THE SPANISH EARTH is a combination of communist, socialist, anarchist, and liberals propaganda film made during the Spanish Civil War and support of the democratically elected republican movement. But more than just a propaganda film, the Spanish Earth is a glimpse into the history of the Spanish civil war. Here we have filmmakers making use of film as a tool to document history. There is beautiful composition between this small village that the farmers work in and the city of Madrid where as the earth in the farming village simply looks upturned, ready for the acceptance of the new crop and the city of Madrid has been gutted. Blood in the streets of Madrid contrasts with the water that runs through the soil of the farming village. What 's most compelling about THE SPANISH EARTH is that the filmmakers have the ability to show on a larger scale not only the ravages of war but the principles for which …show more content…
In EDIPO RE I was immediately drawn in by the opening scene of the woman walking with the baby through the grassy field. There was a dark shade on her right and bright light to her left. And she walked right down the middle. I loved the overall feel that this scene gave me that there are choices to be made as we walk the line through life. I got the impression that some of the choices we make are clear as day as in the light side of the frame and some of the choices are hidden to us as in the dark side of the frame. I felt that this film was so vibrant with visual allegory that it might take a second or third viewing in order to even touch on a full effect. For example when Edipo was conflicting with himself and asked himself the question where he was going with his life, he is presented with a fork in the road. The choice he makes sealed his faith according to the Oracle. And I love how the shot was filmed in a desolate landscape. It was a reflection that we all wander alone with our own decisions and in each fork in the road leads us to the next stop in our own
Pan’s Labyrinth – Literature Review I. Introduction – historical background The Spanish Civil War lasted from July of 1936 till April of 1939. The intensely ferocious war was between the Republicans and the Fascist nationalists, lead by General Francisco Franco. Victory was in favor of the nationalists and General Franco ruled Spain for the next 36 years after the war, up until his death in 1975.
The films “The other conquest”, “Jerico”, and “I the Worst of All” are all a depiction of what life would be like during the Spanish Conquest. These films give different point of views during the Spanish Conquest. The films give a person a well-rounded view of how the world really changed for different people during a historical movement. After watching these films, one is able to assess and determine their own truth about what exactly happened to Amerindians and Spaniards during this time.
Essay 3 In her essay, “A Hispanic Garden,” Diaz expresses the inner conflict she faces a foreigner between two lands. As a Cuban immigrant residing in the United States she is obligated to fight a continuous battle with herself and others to preserve her culture within the dominant culture. She explains her feelings when she visits her homeland Cuba.
Enrique’s Journey/ Rape in the fields It is time, at last, to speak the truth about Rape in the fields, and Enrique’s Journey. These two documents are more similar than people think. The first similarity between the book and he film. Is that the laws; as we see it are there but are corrupt.
Both films prove Flores’s argument that the Alamo is a symbol that enforces class and racial controls—especially in the role of making Tejanos an
This is especially the case in Guillermo del Toro’s film Pan’s Labyrinth, which juxtaposes fairy tale elements with aspects of Franco era Spain to explore some of its realities in greater detail. By comparing the evils of Vidal and of Ofelia’s fantasy world Del Toro presents the atrocities of Franco era Spain’s Fascist leadership. By contrasting the shapes, colors, and cleanliness of the two worlds, he presented some of the more basic principles of the Fascist regime, and by placing symbolic objects throughout the film, Del Toro emphasizes their symbolic importance to Vidal and again to the Fascist regime. Even with all of these comparisons, however, it is still impossible to determine for a fact if Ofelia’s make believe world was real or
Marquez’s book proves to readers that in Latin American history, culture, tradition, and legend are, almost, as important to the people as fact. Although, he was once hated by the people
Men, women, and children were caught in the crossfire and sometimes even deliberately murdered by both sides. del Toro does not sugarcoat the brutality of the Spanish Civil War as even the first image the audience is shown is of a dying and bloody child. Indeed, much of the violence in the movie is experienced by the young and innocent. In The Transnational Fantasies of Guillermo del Toro, it is suggested that the violence in the movie “is commensurate with the brutality of certain fairy tales in their original form and also with a realist vision of the cruelty of war that uses the figure of the child to create greater empathy and affect the spectator”(Davies 192). While much of the cruelty in Pan’s Labyrinth is very graphic, it is the explicit nature of what is experienced by children that makes the movie hard to watch for some.
I, Juan De Pareja Leela Ramey A boy named “Juan,” has been a slave ever since he was a child. He is from African descent, but now lives in Spain with his mother. Early in the book, his mother soon dies, leaving Juan all by himself, since his father was not there to support him.
A key scene within the film, Even the Rain, was when the filmmakers were filming the scene for the film within the film between the first reaction of the spaniards and native indians. This scene gave a perfect representation of colonialism and how the early beginnings of the american colonies started. This scene showed the reaction between Columbus and the indians as the spaniards were negotiating with the indians on how they were going to take control. I believe this scene is important because it not only shows the motives of colonialism but it draws strong parallels between the Columbus’s attitude towards the indians and the filmmakers towards the local Bolivian population. In the film, Even the Rain, the filmmakers wanted to focus on the
1. From Jason Johansen 's Notes on Chicano Cinema, scholars of Chicana/o cinema used to identify the criteria of Chicana/o cinema as "films BY Chicanos, films FOR Chicanos, and films ABOUT Chicanos" (Johansen 303). The Salt of the Earth film (1954) attempts to expand this definition because it achieves more than being for and about Chicanos, it can also be for other minorities fighting injustices and inequalities similar to Chicanos. The film is still for Chicanos because it illustrates an actual account of Mexican American mining workers in Zinc Town of New Mexico during World War II, where the union workers won due to their unity, inspiring others to stand with each other in the Chicano movement. The movie also challenges the criteria because it is a film directed by a non-Chicano, Herbert Biberman, but that inadequacy was compensated since most of the actors were local Mexican-American union associates who had experience and direct involvement in the historical fight for their rights.
The presentation of the tree as fertile and the links to Ofelia’s mother presents it as the womb of Spain withered by the effects of Franco’s fascist dictatorship. This interpretation is consistent with Ofelia’s understanding of reality, and Del Toro’s use of symbolism subtly invites the audience to draw a comparison between the two
Whether Werner Herzog was making a documentary or a fiction film, he always had to have an extreme setting. Herzog thought that the landscape that is being shot on should tell as much story as the actors. He even goes as far as to begin blending people with the landscape seen in “Aguirre, The Wrath of God”. The natives begin to blend in with the trees, only showing their eyes so that the Spanish know that they are being watched and are under threat. The once triumphant Spanish, now are insignificant and dwarfed by the might of the environment(Sharman).
Isabel Allende’s, My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile, is her memoir about her native country, yet also sheds light to other important societal roles in Chile. As she passionately writes about her experiences, Allende makes it evidently clear that she loves her homeland, regardless of what troubles the country encounters. Nonetheless, it should be noted that her memoir is solely based upon her memories, and incorporates a sense of fiction to better help tell her story through vivid descriptions of the natural landscape and/or the people she interacted with. Her book was compelling to me as her passion for her country was expressed through her usage of language and descriptive experiences that portrayed her emotions during
In the poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost uses beautifully crafted metaphors, imagery, and tone to convey a theme that all people are presented with choices in life, some of which are life-altering, so one should heavily way the options in order to make the best choices possible. Frost uses metaphors to develop the theme that life 's journey sometimes presents difficult choices, and the future is many times determined by these choices. Throughout the poem, Frost uses these metaphors to illustrate life 's path and the fork in the road to represent an opportunity to make a choice. One of the most salient metaphors in the poem is the fork in the road. Frost describes the split as, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both (“The Road Not Taken,” lines 1-2).