Mexican Screen Fiction: Between Cinema and Television

Description

Mexican cinema is booming today, a decade after the international successes of Amores perros and Y tu mamá también. Mexican films now display a wider range than any comparable country, from art films to popular genre movies, and boasting internationally renowned directors like Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu, and Guillermo del Toro. At the same time, television has broadened its output, moving beyond telenovelas to produce higher-value series and mini-series. Mexican TV now stakes a claim to being the most dynamic and pervasive national narrative. This new book by Paul Julian Smith is the first to examine the flourishing of audiovisual fiction in Mexico since 2000, considering cinema and TV together. It covers much material previously unexplored and engages with emerging themes, including violence, youth culture, and film festivals. The book includes reviews of ten films released between 2001 and 2012 by directors who are both established (Maryse Sistach, Carlos Reygadas) and new (Jorge Michel Grau, Michael Rowe, Paula Markovitch). There is also an appendix that includes interviews carried out by the author in 2012 with five audiovisual professionals: a feature director, a festival director, an exhibitor, a producer, and a TV screenwriter. Mexican Screen Fiction will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars and essential reading for anyone interested in one of the most vibrant audiovisual industries in the world today. Title page Copyright page Contents Figures Preface Introduction: Mexican Screen Fiction Jump Cut 1 Part I: Setting Scenes 1: Revising Mexican Cinema Repeating and Renewing Three ‘Third-Way’ Features 2: Following Festivals Morelia, 2009: The Legacy of the Past, the Problematics of the Present, and the Retreat from the City Guadalajara, 2011: Art and Industry Jump Cut 2 Part II: Auteurs and Genres 3: A Case Study in Transnational Gay Auteurism: Julián Hernández’s A Thousand Clouds of Peace Encircle the Sky, Love, Your Being Love Will Never End (Mil nubes de paz cercan el cielo, amor, jamás acabarás de ser amor, 2003) Straying Further Looking Closer 4: A Case Study in Genre and Nationality: Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno, 2006) Exploring Horror Masked Cuts and Sound Bridges Jump Cut 3 Part III: Marginal Subjects 5: Youth Culture in Mexico: Rebel (Rebelde, Televisa, 2004–6), I’m Gonna Explode (Voy a explotar, Gerardo Naranjo, 2009) Founding Contradictions Two Audiovisual Case Studies: Production and Consumption Media, Youth, Apprenticeship Rebel: Pleasures and Pedagogies I’m Gonna Explode: A Finely Balanced Rebellion The Impossible Dream 6: Lady Killers in TV Fiction: Women Murderers (Mujeres asesinas, Televisa, 2008–10), The Aparicio Women (Las Aparicio, Argos, 2010–11) Ladies of Silence? Women Murderers: Overview Women Murderers: Specimen Episodes ‘Sonia, desalmada’ ‘Emilia, cocinera’ ‘Sonia, pitiless’ ‘Emilia, cook’ The Aparicio Women: Overview The Aparicio Women: Specimen Episodes Episode 1; first broadcast 19 April 2010 Episode 26; first broadcast 24 May 2010 Vocal Women Jump Cut 4 Part IV: Tales of Insecurity 7: Film Fictions of Violence: Hell (El infierno, Luis Estrada, 2010), Saving Private Pérez (Salvando al soldado Pérez, Beto Gómez, 2011), Miss Bala (Gerardo Naranjo, 2011) Maps and Mirrors Two Movie Surveys Hell: Chronology and Cartography Saving Private Pérez: ‘Narcomedy’ and Catharsis Miss Bala: Fashion Victims No Mere Maquiladora 8: TV Histories of Violence: In the Sewers (Drenaje profundo, Azteca, 2010), Cries of Death and Freedom (Gritos de muerte y libertad, Televisa, 2010) Out of the Underworld Two TV surveys In the Sewers: Production and Reception In the Sewers: Close Reading Cries of Death and Freedom: Production and Reception Cries of Death and Freedom: Close Reading Paralegal Rebels Jump Cut 5 Conclusion: Between Cinema and Television Appendix: Interviews with Five Media Professionals The Director: Jesús Mario Lozano The Festival Director: Daniela Michel The Exhibitor: Alejandro Ramírez The Producer: Roberto Fiesco The TV Screenwriter: Leticia López Margalli Bibliography Index