Tanya Compas

Women in Latin American Narrative and Film

LS541

Analyse how Claudia Llosa used mise-en-scene in her debut film Madeinusa and why her portrayal of indigenous Peruvians within the film provoked a lot of criticism within the Peruvian community.
Mise en scene encompasses the attributes of films such as clothing, music, scenery and camera that characterize the film itself. In short, Mise en scene is everything that the audience sees in the frame; the use of Mise en scene by a director can make or break a film. During this essay I will analyse the use of Mise en scene Claudia Llosa in Madeinusa and how she used this to reflect the identity of the Indigenous Andean community. The portrayal of the indigenous community is a sensitive issue and Claudia Llosa caused a lot of reaction from the Peruvian community for her representation of the indigenous Peruvians in her debut film Madeinusa. Claudia Llosa has become one of the most recognized Peruvian directors amongst the international film community, Madeinusa whilst being highly criticised within the Peruvian community was also highly celebrated amid the international film community, winning the best unpublished script at the 2003 Havana film festival and several international awards. During this essay I will also discuss why Claudia Llosa's methods of representing the Indigenous Andean community was highly criticised by many in the Peruvian community but celebrated by the international film world. Madeinusa is a film set in an imaginary Indigenous Andean village of Manayaycuna, which means the town no one can enter in Quechua. The central character is a young naive Indian girl, Madeinusa, who meets the limeo visitor Salvador who finds himself stranded in the village of Manayaycuna in the middle of the annual Easter festival Tiempo Santo. Tiempo Santo or Holy time takes place over a three day period where Jesus is believed to be dead and lasts until his resurrection at the end of the three days. During the three day period, the people are under the belief that they are free to sin as God cannot see sin between the time of Jesuss death and his resurrection. People are free to act on impulse and essentially do whatever they want no matter how morally wrong it is, without guilt or persecution. Claudia Llosa is known as a magic realist director, both La teta Asustada and Madeinusa have been billed as magic realism films. In the case of both films, magic realism is not a literary genre but is an element of national identity or consciousness; Claudia Llosa plays on the myths found within the Peruvian Indigenous community. Llosa proves why her use of Mise-en-scene is so celebrated amongst film critics within the film; she perfectly reflects the colourful and vibrant nature of the indigenous Peruvians without boring the audience. Whilst the plot of the story itself has been critiqued due to the portrayal of Peruvians in the film, it is impossible to critique the authenticity of the music, clothing and landscape of the film. Claudia Llosas choice of scenery is one of the most important features of Mise-en-scene in the film; Madeinusa was filmed in the Peruvian town of Ancash, north of Lima, the scenery reflected that of a typical indigenous village and provided a beautiful back drop for some carefully shot scenes. Everything from the rough cobbled streets, to the dry wide plains and the snow-capped mountains provided the perfect cultural landscape for the film. Llosa coupled the scenery with some amazing cinematography, there were many distant shots reflecting the isolated nature of the town of Manayaycuna.

Tanya Compas

Women in Latin American Narrative and Film

LS541

Llosa paid close attention to the costume, hair and makeup (or lack of) worn by the actors in the film which again added to the realistic perception of the film from many critics. Claudia Llosa made a conscious decision not to hire any professional actors, she instead hired people from the town of Ancash to act in the film, this all added to the authenticity. Indigenous clothing is beautifully made, vibrant and very intricate, during the church scenes where Madeinusa is leading the procession carrying Jesus from the Church; she was filmed wearing this beautifully tailored dress, a dress made specifically for the tiempo santo festival. Clothing is especially important in the film as the clothing worn by the indigenous reflects the history of Peru, a mixture of style from Incan days and Spanish colonial peasant dress, whilst this clothing is not worn in main cities in Peru such as Lima anymore; it is still every day dress for those in the indigenous towns. Modern, western clothing is seen as a symbol of wealth and clothing is a way used by many Peruvians to determine social status, which Llosa reflected in the difference in clothing worn by everyone in Manayaycuna and those worn by Salvador, the un-wanted visitor from Lima. Music is another big feature in the film, music is a huge part of Peruvian culture, each region is famous for its own specific genre of music, the music of the Andes is best known for its use of wind pipes and string instruments. Again Llosa chooses her music well; reflecting the identity of the indigenous people in the film, Llosa also infuses the use of Quechua into her music choices. One of the moist poignant scenes in the film is where Madeinusa played by Magalay Solier sings a sweet song in Quechua to seduce Salvador. On first view this scene may seem relatively unimportant, however reflects a lot of what Llosa is trying to portray in the film. The scene reflects Madeinusa's innocence, reflects her culture and identity through the use of Quechua and also reflects why the film is perceived by many international critics as being an authentic representation of the indigenous rural villages in Peru. It also reflects the contrast of culture again between Madeinusa and Salvador, as it becomes embarrassingly obvious that he doesnt understand a word of Quechua that she is singing to him and the fact that she then has to explain to him the meaning behind Tiempo Santo makes it almost cringe worthy. It is during this scene that Salvador also makes a comment about Madeinusas name making reference to the fact it means made in the USA and telling her that it is not a real name and she should have a more beautiful name. Llosa was actually questioned about her choice of name for the main character to which she replied Madeinusa is a proper name in Peru. And for me, contains mainly all the concepts that we work on the film: The syncretism, the fascination towards the foreigner, and the influence of different and powerful culture, beyond less powerful ones. And also of course, about the capacity that has these cultures to insert the outsideinfluence without losing its essence (Tehrani, 2007) Throughout the film the audience is shown some exquisite examples of Llosas camera work and we bear witness to some beautiful cinematography. One of the most memorable scenes that reflect Llosas understanding of camera work is during the scene at night time when there are fireworks set off in the plaza and these vibrant fireworks are framed within shots of silhouetted towns people dancing and celebrating tiempo Santo. There are also contrasts of dark and light throughout the film, the dark picturesque scenery is contrasted with the brightly coloured clothing of the actors. Claudia Llosa has a keen eye for detail, in the scene where the jealous sister of Madeinusa, Chale locks her in the attic, there is a can of Coca Cola framed into the shot, this can be perceived as being an indication that no matter how isolated a town is, there is no town too isolated for western influence.

Tanya Compas

Women in Latin American Narrative and Film

LS541

Claudia Llosa likes to push boundaries within her films and take the audience out of their comfort zone, it is during the time of tiempo Santo where Claudia Llosa really exercises this, especially in the scene where Madeinusas father forces himself upon Madeinusa to take away her precious virginity he is unaware at the time that Madeinusa had already seduced Salvador just moments before- and because this incestuous liaison has taken place during tiempo Santo, in the eyes of her father and the Manayaycuna community, he is not committing a sin. It was the way Llosa depicted the indigenous community in Madeinusa in scenes like the one mentioned above that caused a lot of controversy and reaction within the culture sensitive Peruvian community. After reading through numerous film reviews for Madeinusa, there is a common tone in the reviews by many Peruvian critics with many mentioning that Claudia Llosa is an elitist white Peruvian who lives in Europe and through the plot of Madeinusa is reflecting her elitist prejudices against the Indigenous Peruvian community and thus portrays the indigenous community in a very negative and sadistic light. Whilst there is definitely a class divide within Peru and prejudices definitely do exist within the classes, they feel that Llosa should not have portrayed these racist stereotypes in her film and to the international film community as they may perceive these over exaggerated scenes as being a reality. There are definite truths within Madeinusa, the scenery, the music, the people and the importance of festivals are all important features within the Indigenous Andean community, and the worry for many Peruvians is whether Westerners will be able to draw the line between truth and fiction. Essentially Claudia Llosa is providing the international community with a window into the indigenous Peruvian community and through Madeinusa, Llosa takes the foreigner on a journey through the rural villages of Peru. There is a definite contrast between international reviews on Madeinusa and the opinion of Peruvians, the main example of this contrast is the fact that the film is so highly celebrated amongst the international film critics, having won awards such as the best unpublished script at the Havana film festival in 2003. This is the same script that provoked by heavy criticism from Peruvians, was celebrated and held in high esteem by Western film critics, this shows the contrast in opinions and contrast in perceptions of the film and script. Claudia Llosa used all the features of Mise-en-scene to reflect the identity of the Peruvian Indigenous Andean community, regardless of the amount of heavy criticism it received in Peru it cannot be argued that her grasp on mise-en-scene will make her one of the most exciting directors to come out of Latin America. Llosa did not miss any aspect of mise en-scene when directing or writing the film which made this fictional story very realistic, especially amongst the foreign community, many of whom would assume after watching the film that the festival of tiempo Santo and the actions of the towns people are all actually happen in reality. It is for this exact reason that the film caused so much controversy within the Peru, as many Peruvians felt that this was not the image of Peru they wanted portrayed to the outside world. The high class/elite community in Peru, those often found in Miraflores in Lima tend to find shame in the lives of the indigenous Indian community, with many completely disregarding the language Quechua, an Incan language still widely spoken within these indigenous communities found in rural villages in the Andes. They didnt want to be seen as dysfunctional, incestuous pagans, but the modern almost westernized community that they are striving to become. Many Peruvian critics were offended by Llosas unrealistic depiction of Peru however surely there must be some truth in how Llosa represented the indigenous community for it to cause so much reaction.

Tanya Compas

Women in Latin American Narrative and Film

LS541

Bibliography
Chris. (2006, September 7). Madeinusa. Retrieved from Eye for film: http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/madeinusa-film-review-by-chris/ Gibbs, J. (2012). Mise-En-scene: Film Style and Interpretation. Columbia University Press. Llosa, C. (Director). (2005). MAdeinusa [Motion Picture]. Movement, F. (2005). Madeinusa. Retrieved from Film Movement Canada: http://www.filmmovementcanada.com/downloads/dvdartwork/Madeinusa%20DVD%20Box %20Art.pdf Tehrani, B. (2007, January 19). Claudia Llsoa talks about Madeinusa. Retrieved from Cinema Without Borders : http://cinemawithoutborders.com/conversations/1156-claudia-llsoa-talks-aboutmadeinusa.html Young, N. (2006). In the Name of the Father. Retrieved from Fipresci: http://www.fipresci.org/festivals/archive/2006/rotterdam/rdam_young.htm

Word Count: 2001