5.5 - MADEINUSA (2005) & Dislocation

The next stop on our journey through Latin America is 2005’s MADEINUSA. After some reviews, we talk about how this film is itself a disturbing experience for the viewers, to what extent it presents the main character as a ‘femme fatale', and why it works as a complete disruption of the ‘white saviour’ myth.

Next Up
The next film in our Latin American Odyssey is Colombia’s EL PASEO (2010).

Recent Media
MIDNIGHT MASS (2021): Mike Flanagan, Kate Siegel, Zach Gilford
SQUID GAME (2021): Hwang Dong-hyuk, Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo

Recommendations
LA MALA EDUCACIÓN (2004): Pedro Almodóvar, Gael Garcia Bernal, Fele Martínez
HIGH NOON (1952): Fred Zinnemann, Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly
THE PURGE (SERIES, 2013–21): James DeMonaco, Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey
THE WICKER MAN (1973): Robin Hardy, Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland

Footnotes
Rob mentions a few cinematic touchstones for some of the visual stylings of this film: kabuki (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabuki), the morality play (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morality_play), and anime (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime). Some of this film’s ideas are also reminiscent of the film noir (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir), particularly at the end. This is an interesting analysis of ‘white saviour’ films: movies.mxdwn.com/feature/a-critical-analysis-of-white-savior-films-and-why-you-should-avoid-them. Finally, Rob mentioned tourism, in the context both of this film and of CITY OF GOD; this is a useful article about this, focused on the film’s geographical setting: barbieri.wordpress.ncsu.edu/files/2020/07/2020_Peru_SusTmo.pdf.

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