The Film “City of God” exemplifies the struggles of Brazilian ghetto citizens, who face crime, corruption and a high volume drug trade. The film is an analyzation of the drug trade and its affect on the citizens of the “City of God” community, through a retelling of photographer Rocket’s encounters with the local drug “barons”, with Lil’ Ze being the “evil/criminal” mirror to Rocket’s “normal” boy character. The entire film centers around the idea of leaving the Favela’s and going to a more prosperous location, while surrounded by the Drug Trade and violence that surrounds the squatter communities. Though Rocket appears to be the only one to do this without committing to a life of crime (though ironically, crime is what gives him his chance to leave, as his pictures of the Favela gang and Lil’ Ze are what garner him recognition at the paper). Throughout the film a reoccurring theme is presented by various characters (Ned, Brothel workers, etc) to get an education so that these “kids” (which they are in most every sense of the word) will be able to succeed and leave the ghetto. However, as the film continually presents, these young men will continue to turn to violence and incompetence then work for an Education and legal route to success.
However the film appears to over dramatize violence as the only option for prosperity in the City of God. According to Pino, a “goodly number of squatters held steady jobs,” (30), though this work was still on average unable to support a family, and the availability of work was dependent upon the location of the Favela and other factors. However, due to the frequency of “informal” economical participation as Pino describes, led to illicit activities to help support families. In addition to this the large number of “unemployed young males” as shown in the film, were without work thus potentially leading to the turn to crime as a means of income and of unity. The film presents this never ending cycle by showing the take over of Lil’ Ze by the Runts at the end of the film, and their dialogue. They speak of making “black lists” though most of them are unable to read, paralleling the choice their faced with, as Rocket was: education or violence. Though, as the film displays, in these situations violence often prevails (thus creating a vicious cycle). The film also shows the power these “barons” possessed politically and legally. The government is almost non existent within the film, with the exception of the Police (which are corrupt), showing the lack of control and leadership in these Favela’s, which in turn allow for the drug lords to exert their control over the people, with the Police supporting their efforts for income under the table.
Oliveria states that this type of life is caused by the, “abandonment of neighborhoods, crime, substandard education, unemployment, the decline of ‘family values’” in these particular neighborhoods (73). He also states that “Favela” does not carry the same “connotations” as Ghetto in America, as the racial stigmata surrounding the American Ghetto is not the same as it is with a Brazilian Favela (“Favelas are not exclusively racial enclaves” [73]). In this, he also shows the lack of priority given to race in Brazilian communities verse the USA, as displayed in the film with the various races interacting with one another, without much importance given to ethnicity, rather putting more importance on class.
The film gives insight into the Favela’s of Brazil and the struggle to survive these people face each day in the light of violence and squalor. The storytelling presented allowed for each character to be developed, and to show the choices of life presented to these young men and the difficulty in successfully leaving the “City of God”.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Che: Part 1
Continuing with the story of Che Guevara, Che: Part 1 provides insight into the Guerrilla warfare and the political/social ideology of which Che is most recognized as it pertains to the Cuban revolution. A drastic change from the youthful Che presented in the Motorcycle Diaries, Toro's Che is a more mature, wiser and more practical Che, abandoning some of his youthful ruminations for more "real world" thoughts and practices. The film documents this revolution from Fidel and Che's landing in Cuba, to their eventual success through revolution, with intermittent scenes depicting the aftermath in his interviews to Lisa Howard and his address to the UN and subsequent visit to the United States.
The film documents Che's theories on Guerrilla warfare in great depth, depicting the living conditions and major conflicts that occurred during the revolution in Cuba. The idea of Guerrilla warfare, as Che explains in his "Guerilla Warfare: A method" is a means to an end, with the tactic giving the people, whether the proper conditions for revolution are present or not, the ability to overcome a superior military force ("Lately it has been employed in various people's wars of liberation when the vanguard of a people have chosen the road of irregular armed struggle against enemies of superior military power"). The film also presents Che's development of Guerilla warfare, or liberation warfare in sequence with the steps he suggested in his Guerilla Warfare Method:
"Guerrilla war or liberation war will generally have three stages. First is the strategic defensive stage when the small force nibbles at the enemy and runs. It is not sheltered to make a passive defense within a small circumference, but rather its defense consists of the limited attacks it can successfully strike. After this comes a state of equilibrium in which the possibilities of action on both sides — the enemy and the guerrillas — are established. Finally, the last stage consists of overrunning the repressive army leading to the capture of the big cities, large-scale decisive encounters, and ultimately the complete annihilation of the enemy."
The film uses this as an outline for the main plot development, showing the beginnings of their revolution, the turning point and then through the "large scale" battles that occurred closer to the films finale, as the revolution in Cuba came to a close. Though this is the natural progression of this style of warfare, it is important to note that the film, disjointed in chronology between scenes (between Cuba before and America After), is perhaps to better explain Guerrilla warfare through the eyes of Che and the Cuban resistance by depicting this progression as Che describes it in his work.
Che presents a fairly strong point against the United States and its government and claims of imperialism, in the film and in his own writings. He touches on USA imperialism in both "Gurellia Warfare" and the "Message to the Tricontinental. His constant criticism of what he deems Imperialism, or to a lesser extent capitalism in general, is used to strengthen his position as a Revolutionary, and present his struggles to the rest of the world as being a positive force, in the face of a greedy and power hungry superpower based on capitalism (USA). By using Vietnam as an example in his Message to the Tricontinental, he presents the long arm of the United States as a self interested entity, working towards acquisition of wealth while maintaining what it has already "conquered"; arguing that the U.S.'s involvement in Vietnam was not to prevent the spread of communism, but rather to extend its imperialistic nature, similar to the events surrounding Cuba and the revolution. Whether this be true or not, Che provides insight into superpower politics from the prospective of a man fighting for people's freedom from tyranny, whether he aligns himself with the very thing that he's fighting against (communism/Russia could be construed as a similar imperial entity), or not.
The film documents Che's theories on Guerrilla warfare in great depth, depicting the living conditions and major conflicts that occurred during the revolution in Cuba. The idea of Guerrilla warfare, as Che explains in his "Guerilla Warfare: A method" is a means to an end, with the tactic giving the people, whether the proper conditions for revolution are present or not, the ability to overcome a superior military force ("Lately it has been employed in various people's wars of liberation when the vanguard of a people have chosen the road of irregular armed struggle against enemies of superior military power"). The film also presents Che's development of Guerilla warfare, or liberation warfare in sequence with the steps he suggested in his Guerilla Warfare Method:
"Guerrilla war or liberation war will generally have three stages. First is the strategic defensive stage when the small force nibbles at the enemy and runs. It is not sheltered to make a passive defense within a small circumference, but rather its defense consists of the limited attacks it can successfully strike. After this comes a state of equilibrium in which the possibilities of action on both sides — the enemy and the guerrillas — are established. Finally, the last stage consists of overrunning the repressive army leading to the capture of the big cities, large-scale decisive encounters, and ultimately the complete annihilation of the enemy."
The film uses this as an outline for the main plot development, showing the beginnings of their revolution, the turning point and then through the "large scale" battles that occurred closer to the films finale, as the revolution in Cuba came to a close. Though this is the natural progression of this style of warfare, it is important to note that the film, disjointed in chronology between scenes (between Cuba before and America After), is perhaps to better explain Guerrilla warfare through the eyes of Che and the Cuban resistance by depicting this progression as Che describes it in his work.
Che presents a fairly strong point against the United States and its government and claims of imperialism, in the film and in his own writings. He touches on USA imperialism in both "Gurellia Warfare" and the "Message to the Tricontinental. His constant criticism of what he deems Imperialism, or to a lesser extent capitalism in general, is used to strengthen his position as a Revolutionary, and present his struggles to the rest of the world as being a positive force, in the face of a greedy and power hungry superpower based on capitalism (USA). By using Vietnam as an example in his Message to the Tricontinental, he presents the long arm of the United States as a self interested entity, working towards acquisition of wealth while maintaining what it has already "conquered"; arguing that the U.S.'s involvement in Vietnam was not to prevent the spread of communism, but rather to extend its imperialistic nature, similar to the events surrounding Cuba and the revolution. Whether this be true or not, Che provides insight into superpower politics from the prospective of a man fighting for people's freedom from tyranny, whether he aligns himself with the very thing that he's fighting against (communism/Russia could be construed as a similar imperial entity), or not.
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Motorycycle Diaries
The film "Motorcycle Diaries" gives insight into the incredible journey Che Guevara and his friend Alberto Granado took in the early 50's, a journey which in effect contributed to the creation of Che the revolutionary vs. Ernesto the Doctor. On this journey he comes in contract with various South American denizens who are impoverished, sick and still face prejudice. By befriending such people through his journey and coming to know their stories, Che makes a transformation by the end of the film, mirroring that of the real Che, as he begins to realize his calling may not be medicine, but rather, the support of those less fortunate in his native land as a political activist, “the poverty and injustice that [Che Guevara] observed struck a sensitive chord,”…”while he came to identify United states imperialism as the source of the injustices and poverty that he observed in South America.” (Drinot 90).
The journey that takes place in “Motorcycle Diaries” is actually not Guevara’s first experience abroad, as he had travelled extensively in his teenage years and prior to this journey with Alberto (Elena 24). However, it is with this trip that he reacts to the people he meets and changes his outlook on politics and the South American people. However the film lacks some historical authenticity, as do his notes in “The Motorcycle Diaries”, as neither portray that massive urbanization occurring during the 1950s in Argentina and South America. At this period, migration from rural to urban areas was exploding exponentially. The film also portrays Che as a “wide eyed and inexperienced” youth, which as mentioned previously is completely false, as he had travelled for years prior to the Granado trip (Elena 32-33). By doing this, Che and Walter Salles, created a more dramatic tale, adding to the mysticism of “Che” as opposed to the truth of “Che” or as Drinot says, “The experiences lived in those travels…helped produce Che Guevara, helped to create Che from Ernesto Guevara,”(Drinot 90).
Regardless, the films documentation of certain events allows for the viewer to better understand Che the “man”. Their visit to the leper colony shows his compassion in addition to his belief that the people of South America, regardless of class or condition are all equal and should not be in effect separated in anyway (as evident by the leper colony being separated from the “non-sick” by a river as a representation of the people of South American being divided by border lines and prejudice; the earlier seen depicting the people of that Chilean town screaming Argentine and chasing both Che and Grandado, as well as Che’s speech at the Leper party [i.e. We are all Mestizos]).
The mine couple scene, in addition to the scene with the native Inca’s in Peru do well to show the plight of South American rural people and Che’s supposed reaction to these events, but the film doesn't accurately represent the hardships that these people were enduring, but rather presents a safer and less downtrodden perspective of their plight. Also, according to Drinot, Che actually contributed and recreated prejudice through his diaries in reference to the Andean people of Peru, relating them to animals: “The somewhat animal like concept the indigenous people have of modesty and hygiene means that irrespective of gender or age they do their business by the roadside, the women cleaning themselves with their skirts, the men not bothering at all,” (Drinot 102). Though Che was a revolutionary that brought freedom from oppression and sympathy to various South American peoples, the film Motorcycle Diaries, as well as his own diaries, provide a slanted prospective on the history of this particular journey and the idea of “Che”. Whilst insightful and “mostly” accurate, “Motorcycle Diaries” lacks certain elements of Che’s life, just as his diaries did, helping contribute to the overall “idea” of Che, but not the historicity of Che.
The journey that takes place in “Motorcycle Diaries” is actually not Guevara’s first experience abroad, as he had travelled extensively in his teenage years and prior to this journey with Alberto (Elena 24). However, it is with this trip that he reacts to the people he meets and changes his outlook on politics and the South American people. However the film lacks some historical authenticity, as do his notes in “The Motorcycle Diaries”, as neither portray that massive urbanization occurring during the 1950s in Argentina and South America. At this period, migration from rural to urban areas was exploding exponentially. The film also portrays Che as a “wide eyed and inexperienced” youth, which as mentioned previously is completely false, as he had travelled for years prior to the Granado trip (Elena 32-33). By doing this, Che and Walter Salles, created a more dramatic tale, adding to the mysticism of “Che” as opposed to the truth of “Che” or as Drinot says, “The experiences lived in those travels…helped produce Che Guevara, helped to create Che from Ernesto Guevara,”(Drinot 90).
Regardless, the films documentation of certain events allows for the viewer to better understand Che the “man”. Their visit to the leper colony shows his compassion in addition to his belief that the people of South America, regardless of class or condition are all equal and should not be in effect separated in anyway (as evident by the leper colony being separated from the “non-sick” by a river as a representation of the people of South American being divided by border lines and prejudice; the earlier seen depicting the people of that Chilean town screaming Argentine and chasing both Che and Grandado, as well as Che’s speech at the Leper party [i.e. We are all Mestizos]).
The mine couple scene, in addition to the scene with the native Inca’s in Peru do well to show the plight of South American rural people and Che’s supposed reaction to these events, but the film doesn't accurately represent the hardships that these people were enduring, but rather presents a safer and less downtrodden perspective of their plight. Also, according to Drinot, Che actually contributed and recreated prejudice through his diaries in reference to the Andean people of Peru, relating them to animals: “The somewhat animal like concept the indigenous people have of modesty and hygiene means that irrespective of gender or age they do their business by the roadside, the women cleaning themselves with their skirts, the men not bothering at all,” (Drinot 102). Though Che was a revolutionary that brought freedom from oppression and sympathy to various South American peoples, the film Motorcycle Diaries, as well as his own diaries, provide a slanted prospective on the history of this particular journey and the idea of “Che”. Whilst insightful and “mostly” accurate, “Motorcycle Diaries” lacks certain elements of Che’s life, just as his diaries did, helping contribute to the overall “idea” of Che, but not the historicity of Che.
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