Latin American & Iberian Film Series
Trinity College
Spring 2004
OPEN TO ALL
English Subtitles • Guest Speakers • Information: 297- 5256 or 297- 4273
Click on links for
credits, plots, and directions
Wednesdays, 7:30 PM
February 4 The Revolution will not be televised (Chavez: Inside the coup)
LSC (Ireland / Netherlands/ Germany / Finland / USA, 2003)
February 11 El bonaerense
LSC (Argentina / Chile / France / Netherlands, 2002)
February 18 Balseros (Cuban Rafters)
LSC (Spain / Cuba, 2002)
February 25 La comunidad (Common Wealth)
LSC (Spain, 2000)
March 3 La ley de Herodes (Herod's Law)
Cinestudio (Mexico, 2000)
March 10 Suite Habana
LSC (Cuba, 2003)
March 24 Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (Torrente, the stupid arm of the law)
LSC (Spain, 1998)
March 31 En la ciudad sin limites (City of no limits)
Cinestudio (Argentina / Spain, 2002)
April 7 Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamina)
LSC (Spain, 2003)
April 14 El caso Pinochet (The Pinochet Case)
LSC (Chile / France / Belgium / Spain, 2001)
April 21 Los lunes al sol (Mondays in the Sun)
LSC (Spain / Italy / France, 2002)
Prices:
Free admission for all films in Life Science Center.
Cinestudio: $6 general admission, $5 for students, educators and senior citizens.
Organized by:
Rosamaria De Leon and Fabiola von Hollen (Modern Languages and Literature)
Sponsored by:
The Spanish Club, Department of Modern Languages and Literature, Women’s Center, RIBS, Latin American Studies Program, the Programa de Estudios Hispánicos en Córdoba (PRESHCO), and Cinestudio
February 5 Cinestudio
The Revolution will not be televised
(Ireland / Netherlands/ Germany / Finland / USA, 2003)
Directed by Kim Bartley and Donacha O’Brian. Documentary. 74 min
Plot: When a coup was launched in April 2002 against Hugo
Chavez, the elected President of Venezuela, some young Irish filmmakers were
lucky enough to be on hand to witness the events. They were actually inside the
Presidential Palace - a filmmakers' dream - when the soldiers came to take
Chavez away. But they were also there 48 hours later when the same soldiers
switched sides reinstalling the president. The result is a brilliant piece of
journalism but it is also an astonishing portrait of the balance of forces in
Venezuela. On one side stand the Versace wearing classes, rich from many decades
of oil revenues, and on the other the poor in their barrios and those within the
armed forces who support Chavez.
Speaker: Derek Marin, Trinity College
February 11 LSC
La bonaerense (Argentina / Chile / France / Netherlands, 2002) Directed by Pablo Trapero. Drama. 105 min.
Plot: When genial small-town locksmith Zapa is arrested
after indulging in a bit of low-level criminality, his well-connected uncle gets
him transferred to the capital - and straight into the ranks of the
under-resourced, under-staffed, (criminally) under-paid, under-trained and
over-stretched men in blue. This film is a persuasive, atmospheric rummage
through the dirty internal laundry of Buenos Aires’ order keepers.
Speaker: Leonardo Palacios, Dept. of Modern Languages, University of Connecticut.
February 18 LSC
Plot: In the summer of 1994, Fidel Castro sanctioned the
opening of Cuba's coastal borders, allowing a mass exodus of 50,000 balseros -
rafters-to set sail from Havana on dangerous makeshift rafts for Miami, Florida.
This epic story of Cuban castaways caught between two worlds finds richness in
real-life drama celebrating the human spirit as it follows 7 immigrants over the
course of 7 years on their journey for the American dream.
Speaker: Anne Lambright, Dept. of Modern Languages, Trinity College
February 26 LSC
La comunidad (Common Wealth) (Spain, 2000) Directed by Alex de la Iglesia. Comedy / Thriller. 110 min.
Plot: The rhythm of the film jumps from black humor to
suspense, from terror to pure action. The protagonist is Julia, a middle aged
woman, who works for a real estate agency. While selling an apartment, she finds
hidden 300 million pesetas in a dead man’s home, and decides to change her
mediocre existence by keeping the money. She then has to face the irate members
of the community.
Speaker: Carmen Moreno-Nuno, Dept. of Romance Languages, Wesleyan University.
March 3 Cinestudio
La ley de Herodes (Herod’s Law) (Mexico, 2000) Directed by Luis Estrada. Comedy / Crime / Mystery. 120 min.
Plot:
It's the 1940s and Juan Vargas is just a minor member of the
Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), who finds himself elected the mayor
of a small village. But soon, Vargas has grown power-hungry and with the help of
corrupt politician Lopez, Vargas tightens his grip and expands his sphere of
influence, through a policy of fear, extortion and criminality. This film is a
pitch-black parable of corruption at the highest and lowest levels of
government, which virtually takes no prisoners with a mighty angry and crude
humor.
Speaker: María Silvina Persino, Dept. of Modern Languages, Trinity College.
March 10 LSC
Suite Habana (Cuba, 2003) Directed by Fernando Pérez. Documentary. 80 min.
Plot: “Suite Habana” is a simple day in the life of ten
ordinary people of Havana. There are neither interviews, nor dialogues nor
narration: only images, sounds and music cine to express on film the everyday
events of a peculiar and unique reality. Each of the characters represents the
curious diversity of the social groups found in the city. This film shows more
than one Havana, it unveils many invisible and different faces of the city.
Speaker: Luis Figueroa, History Department, Trinity College
March 24 LSC
Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (Torrente, the Stupid Arm of the Law) (Spain, 1998) Directed by Santiago Segura. Action / Comedy / Thriller. 97 min.
Plot: Torrente is a lazy, rude, drunkard, sexist, racist,
extreme-right-wing Madrid ex cop; a despicable character who only cares about
himself. He lives in a decrepit slum with his wheelchair-bound father, whom he
treats quite badly. A new nymphomaniac neighbor called Amparito, catches his
eye, so he becomes a friend of Rafi, her nerdy cousin, who likes action movies.
Torrente, Rafi, and Amparito will patrol the city’s streets finding adventures.
Speaker: Arthur Galinat, Dept. of Modern Languages, University of Hartford.
March 31 Cinestudio
En la ciudad sin limites (City of no limits) (Argentina / Spain, 2002) Directed by Antonio Hernández. Drama / Thriller. 125 min
Plot:
Max (Fernando Fernán Gómez), a successful
businessman, lies dying in a Paris hospital, afflicted by a brain tumor. At his
bedside are his glacial wife (Geraldine Chaplin) and his grown children,
including the youngest, Victor (Leonardo Sbaraglia of Intacto). They can't help
but hear his barely coherent ruminations about a plot against someone named
Rancel, but only Victor takes him seriously. He becomes obsessed with the man
who weighs so heavily upon his father's conscience, and sets off to discover his
identity. A tense, brilliantly controlled drama.
Speaker: Angela Morales, Central Connecticut State University
April 7 LSC
Soldados de Salamina (Soldiers of Salamina) (Spain, 2003) Directed by David Trueba. Drama. 112 min.
Plot:
A successful young novelist who has lost her inspiration makes
her living as a teacher and a journalist. Her latest assignment is to
investigate a true story that took place at the end of the Civil War involving
the infamous writer and ideological fascist, Rafael Sánchez Mazas. She discovers
that he was to be murdered in a mass execution, but managed to escape with the
help of an anonymous young soldier. The novelist gradually pieces together this
story, riddled with contradictions and enigmatic characters. Unwittingly, as her
search progresses, it is not only about finding the truth that she is after, but
finding herself as well.
Speaker: Christa Chartnuch, Dept. of Modern Languages, University of Connecticut.
April 14 LSC
El caso Pinochet (The Pinochet Case) ( Chile / France / Belgium / Spain, 2001) Directed by Patricio Guzmán. Documentary. 110 min.
Plot:
Augusto Pinochet was the first dictator in Latin America to be
humbled by the international justice system since the Nuremberg trials. In
September 1998, Pinochet flew to London on a pleasure trip. He rested for a few
days. He had tea with Margaret Thatcher. But, suddenly, he began experiencing
back pain and underwent an operation in the London Clinic. Upon waking from
surgery, he was arrested by the London police. Who was responsible for this?
This new film by Patricio Guzmán investigates the legal origins of the case in
Spain - where it began two years before Pinochet's arrest.
Speaker: Alba Skar, Dept. of Modern Languages, Trinity College
Los lunes al sol (Mondays in the Sun) (Spain / Italy / France, 2002) Directed by Fernando León de Aranoa. Drama. 113 min.
Plot:
This film portrays a group of friends who have
worked together at a northern shipyard, and are now all victims of industrial
restructuring. It shows poetically and tragicomically their everyday struggle
for survival, dealing with the consequences of their unemployment, their lack of
self confidence, and how all this affects them and their social environments. It
is also about the conception of work as a common good and the characters class
pride. For them "work" is their only possession, their treasure. The moment it
is taken away, they lose everything.
Speaker: Fabiola von Hollen, Dept of Modern Languages, Trinity College