Carol's Journey

First I would like to say that my screening of this film may not be quite accurate since we weren't able to have English subtitles, so...... here I go! I got the feeling that Carol's journey in her new home was tough, probably as it would have been for any other child her age that had moved to a new town, let alone a new country! I think that what Carol experienced was 'normal', as children tend to tease and mess with other children who don't quite fit in. This was shown by the three boys who taunt Carol, until she stands up to them. After that, they seem to respect her and a friendship (and even a little more) develops between her and the boys.

I got the feeling that Carol seemed to get frustrated with some of the situations in her new home because they weren't handled as they would have been back in America. This was something that Carol had to get used to, and I think anyone would have had trouble adjusting to such a different environment. As the movie progresses, I think Carol begins to assimilate herself into the Spanish culture, and starts to feel more at home. But the passing of her mother takes a lot of this away for her, as now she is left alone, without her mother or her father. Her grandfather is there for her, but they have some difficulty bonding throughout the movie. In the end, Carol's life is again turned around when her very close friend is killed, and her father is captured by the military. Carol is sent back to America where she awaits the return of her father. Even though she is now back where she grew up, I don't think Carol will be the same, as her short life in Spain maybe changed who she was.

Volver...

I really enjoyed screening this film. I would say it is a close second runner up to my favorite film of the quarter, La Misma Luna. In this film, all of the main women characters are faced (or have been faced) with some sort of tribulation in their life, caused by the machismo men that they are involved with. Again, a husband (Paco) is shown to be a low life, dirty man that does whatever he pleases and doesn't have the interests of his family in mind. He eventually gets his, when he tries to molest his own adopted daughter, of all things! I was glad to see that the daughter, even at such a young age, could stand up to him and show her strength. Raimunda, the main character, shows even greater strength for herself by being able to move on with her life to provide for her family, even if it meant committing an illegal crime! We later find out in the film that Raimunda was molested by her own father when she was young, and that her daughter was actually her sister, too. Getting though something like that has to be hard, to know that your daughter is a result of sexual abuse from your father. Yikes! That calls for an incredible amount of strength to move on after that and still act like a proper mother and provide for your child.

Irene, Raimunda's mother also had a rough time with her past, in which she let her emotions get the best of her and she committed 2 murders. You would never think that such nice, caring women were capable of such crimes. And then there is Sole, Raimunda's sister who runs her own business out of her home, and is a successful woman. All of the women in this film display great strength and courage to move through what life throws them.

As far as superstitious beliefs and reality in this film, I think two prime examples would be how everyone in the village believed that the 'East wind' makes you crazy, and the village believed that Aunt Paula had been effected by these winds because of all the 'crazy' things she would say about her sister, Irene. Aunt Paula was not crazy, because we later found out that Irene was alive all of the time and actually taking care of Aunt Paula. Another superstition was that the village also believed that Irene was a ghost that was haunting the village, and that many had seen here. Again, we find out that Irene had never died and had been alive all along.

Guantanemera

I enjoyed screening this film; there were many aspects of Hispanic culture represented yet again. There was the 'macho' concept that was portrayed by Adolfo, who I could probably use up a whole blog for him. He was so self absorbed, and only cared about himself and his agenda. He didn't care for his wife Gina, I believe that he married her more for a status perspective. The end of the film was very powerful, in which Adolfo ended up creating his own fate with his attitude. He knew that Gina's aunt wasn't the body in the coffin, and yet to serve himself he went through with the funeral! That was the point where death (represented by a little girl, all dressed up who appeared throughout the movie), found Adolfo.

Hispanic culture is rich with music and food, both of which were shown in this movie. Even around the sadness of her aunt's funeral, Gina tries to maintain a hopeful attitude for her own life, even though she knows in the back of her mind that her marriage to Adolfo is not right for her. He runs almost every aspect of her life, right down to the clothes she wears and the way she wears her hair. Candido tries to get Gina to see through Adolfo's controlling ways, and throughout the film convinces her to go out on her own. Mariano, who was once a student of Gina's fell in love with her and was very different from Adolfo. Even though he was portraying the macho culture of Hispanic men in the film, he only loved Gina and I am pretty sure that he would be faithful to her. I lost track of how many times they ran into each other on their journeys, but their love ultimately brought them together in the end. All in all, this was a very nice film and I enjoyed it very much.

The Official Story

As far as Gaby's future is concered, I was a little unsure of how the movie exactly ended. I know that Alicia is not planning to return home, as she left her keys in the front door lock. Gaby was over at her Grandparents at the time of her parents fight, so I am assuming that Alicia left from her home to go pick up Gaby. Whether she returns her to her biological family is what I am unsure of. I know Alicia loved Gaby very much, but at the same time I got a feeling that Alicia was very sympathetic towards the mothers who were murdered and of their children who were taken away from their families.

At one point during the movie, Alicia's past is revealed; her parents also died when she was very young, and her Grandmother tried to cover up their deaths by writing fake letters to Alicia and telling her that they were on a "trip". Eventually Alicia came to believe that her parents just didn't want her anymore, until the day that she saw their grave sites and finally forgave them. In this aspect I think that Alicia doesn't want Gaby growing up the same way, thinking that her real parents didn't want her and that she was being lied to all along. I guess in reality, Gaby's life could have taken multiple turns: she could have been picked up by Alicia and taken to somewhere different to live, she could have been returned to her biological family to live, or maybe she was left to stay with her grandparents? It is hard to say but I think that Gaby would have grown up a very strong woman just like Alicia, and would have known her past and have accepted it??? I can only assume!

Like Water for Chocolate- Amy Thompson

In this movie there were so many things that I would consider to be 'Magic Realism'.

Tita was born the youngest daughter, destined to take care of her mother until she died. From the start, you could tell that Tita and her mother had a very angry relationship with each other. From this point on, Tita's emotions are exemplified in the film. She was able to transfer her emotions into the food she was eating (an insight that I learned from another fellow student!). For example, the cake that she was making for Pedro and Rosaura's wedding had her tears in it, and after everyone ate it they were overcome with her sorrow, and even got physically sick! Later in the film, Tita was able to feed Pedro and Rosaura's baby with her breast milk, even though she was a virgin. This was an example of magic realism in that she was longing to have a baby with Pedro.

When Pedro and Rosaura moved away and Tita later found out that their baby died, Tita had a mental breakdown, only to be cured later by a 'magic broth' and was brought out of her depression.

The scene which I think had the most significant magic realism message was when Pedro dies from being overcome by his emotions for Tita, and how Tita eats the sulfur tips of some matches to kill herself to finally be with Pedro. The scene was so strong and showed the intensity (with all of the candles, burning bright) of Tita and Pedro's love for one another.

All in all I enjoyed this film and it was neat to see all of the magic realism that the film showed. It's always nice to see things in not such a harsh reality sometimes!