Note: A placement exam will be required when you arrive on site.

Intermediate

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of two semesters (or three quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

Advanced

This course is designed for students who have completed or tested out of a minimum of four semesters (or six quarters) of college-level Spanish. However, students must take a placement exam to determine the course level into which they will be able to enroll.

DESCRIPTION

In the “Civilization of the Image,” the cinema is recognized as one of the most effective means for the diffusion of people’s ideas and of the realities in which they live. Additionally, it is an excellent vehicle through which we become informed of the social, political, and cultural reality of the past and present of those nations which produce films. These, as well as other reasons, motivate the PUCMM to offer, as part of the Español para Extranjeros program, a semester-long course entitled “Latin American Film,” that will serve as a frame of reference for those interested in deepening their knowledge of this region. In a parallel fashion, theoretical notions of cinematography and a survey of the history of this “seventh art” will be offered.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the course, the students:

1. Will become more familiar with the important events in the history of Latin America, which will allow them to better interpret the reality of the region.
2. Will become familiar with the essential features of Latin American culture.
3. Will augment their level of comprehension of the Spanish language.
4. Will improve their capacity to differentiate among some of the dialects of Spanish.

CONTENTS

Unit 1: Cuban Cinema

1.1. Retrato de Teresa (Pastor Vega)

Unit 2: Cinema of Martinique

2.1. Calle Cabañas negras (Euzhan Palcy)

Unit 3: Argentine Cinema

3.1. La historia official (Luis Puenzo)
3.2. Camila (María Luisa Bemberg)
3.3. Hombre mirando al sureste (Eliseo Subiela)

Unit 4: Dominican Cinema

4.1. Abril: La trinchera del honor (René Fortunato)
4.2. Nueba Yol (Ángel Muñiz)

Unit 5: Brazilian Cinema

5.1. Pixote (Héctor Babenco)
5.2. Estación Central (Walter Salles)

Unit 6: Mexican Cinema

6.1. Como agua para chocolate (Alfonso Arau)
6.2. La Ley de Herodes

Unit 7: Chilean Cinema

7.1. La luna en el espejo

EVALUATION:

Essays submitted during the semester (To be determined in class): 80%
Class participation: 10%
Final exam (Film: "Nueba Yol"): 10%
Total: 100%

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Barbachano, C. (1983) El cine: arte, evasión y dólares. Madrid: Salvat.

Balázs, B. (1978) Evolución y esencia de un arte nuevo: el cine. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.

Birri, F. (1996) Por un nuevo cine latinoamericano: 1956-1991. Madrid: Cátedra.

Caneto, G. y otros. Compiladores. (1993) Fundación del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano. Cine Latinoamericano 1896-1930. Caracas: Ediciones Miguel A. García e Hijos.

Carpentier, A. (1989) Cine. La Habana: Letras Cubanas.

Espinosa, B. y Llópiz, J. L. (1989) Cine Cubano: 30 años en revolución. La Habana: Centro de Estudios y Promoción Saúl Yelin.

García Riera, E. (1998) Breve historia del Cine Mexicano: 1897-1997. Guadalajara, México: CONACULTURA.

Sáez, J. L. (1989) Teoría del Cine. 2da. Edición. Santo Domingo: Editora Taller.

Trelles Plazaola, L. (1989) South American Cinema. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Editora de la Universidad de Puerto Rico.