  CofC Department of Hispanic Studies film series: Thursday, September 28: Habana Blues (Spain,/France/Cuba: 2005) Thursday, October 5: The Motorcycle Diaries (Brazil/USA: 2004) (128 min.) The Department of Hispanic Studies is proud to present the Annual Film Festival, which will be showing three of the most recent critically-acclaimed Hispanic films on September 21, September 28, and October 5. The location for all films is Education Center 118. Films will  begin at 5 pm and there will be an opportunity for discussion after the showings. The film festival is sponsored by the Department of Hispanic Studies, the Language Resource Center and the Spanish Club. It is free and open to the public. The Spanish Club will be providing refreshments and movie snacks. Below you will find a synopsis for each of the films to be shown. We hope you can join us! Thursday, September 21: Machuca (Chile: 2004) (120 min.) In 1973, during Chile's brief socialist era, the principal of the Saint Patrick School, Father McEnroe (Ernesto Malbran) makes a trial of integration between students of the upper and lower classes. The bourgeois boy Gonzalo Infante (Matías Quer) and the boy from the slum Pedro Machuca (Ariel Mateluna) become great friends, while the conflicts on the streets leads Chile to the bloody and repressive military coup of General Augusto Pinochet on September 11, 1973, changing definitely their lives, their relationship and their country. "Machuca is a fine, exciting film that makes a bloody historical event live all over again by showing it through the eyes of children on the edges of the conflict. Portraying the coup d'etat that toppled the leftist regime of Chilean President Salvador Allende in 1973, from the perspective of preteen school kids, the film guides us movingly into that era's political debates, street battles and escalating violence. It makes us feel the grip of fear throttling the country." (Tribune movie critic) Thursday, September 28: Habana Blues (Spain,/France/Cuba: 2005) (115 min.) Winner of one Goya award (the Spanish equivalent to the Academy Award) and directed by Spanish director Benito Zambrano, "Habana blues" tells the story of two young Cuban musicians, Ruy and Tito, whose music is a mix of traditional Cuban music and more modern music like rap. The two musicians get a chance at an international breakthrough through a US record company, but for this they have to restrict themselves to criticism of the Cuban utopia, because that sells better in the US and Spain. Ruy considers this cheap treason of his country, which he loves despite its shortcomings, but Tito understands the commercial imperative behind the plan - the US invests and wants to get a return for their investment. Art versus commerce, nationalism versus globalism and communism versus capitalism are the themes in the film. Ruy starts using more traditional styles as an expression of his anxiety to leave the country he loves so much. Thursday, October 5: The Motorcycle Diaries (Brazil/USA: 2004) (128 min.) Let the world change you, and you can change the world! "The Motorcycle Diaries," which world-premiered to a standing ovation at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, follows an inspiring journey of self-discovery and traces the youthful origins of a revolutionary heart. The rich and complex human and social topography of the Latin American continent is unveiled in all its glory as two friends experience life at its fullest. The film, directed by Walter Salles ("Central Station"), is adapted by Jose Rivera from the journals of two real-life young Argentines, Alberto Granado and Ernesto Guevara de la Serna -- the latter of whom would become "El Che." In January 1952, Ernesto (played by Gael Garcia Bernal) is a 23-year-old medical student specializing in leprology. Alberto (Rodrigo de la Serna), age 29, is a biochemist. The two men bid goodbye to their families and to Ernesto's girlfriend Chichina Ferreyra (Mia Maestro). Flush with a romantic sense of adventure, they pile onto Alberto's 1939 Norton 500 motorcycle (nicknamed "La Poderosa" ["The Mighty One"]). The aging bike carries them farther and farther away from familiar and comfortable Buenos Aires surroundings, to surprising and exciting destinations. The two friends become as close as brothers. Over the course of eight months and 8,000 miles, what starts out as a lark becomes a profound journey of discovery, not only of themselves but of a continent filled with infinite sorrow -- and infinite hope. From homeless miners to riverboat prostitutes, from lepers to prosperous gentry, Ernesto and Alberto discover an affinity for humanity within themselves, and a determination to change the world. |
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