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The Eagle and the Serpent on the Screen: The State as Spectacle in Mexican Cinema

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Daniel Chávez
Daniel Chávez*
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Abstract

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Recent studies of the history of Mexican cinema continue to speak of the complex relations between the state and the film industry, and the most frequently analyzed aspects tend to be the same: the reach and forms of censorship, as well as the financial dependence on the state. To broaden this perspective, I propose a classification of cinematic discourses that represent the relations between film characters and state powers. I discuss four basic modes of representation that, determined by historical and economic circumstances, reflect and mediate the attitudes and dispositions of viewers toward the political regime. For each mode, I discuss a sequence in a paradigmatic film, analyzing visual and ideological aspects in relation to the political moment at the time of the film's release. Finally, I argue that, despite the resurgence of the Mexican cinema and a more critical tone in its approach to state institutions, fictional films still rest on indirect and allegorical representations of recent events. This is due to the uncertainty of the prolonged and still-incomplete transition to institutional democracy in Mexico.

Resumo

Resumo

Estudios recientes sobre la historia del cine mexicano continúan informando sobre las complejas relaciones entre el estado y la industria fílmica, pero los aspectos más frecuentemente analizados tienden a ser los mismos: el alcance y formas de la censura, y la dependencia financiera del estado. Para ampliar esta perspectiva se propone una clasificación de los discursos cinemáticos que representan la relación entre los personajes de películas y los poderes estatales. Se discuten cuatro modos básicos de representación que determinados por las circunstancias económicas e históricas reflejan y median en las actitudes y disposición de los espectadores hacia el régimen político. Para cada modo se estudia una secuencia de una cinta paradigmática y se analizan los aspectos visuales e ideológicos en relación con la coyuntura política al momento del estreno de la cinta. Finalmente, se argumenta que a pesar del resurgimiento del cine mexicano y de un tono más crítico en su acercamiento a las instituciones del estado, el cine de ficción todavía descansa en representaciones indirectas y alegóricas de eventos recientes. Esto debido a la incertidumbre en la prolongada y aún incompleta transición a la institucionalidad democrática en la política de México.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , 2010 , pp. 115 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Latin American Studies Association

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