressive ing from a distance on the beach with the Chayo during a transitional period of her life, imposing and tumultuous Atlantic Ocean be- where the landscape works as a mirror of her hind her. The camera stays still, showing Ceci still uncoded feelings. With this Xochimilco move with difficulty, and as she approaches turns into an affective landscape of the pro- we observe that she is trying to use her roller tagonist’s internal state. skates on the sand (Figure 1). Then, the cam- era moves to the left to accompany her strenu- ous journey to finally jump in front of Ceci, Framing the affective landscape focusing briefly on her facial expressions of discontent as she continues struggling to move We consider two important elements in- forward on the beach. This long scene of over volved in the depiction of the rural landscape in a minute finishes with a close up to the roller the films analyzed: 1) framing, and 2) soundtrack skates covered in water and sand. Then, Ceci and sound effects. The combination of these el- continues walking slowly on the skates to- ements helps in the construction of the affective wards the small beach cabin where she meets landscape which provides new insights relating her mother, Lucia, (Laura Agorreca) who is to familial ties and subjectivities. We will ex- trying to keep the windows closed against the plore how the tension of the protagonists’ situ- strong wind. Here, we hear the first exchange ations is marked by the framing of the marine between mother and daughter when Ceci and lacustrine landscape in conjunction with complains: “Ma, no se puede patinar, mirá” the sound landscape. We argue that El premio (Ma, one cannot rollerblade here, look); but and Mai morire center their story around the her mother does not look at the rollerblades paradox between the open space in Patagonia or pay much attention to her. Instead, she is and Xochimilco and the confinement suffered concerned with keeping them warm and safe by the protagonists in their forced displace- in the small cabin space.20 With this opening, ment. Both Marcovitch and Rivero deal with Marcovitch sets the tone of the film by show- this contradiction by externalizing in the land- ing the two very different worlds the mother scapes the internal affective state of the charac- and daughter will inhabit in this new place, ters Ceci and Chayo, turning those iconic places and amplifying the centrality of the landscape into spaces of physical isolation. that will shape their relationship and feelings.

Figure 1: Ceci struggles to use her rollerblades in the sand.29 Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 55

The coastal landscape of Patagonia de- allow such narratives to be subsumed and picts the transcendental changes in the lives institutionalized within contemporary Ar- of the protagonist. For Ceci, this over- gentina’s collective public sphere” (5).22 whelming situation is shown with her need Moreover, Marcovitch uses strong au- to quickly return to the regular activities dible elements in the landscape scenes to in her life, like playing, having fun, and convey the unstructured and nonverbal feel- going to school. For the mother, it is the ings of Ceci and socially codified emotions complete opposite as she retreats physi- of her mother. In particular, the wind and cally and emotionally into the small place haunting music appear first with the title, that provides shelter and protection for before the beginning of the film. In the them; she is consumed with worry, wait- opening scene, and throughout the film, ing to hear news from the city.21 In their the invasive sound effect of the waves as interaction with the landscape, we observe the young protagonist walks on the sand is the different emotions of the mother such a clear example. The waves breaking on the as fear and anxiety, and we understand af- wind-swept shore, while Ceci tries unsuc- fect mostly from Ceci: her playtime out- cessfully to rollerblade, accentuate the un- doors reveals nonverbal expressions of her codified sensation of the protagonist and feelings. The mother resists the landscape at the same time mark the overwhelming while the daughter tries to adapt to it. qualities of the landscape. Thus, the affec- Thus, the framing using long shots of the tive landscape amplifies the unstructured marine landscape completes the opening feelings as the young protagonist channels scene and extends through the film. The them. Another important aural element is choice of washed, non-saturated colors in the dissonant music used in most of the the landscape and the clothing worn by the scenes where the young protagonist is at young protagonist adds meaning. The se- the beach playing alone (Figure 2) with the lected color palette presents the memory of street dog, or with her new friend Silvia the events as remembered by the director, (Sharon Herrera). Undoubtedly, the sound inviting the viewers into her reminiscence clashes with the opening scene, adding of 1977. Furthermore, the beach is foggy to her attempt to play; nevertheless, the in the opening scene, highlighting that haunting piano chords instil a boding, un- those memories are not undisturbed but shakable affect which cannot be identified are simply her particular recollection of the easily. Marcovtich focuses on the unique past. The director’s intention is to tell the story of the mother-daughter relationship very private story of the many struggles the with a particular minimalistic style. As seven-year-old protagonist faces as she is Paul Julian Smith explains, the film has a trying to make sense of their confinement minimal story line matched with bare tech- in the new, isolated place while assuming nique, consisting of “extended, unbroken a new identity and background to protect takes of the wind-swept infant heroine fac- the family. In this sense, we agree with ing the unforgiven ocean” (220). We argue Geoffrey Maguirre when he states that the that the marine landscape, along with the film intends to diversify the perceptions of aural landscape, becomes a central point to the child of the disappeared in Argentina, the story as it acts as a catalyzer of mean- “signalling the persistent tensions between ing, highlighting the internal struggles of the recounting these individual, personal nar- protagonist’s confinement due to forced rations of the past and the reluctance to political displacement. 56 Letras Hispanas Volume 17

Figure 2: Ceci plays by herself outside the beach cabin (47:09).29

Like Marcovitch’s film, Rivero highlights the center and the landscape of the canal be- from the first sequence how Xochimilco not hind her. After a few moments, Chayo turns only is an open space where the story takes her gaze to her right and the camera rotates, place, but also the emotional and affective showing gradually the landscape of the other canvas of the main character. Mai morire be- shore. The shot ends the movement where it gins with Chayo (Margarita Saldaña) return- started, looking towards what is in front of the ing to Xochimilco.23 The film opens with a boat that is moving forward in the canal, with long shot and low angle of a hazy canal of Xo- the water and the mist opening before its ad- chimilco. The camera captures the reflection vance. In this rotational movement, the cam- of the trees in the water and a duck swimming, era reveals both the space around it—which then flying, as the camera moves forward in is moving before the viewer’s eyes—and the the misty scenario. Then, the camera tilts up, protagonist, who is the one who really moves revealing a horizon flanked by rows of trees when moving forward in the boat. The long left and right. In the same shot, without cut- opening shot not only sets the general style ting, the movement follows and reveals the of the film (contemplative, slow, and mini- immutable face of the protagonist, Chayo, sit- malistic), but also establishes a relationship ting in a boat while a rower standing in the aft between the main elements of the story: Xo- rows slowly. The composition places Chayo in chimilco and Chayo.24

Figure 3: Initial sequence, Chayo arriving in Xochimilco.30 Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 57

Figure 4: At the end of the initial sequence, Chayo is standing in front of the family house upon her arrival.30

As the story moves, the spectator will Chayo must stay to fulfil her duties, mostly in- learn that Chayo is only returning to a place side her mother’s small house.25 As a result, Xo- once abandoned to fulfil her duty as the chimilco paradoxically becomes an open space youngest daughter by taking care of her el- of personal confinement which triggers in the derly, dying mother. On this return, she also protagonist both identified emotions such as reunites with her husband and children, who sadness and guilt, and non-identified sensations live in the same house as the mother. As a con- expressed through dreams and the landscape. sequence, she must resume some obligations, The inner, emotional and affective state such as the mother’s role. As we pointed out, of the protagonist’s confinement is symbol- the plot structure leaves out important story ized by the sensation of reverie and subjective information (e.g. the reason behind Chayo’s time linked to the place, as well as by the cha- first departure; her relationship with her chil- otic sequences of Chayo’s dreams. The sensa- dren and husband) or barely provides some tion of reverie and subjective time linked to details (e.g. the existence of the husband’s mis- place is achieved by the mood created by the tress and Chayo’s acceptance of the situation). haze, the faint light of dawn, and the slow pace This does not help to build an attachment to with which the small boat advances. These as- the characters but rather to focus on the sensa- pects work together to provide a feeling of be- tions that the main character is experiencing ing in a musing state with its own rhythm of towards her mother’s imminent death via the time. An alternative frame of time is pointed landscape and the mise-en-scène. In this way, out by Chayo later in two scenes: when she the first scene shows that place can be read as affirms in a telephone call to her former -em a register of the psychological and affective ployer: “Aquí el tiempo pasa diferente” (Here state of an inexpressive Chayo who is forced, time passes differently); and when she states in a way, to come back to a life she had left. while talking with her mother that: “El tiempo The sense of confinement is further accentu- sí que pasa muy diferente aquí” (Time does ated by the style of framing in this sequence. pass very strange here). The film reinforces the The camera never looks up to reveal the open sensations of lethargy and reverie with ambi- sky but only the landscape that flanks it. The ent and incidental sounds such as the morning sky becomes a background element that does murmur formed mainly by the distant echo of not confer the feeling of liberation commonly birds, and in the foreground the sound of the related to it in open spaces. These elements are parsimonious paddling of the rower. During set as the limits of the environment in which her stay, Chayo has three dreams that reveal 58 Letras Hispanas Volume 17 premonitions as well as her sorrows, desires, the local school. Her mother teaches her the new and guilts and unencoded sensations repre- cover story that will protect them, asking Ceci sented by the chaos in her dreams. The critic to repeat it until she memorizes it: “my dad sells Jorge Ayala Blanco points out that Xochimilco curtains and my mother is a housewife” (10:30). is so ubiquitous in the story that its water and For the protagonist, going to class could com- specific places like the Isla de las Muñecas (the promise their hiding place, creating a life and Island of the Dolls) are present even in Chayo’s death situation because her father is now a de- dreams (2017:177). Rivero breaks the general saparecido. Marcovitch builds the landscape of style of the film (long shots, fixed camera, Patagonia as a liminal space by setting the story and diegetic sound) in the dreams’ scenes by in the middle of the winter, naturally imposing favor of fast movements, close-ups, and extra- harsh conditions on their survival. She presents diegetic music that make “the film look like a a dystopian Patagonia by framing the empty great dream scene,” of which Xochimilco is the beach through diverse long shots, stress-ing the ideal scenario (Ayala Blanco, 177). paradox of the open space and the family’s im- Since Marcovitch and Rivero center their possibility to feel free within this space of forced stories on decisive transitional periods in the life confinement and alienation. One example of of their main characters, liminality is featured at this situation is the scene where the ocean takes several layers in the narrative, from stages of life over the small beach cabin, washing away the (Chayo’s mother senectitude), to performative furniture, so that Lucia must retrieve the pieces roles (Ceci as a student, Chayo as a daughter), to (Fig-ure 5). Furthermore, Ceci is in a particu- the betwixt and between quality of places (Pata- larly liminal situation. She is between the pri- gonia and Xochimilco). In El premio, the windy vate world of forced confinement, with ample coastal landscape of Patagonia is the place in- knowledge of the consequences of her parents’ between the family’s happy past and unknown political situation, and the public space of the future, and it hosts the mother and daughter in school, where she eventually comes in contact a transitional period where they need to hide with the military forces endangering their hid- their identities in or-der to survive. Ceci’s per- ing place because she writes an essay about the formative role begins when she starts attending disappearance and torture of her cousin.

Figure 5: Lucia walks to the beach to salvage some of the furniture from the water (52:58).29

Mai morire depicts Chayo and her moth- Chayo faces the dilemma of whether to stay er both in liminal periods of their lives. While in Xochimilco with her husband and children Chayo’s mother is between life and death, after her mother’s death, or return to the city Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 59 and to her job as a full-time cook. Death as Rivero represents the cycle of life and a topic is at the core of the film as the title, in death through Xochimilco’s beautiful sunrises Italian, means “never die.” Chayo’s return has and crepuscules. The soft light of dawn with to do with the imminent death of the mother which the film begins transforms little by little who is close to 100 years old. Thus, death as the story progresses in intense flushes of sun- sets up Chayo’s journey toward self-reaffir- set and deep darkness in the night scenes (Fig- mation. Chayo’s stay also coincides with the ure 6). In this sense, Rivero connects the wheel celebration of the Day of the Dead, in which of life and death with the landscape, and invites her mother still manages to participate. The the viewer to reflect on this matter through the film shows the preparations of both Chayo’s contemplation of the different light changes family and the townspeople for the celebra- during the days. Naturally, it is to be hoped that tion. The theme is treated in an anecdotal the subject of death will connect affectively and and reflective way, where death is seen yb emotionally with the viewer when confronted the characters as part of a natural cycle and with his own mortality, and that depending on daily life. For example, in a scene in which various aspects (e.g. culture, stage of life), it will Chayo’s son Julio and the grandmother are always provoke a unique reaction to the viewer. setting up the family altar, the grandmother As we have argued, the liminality or in-be- explains to the grandson the order of each tweenness is not only present in the character’s candle, and to which of the deceased they life, but also the place itself. Although we place are dedicated: “Mira Julito, pon primero la Xochimilco as a rural area, a better description de mi hermano Joaquín, fue el primero que of this place is of the liminal site it occupies, se fue, tenía 5 años [. . .]. Esa vela es de tu tío wherein it conserves strong rural features, yet Pepe, se mueve mucho porque le gustaba to- at the same time it is part of the most important mar mucho” (Look, Julito, place my brother’s urban nucleus of Mexico.27 In the film, the rural Joaquín first. He was the first to leave, he was aspect of the site is acknowledged by Chayo’s 5 years old [. . .]. That candle belongs to your husband when he tells her that they need to uncle Pepe, it moves a lot because he liked go to the city to buy her new shoes. With this to drink too much). Candidly, the grandson declaration, the husband is separating Xochi- asks the grandmother: “where is the candle milco from Mexico City even when it is prac- for me?” As expected, the first candle that tically part of the metropolitan area. For the will be part of the altar will be that of the protagonist, Xochimilco on an emotional level grandmother, who is on the threshold of represents a paradox since it is a place of both death, and not that of the child.26 belonging and non-belonging for her.28

Figure 6: Chayo pondering her decision whether or not to stay, at dawn in Xochimilco (01:10:35).30 60 Letras Hispanas Volume 17

Even though the liminal place of coastal and games. Their emotions towards each Patagonia provides refuge to Ceci and Lucia, other are easy to recognize in figure 7, where it will become, at the same time, the place the mother’s sorrowful sight is lost in the sea, where the rapid deterioration of the mother as she walks in silence without answering the and daughter relationship happens. The only many questions coming from Ceci. In contrast, scene where they walk together on the beach her young daughter is happily sharing her per- (after burying books that could compromise sonal thoughts, comparing them to the ideas their safety) is relevant because it illustrates she read in books. Here we observe and sense their opposite reactions and emotions towards the emotional distance that separates them the place. We observe the two protagonists despite being physically so close. On the one fully displaying their emotions regarding the hand, Ceci cannot fully grasp the dangerous interior exile: the mother resists, but Ceci tries situation they are in, and she struggles to ne- to adapt. In this sense, Lucia has become cold gotiate her position between the two worlds: towards her daughter, consumed by worry and the private at home and the public at school. sadness, and her long silences are very difficult On the other hand, her mother is incapable of for Ceci, who constantly attempts—unsuccess- articulating her thoughts and feelings other fully—to engage her mother in conversation than by long silences.

Figure 7: Lucia and Ceci walk back to the beach cabin after burying books in the sand (26:23).29

The situation escalates when Ceci final- attend the ceremony, but Ceci decides to go ly tells her mother what she wrote in the essay anyway, encouraged by her teacher. Because for the school contest. Lucia rushes them to of her young age, she does not fully understand the teacher’s home to ask for another chance why her mother does not want her to accept to write a different essay, thus saving their the prize given by the military forces, but hiding place and their lives. The teacher al- she can sense her mother’s disappointment. lows Ceci to write a new essay, and following Marcovitch’s choice of the child perspective her mother’s advice, she writes the opposite attempts to show the emotional and affec- of the original essay. Ceci is crowned the win- tive struggles of the relationship between the ner days after at school, and wants to go to protagonists, focusing on the individual pain receive the prize. Lucia does not allow her to experienced by mother and daughter. At the Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 61 end of El premio, the story illuminates the while the daughter goes out in public. This is frustration Lucia feels because her daughter perfectly put in the final scene where we see does not understand why accepting the prize the young protagonist alone and surrounded constitutes a betrayal, but at the same time, by the windy landscape; she has become part it highlights her incapacity to communicate of the coastal landscape of Patagonia, and in and explain this to Ceci. As we mentioned, the voice over we hear her mother crying in- the mother retreats physically and emotionally, consolably.

Figure 8: In the final scene, Ceci sits in the dunes. She has become one with the landscape (1:42:04).29

Although Chayo has been physically daughter relationship. There is a metaphysi- absent from her family, Mai morire does not cal understanding between their souls. This explain or “melodramatize” this absence. Cha- is observed in the one scene where the dawn yo knows that she must fulfil her duty as of Xochimilco works as a frame for their con- the youngest daughter by leaving her job in versation. In a long shot we observe in a still the city, without any complaints, to care for dark morning Chayo patting her cow, Petra. her mother. Chayo’s children ask her if this Then the camera follows her to the other end time she will stay with them, but they do it where she meets her mother who, sitting in out of curiosity rather than a desire to force a wheelchair, watches the shining dawn. The her to stay (figure 9). Similarly, the husband women begin an exchange about the sunrise has found a substitute for his sexual urges and Chayo’s dreams and premonitions (figure without any complaints from Chayo, know- 10). Finally, the mother says, “Tú no te hallas ing that she might never stay. What is clear aquí, ¿verdad? Es un mal que te pasé ya que during Chayo’s visit to the family home is no enterré tu ombligo aquí. El de Juanito lo the certainty that her place is not there; she enterramos en la chinampa, el de Yani en el does not feel that she belongs in Xochimilco. fogón y el tuyo lo enterramos en el camino.” The only tie that binds her to this place is her (You feel out of place here, right? It’s a curse duty as the youngest daughter. Thus, Cha- that I passed to you since I didn’t bury your yo’s strongest emotional connection is with umbilical cord here. We buried Juanito’s in her mother. Between the two women there the chinampa, Yani’s in the stove and we bur- seems to exist a love beyond a mother and ied yours in the road.) Though the tradition 62 Letras Hispanas Volume 17 of burying the umbilical cord may vary from thus reaffirming the child’s cultural connec- region to region, the general idea is that after tions. It is this people/land connection that giving birth Mexican women, mostly of rural passes from one generation to the next, dem- areas, bury the umbilical cord underneath a onstrating the essence of human culture” (5). tree on their land. As Korn points out, “this With her explanation, the mother takes on ritual symbolizes the planting of roots for Chayo’s feelings of guilt for not being tuned- their child in the land and in the community, in with the land and her family.

Figure 9: Chayo doing house chores (17:20).30

Chayo’s sense of guilt can be seen in end the husband is the one who buys the the dream sequences, specifically in rela- shoes, Chayo realizes that she can contin- tion to her shoes and feet, which symbolize ue contributing to the household economy her roots and destiny. After the funeral of with her work like before. It is at this point the mother, Chayo spends the night in the where Chayo has decided, without verbal- cemetery where she has her third dream. izing it, that she will leave. Moments later, In this dream, one of the most represen- she hugs her children and says: “Los qui- tative images of Chayo’s anxieties are her ero mucho, mucho” (I love you very, very feet, seen in a close-up, nailed to a boat. Al- much). In this way, when Chayo gets rid though the canals of the place represent of her old shoes, the feeling of being im- fluidity and displacement, being nailed to mobilized and tied—by obligation—to her the boat makes it impossible for Chayo to home is symbolically released. With her move freely. Upon awakening, she is not new shoes, identical to the old ones, Chayo wearing shoes and returns barefoot to her begins her journey again. The fact that her house. Seeing herself without shoes also new shoes are identical to the old ones sug- gives Chayo clarity about the economic gests that she has renewed her ties with the shortages around her and she expresses to family and her hometown, but in a more her husband: “No tengo ni para zapatos” emancipating way. (I don’t even have money for shoes). Upon Throughout the film, the apparent calm this observation, her husband replies that and expressionless personality of Chayo is he will buy them. However, Chayo replies: reflected in the stillness of the lake. Thus, “Yo puedo trabajar para comprármelos” (I through the images of water, Rivero estab- can work to buy them). Although in the lishes the tension between immobility and Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 63

mobility, both physical and emotional, faced navigating the canals. In this sense, Chayo by his protagonist. However, despite the still- can move and even leave the place defini- ness of Chayo and the lake, the possibility tively whenever she decides it by traveling of change and mobility is always apparent. through the calm of Lake Xochimilco, as ap- On a physical level, mobility occurs through preciated in the last scene. At the affective water, specifically through the canals. The level, it is established that Chayo is capable notion of mobility is expressed at different of generating change by navigating toward moments in the film when we observe Cha- a life beyond Xochimilco once she has ful- yo moving from one place to another while filled her duty as a daughter.

Figure 10: Chayo and her mother talking about Chayo’s dream (29:59).30

Through similar narrative and tech- be expressed by the characters’ own words or nical resources, El premio and Mai morire actions. The films articulate moments of rup- transform the cinematographic and cul- ture in the lives of the protagonists by using tural imaginary of two iconic Latin Ameri- the rural landscape to depict the importance can landscapes into intimate and affective of those changes in their lives. In this sense, landscapes reflective of the protagonists. To by paying attention to the transitional period achieve this, both films use a minimal sto- in the protagonists’ lives, we can examine the ryline, a contemplative and non-intrusive significance of these changes. At the center camera, as well as the framing of both spac- of both films is a portrayal of the mother- es with scarce camera movement and long daughter relationship and its struggles. The shots. The films show the main characters, directors work to incorporate, through an Lucia and Chayo, as incapable of express- affective natural landscape, the intensity of ing their fears or anxieties; other protago- feelings caused by the life-changing situa- nists are overwhelmed by the circumstances tion in the particular moment of crisis. they are living, like Ceci and Chayo’s mother. El premio ends in the same way that it Thus, the cinematographic landscape be- begins, with an image of the young protago- comes an essential narrative and visual ele- nist alone on the beach, further showcasing ment to translate and express what cannot the importance of the landscape. However, 64 Letras Hispanas Volume 17 unlike the initial scene where we see Ceci (Ahmed, Sedgwick), and anthropology and eth- on the move, trying to adapt to her sur- nography (Stewart). Within the context of Latin roundings, in the last scene the girl is mo- America, Garibotto, Macón and Solana, Moraña tionless. She is lying still despite the wild and Sánchez Prado, and Podalsky have been de- veloping studies of affect and emotion in cultural wind, becoming one with the marine land- artifacts. scape of Patagonia. There is no fight left 3 Studies of landscape in film have been com- in her, and she has surrendered herself to mon among Latin American scholars, but the her unknown future. While she is huddled focus has tended to be on urban spaces. In par- there, one can hear the mother’s loud cry ticular, Amanda Holmes’ recent book, Politics of off-camera, symbolizing the generational Architecture in Contemporary Argentine Cinema, gap between them. Marcovitch’s choice of looks at how city landscapes take part in the pro- portraying the story through the child per- duction of meaning in Argentine cinema. In the spective points to the importance of the Mexican context, David William Foster’s Mexico City in Contemporary Mexican Cinema explores recovery of the individual and the signifi- how the politics of the city, human geographies, cance of personal stories about the terror and gender are depicted in this particular mega- of the dictatorship. In Mai morire, Rivero lopolis in Mexican contemporary national cin- only hints at some aspects of the life of his ema. Another central book in this area is the protagonist by focusing on a brief but deci- edition prepared by Amanda Holmes and Rich- sive period of her life. The gaps in the story ard Young titled Cultures of the City: Mediating have to be filled by the viewer’s imagina- Identities in Urban Latin/o America, where many tion and cultural knowledge. This provokes of the chapters focus on the representation of a deactivation of any trace of melodrama in capitals, such as Lima and Mexico City, to point out their importance as centers of the nation. Re- the narration, thereby leaving the weight of cent publications address the concept of affective expressing the story to the landscape. This landscapes in Latin America in visual arts. Más gives Xochimilco a lyrical dimension that allá de la naturaleza. Prácticas y configuraciones not only conveys the existential conflict espaciales en la cultura latinoamericana contem- that the protagonist is going through but poránea, edited by Irene Depetris Chauvin and also opens routes of meditation about life, Macarena Urzúa Orpazo, is one example. Also, death, and the pathways that are built from the special issue in Imagofagia edited by Irene a monotonous daily life. Depetris Chauvin and Natalia Taccetta titled “Giro afectivo y artes visuales. Una aproximación interdiscilinaria sobre América Latina,” is anoth- Notes er important compilation of works from academ- ics highlighting the current relevance of this “af- 1 In an interview with Carlos Jordán of the fective turn” in the analysis of visual arts in Latin Mexican newspaper Milenio, Rivero explains America. that the film emerged from an anecdote that a 4 In this chapter, Andermann delineates re- woman told him. The director, in addition to re- sistant approaches to space (setting) and place specting the location where the story took place, (landscape) in their relation to the dominant decided to film in Xochimilco because this re- “cartographic cinema” in four moments in Latin gion is connected with elements from ancient American cinematic modernity: the silent era, the legends (11). “Golden Age” of classic studio cinema, and the 2 We are aware that the “affective-turn,” as nuevo cine latinoamericano. called by Patricia Ticineto Clough, is not a uni- 5 Andermann focuses on two Argentinian fied approach but an umbrella term that encom- films: Los muertos (2004), directed by Lisandro passes a diversity of approaches for the study Alonso, and Opus (2005), directed by Mariano of emotions and affect from a diversity of dis- Donoso; and two Brazilian films:Serras da des- ciplines, such as sociology (Illouz), psychology, orden (2006), directed by Andrea Tonacci, and biology, and neuroscience (Brennan, Damasio), Viajo porque preciso, volto porque te amo (2009), philosophy (Massumi, Hansen), gender studies directed by Karim Ainouz and Marcelo Gomes. Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 65

6 In his opinion, 13 As examples we can mention the novels La casa de los conejos (2008) by Laura Alcoba, and “landscape becomes the measure for Pequeños combatientes (2013) by Raquel Robles. the crisis of meaning that separates Both chose this narrative strategy, as well as the the present from the national-popular films Salamandra (2008), directed by Pablo Ague- moment from which Cinema Novo ro, and Infancia Clandestina (2013), directed by and ‘new Latin American cinema’ Benjamin Avila. took their cues” (52). 14 Geoffrey Maguire’s analysis of the film pays particular attention to the implications of the 7 Among these filmmakers, academics have child’s individual experience and agency, suggest- highlighted the role of the landscape particularly ing that the film reflects the director’s perspectives in the work of the Argentine Lisandro Alonso and towards the position of the hijo/child in contem- the Mexican Carlos Reygadas. See, for example, porary Argentina. For Maguire, Andermann, de Luca, Cunha, Hanley, Martins, and Shaw. Other scholars have identified, along “the distressing familial tension be- with Alonso and Reygadas, more filmmakers that use the landscape in a central way in their works. tween mother and daughter reveals a See, for example, studies by Podalsky, and Lopez. much broader intergenerational fric- They identify Mexican directors such as Gonzalez tion over the transmission of cultural Rubio, Cárdenas and Guzmán, while Andermann memory in contemporary Argentine has also identified Trapero and Paz Encina among society” (5). others. 8 As examples of this trend, Escobar mentions 15 Garibotto contends that this exception has Mundo Grúa, set in Comodoro Rivadavia (Pablo ideological consequences, because Trapero, 1999); Todas las azafatas van al cielo, set in Ushuaia (Daniel Burman, 2002), and El perro, “the use of fiction allows for the cin- set in Caleta Olivia and Trelew (Carlos Sorín, ematic images’ iconic dimension to 2004). predominate over their indexical di- 9 Our translation. mension. This predominance solidi- 10 Other notable films that take place in Xo- fies emotions, (and) precludes exami- chimilco include: El violetero (1960) by Gilberto nation” (142). Martínez Solares, Mi niño Tizoc (1972) by Ismael Rodríguez, Chicuarotes (2019) by Gael García She adds the film El Premio to the list of films Bernal, and Island of the Dolls (2018) by Sebastián used as an example of her idea of iconic fictions, Mantilla. along with Cautiva (2005), Salamadra (2008), An- 11 Ramirez Berg points out that Figueroa want- drés no quiere dormir la siesta (2009), and Infancia ed to emulate the muralist Mexican school style in Clandestina (2012). an effort to create Mexican cinematography and 16 Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Alejan- motivated by the desire “to succeed in gaining rec- dro González Iñárritu. ognition for the Mexican landscape throughout 17 Some of the filmmakers placed in this group the world” (101). include Israel Cárdenas, Carlos Reygadas, Amat 12 In her latest book Rethinking Testimonial Escalante, Michel Franco, Laura Amelia Guzmán, Cinema in Postdictatorship Argentina: Beyond Julián Hernández, Nicolás Pereda, and Francisco Memory Fatigue, Veronica Garibotto addresses Vargas. the reticence toward postdictatorship testimonial 18 In the Rome International Film Festival, the narrative that started in the early 2000s and con- film was awarded the Best Technical Contribution tinues today. Garibotto proposes to redefine the Award 2012 for its photography by Arnau Valls interpretative focus to explain this reticence and Colomer and Gerardo Barroso. “redesign an intellectual ethics more in keeping 19 Arredondo particularly studied the works with Argentina’s political juncture today” (8). She of Busi Cortés, María Novaro, Dana Rotberg, and argues that the problem is how these testimonial Marisa Sistach. narratives are read because it is “on the level of in- 20 In Argentina, the unique term insilio is used to terpretation that the access to history has become describe the dangerous politically-motivated situa- a problem” (9). tion represented in the film. The word represents 66 Letras Hispanas Volume 17 the experience of “interior exile” lived by many Ar- negotiation between a place and non-place, and ex- gentinians on the long list of targets by the military presses the idea of belonging and not-belonging at the dictatorship. Fernando Reati affirms that these -in same time, the impossible inclusion in a ‘topia’ (in Lie) dividuals lived (52–53). 29 ©El premio 2012 | Paula Genoveva Markovitch “as pariahs [. . .] in a type of isolation 30 ©Mai Morire 2013 | Enrique Rivero and incomunicacion that protected their lives but alienated them from their environment” (Reati 185, our Works Cited translation). Andermann, Jens. “Exhausted Landscapes: Re- 21 In several scenes we observe how the mother framing the Rural in Recent Argentine and keeps trying unsuccessfully to listen for news on Brazilian Films.” Cinema Journal, vol. 53, no. an old radio that does not work well. 2, 2014, pp. 50-70. 22 Marcovitch’s film received the attention of —. “The Politics of Landscape.”A Companion to academics inside of Argentina such as Leonor Latin American Cinema, edited by Maria M. Arfuch in her article “Narrativas del país de la in- Delgado, Stephen M. Hart, and Randal John- fancia,” and also in North America. The contribu- son. Wiley-Blackwell, 2017, pp. 133-49. tions by Veronica Garibotto, Inela Semilovich, and Arfuch, Leonor. “Narrativas en el país de la infan- Geoffrey Maguire are very insightful and provide cia.” Alea: Estudos Neolatinos, vol. 18, núm. 3, different interpretations of the film. sept-dic, 2016, pp. 544-60. 23 In an interview with the Mexican newspaper Arredondo, Isabel. Motherhood in Mexican Cin- Excelsior, Rivero explains that he selected Mar- ema, 1941-1991: The Transformation of Femi- garita Saldaña to interpret the role of Rosario due ninity on Screen. McFarland, 2013. to her resemblance to the woman who told him Ayala Blanco, Jorge. La lucidez del cine mexi- the anecdote on which the film is based. Saldaña cano. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de is not a professional actress but a vocalist for the México, 2017. Veracruz group Los Soneros del Tesechoacón. The Calderón, Lucer. “Se foguea en Xochimilco.” Excél- filmmaker was impressed by the resemblance and sior. 24 March 2013, Función p. 12. the presence of Saldaña (Calderón 12). Depetris Chauvin, Irene and Macarena Urzúa Or- 24 The initial shot lasts around 2:50 minutes. pazo, editors. Más allá de la naturaleza. Prác- 25 Unlike Como agua para chocolate (Alfonso ticas y configuraciones espaciales en la cultura Arau, 1992) the duty of the youngest daughter to latinoamericana reciente. Ediciones Universi- take care of the mother is stripped of any melodra- dad Alberto Hurtado, 2019. matic tone. This duty is a responsibility, and not a Cunha, Mariana. “Nature, Landscape and Affect in tradition that condemns Chayo, who before her Carlos Reygadas’s Post Tenebras Lux.” Revista mother became ill and her sister married, had been Famecos, vol. 26, no. 1, 2019. able to make her own life choices. Depetris Chauvin, Irene and Natalia Taccetta. 26 According to Ayala Blanco, the woman who “Giro afectivo y artes visuales. Una aproxi- inspired the film died during filming and the direc- mación interdiscilinaria sobre América La- tor pays tribute to her by putting a shot of her at tina.” Imagofagia, no.16, 2017, pp. 355-70. home sitting on a chair surrounded by candles. The Eakin, Hallie, et al. “Loss and Social-Ecological critic also mentions that the woman’s relatives also Transformation: Pathways of Change in Xo- participated in the filming (175). chimilco, Mexico.” Ecology & Society, vol. 24, 27 Xochimilco is particularly known to be the no. 3, Sept. 2019, pp. 15-26. last remnant of the pre-Hispanic agricultural sys- Elena, Alberto and Marina Díaz. The Cinema of tem, chinampa, developed in a complex lacustrine Latin America. WallFlower Press, 2003. system of wetlands in the Basin of Mexico (Eakin et El Premio. Directed by Paula Markovitch, The al.). For this characteristic it was declared a UNES- Global Film Initiative, 2014. CO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is also one of the Escobar, Paz. “Cronotopías de la incertidumbre: Rep- 16 boroughs that form Mexico City. resentaciones de la Patagonia en cuatro films ar- 28 This can approach what Dominique Maingue- gentinos.” Páginas: Revista Digital de la Escuela neau has termed “paratopia,” which refers to a difficult de Historia, vol. 6, no. 10, 2014, pp. 7-18. Argelia González-Hurtado and María Soledad Paz-Mackay 67

—. “Escenas de la Patagonia neoliberal: Las repre- Maguire, Geoffrey. “Playing in public: Domestic poli- sentaciones de las actividades económicas en tics and prosthetic memory in Paula Markovich’s películas argentinas filmadas la región (1985- El premio/The Prize (2011).” Studies in Spanish & 2006).” Revista Estudios del ISHiR, vol. 4, no. Latin American Cinemas, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 3-21. 8, 2014, pp. 119-29. Mai Morire. Directed by Enrique Rivero, Una Co- Garibotto, Veronica. Rethinking Testimonial Cin- munión, 2013. ema in Postdictatorship Argentina: Beyond Martins, Laura. “En contra de contar historias. Cu- Memory Fatigue. Indiana UP, 2019. erpos e imágenes hápticas en el cine argen- González, Cecilia. “Infancia y militancia en el cine tino (Lisandro Alonso y Lucrecia Martel).” latinoamericano de las generaciones segun- Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana, das.” Helix, vol. 10, pp. 169-92. vol. 37, no. 73, January 2011, pp. 401-20. Hanley, Jane. “More-than-Human Worlds through Massumi, Brian. Parables of the Virtual. Duke UP, 2002. the Neo-Western Landscapes of Jauja and Mora, Carl J. Mexican Cinema: Reflections of a So- The Revenant.”Transnational Cinemas, vol. ciety, 1896-2004. 3rd ed., McFarland, 2005. 11, no. 2, August 2020, pp. 155-69. Moraña, Mabel and Ignacio M Sánchez Prado, edi- Harper, Graeme and Jonathan Rayner. Intro- tors. El lenguaje de las emociones. Afecto y cul- duction. Cinema and Landscape. Edited by tura en América Latina. Iberoamericana, 2012. Graeme Harper and Jonathan Rayner, Intel- Podalsky, Laura. “Landscapes of Subjectivity in lect, 2010, pp. 13-28. Contemporary Mexican Cinema.” New Cin- —. Film Landscapes: Cinema, Environment and Vi- emas: Journal of Contemporary Film, vol. 9, sual Culture. Cambridge Scholars, 2013. no. 2&3, 2012, pp. 161-82. Jordán, Carlos. “He visto pocas películas donde me —. Politics of Affect and Emotion in Contemporary Lat- guste cómo está filmada la muerte.”Milenio . in American Cinema. Palgrave MacMillan, 2001. 30 March 2013, Sección Cine, p. 11. —. “The Aesthetics of Detachment.”Arizona Journal of Korn, Leslie. “Burying the Umbilicus: Traditional Hispanic Cultural Studies, vol. 20, 2016, pp. 237-54. Medicine on the West Coast of Mexico.” Ramírez Berg, Charles. The Classical Mexican Cin- Fourth World Journal, vol. 13, no. 1, Summer ema. The Poetics of the Exceptional Golden 2014, pp. 5-58. Age Films. U of Texas P, 2015. Lefebvre, Martin, editor. Landscape and Film. Rout- Reati, Fernando. “Exilio tras exilio en Argentina: ledge, 2006. Vivir en los noventa después de la cárcel y el —. “On Landscape in Narrative Cinema.” Revue destierro.” Aves de paso: Autores latinoameri- Canadienne d’Études Cinématographiques / canos entre exilio y transculturación (1970– Canadian Journal of Film Studies, vol. 20, no. 2002), edited by B. Mertz-Baumgartner and 1, 2011, pp. 61-78. E. Pfeiffer, Iberoamericana, 2005. Lie, Nadia. The Latin American (Counter-) Road Movie Shaw, Deborah. “(Trans)National Images and and Ambivalent Modernity. Springer, 2017. Cinematic Spaces: The Cases of Alfonso Cu- López, Ana. “Cartographies of Mexican Cinema in arón’s ‘Y tu mamá también’ (2001) and Carlos the 21st Century.” REBECA-Revista Brasileira Reygadas’ ‘Japón’ (2002).” Iberoamericana, de Estudos de Cinema e Audiovisual, vol. 4, no. 44, December 2011, pp. 117-31. no. 1, 2015, pp. 35-51. Smith, Paul Julian. Mexican Screen Fiction: Be- Losada, Matt. “Argentine Cinema and Rural Space.” tween Cinema and Television. Polity P, 2014. Chasqui, vol. 40 No. 2, 2011, pp. 18-32. Stewart, Kathleen. Ordinary Affects. Duke UP, 2007.