MA Dissertation: Towards A New Third Cinema

8/13/2019 MA Dissertation: Towards A New Third Cinema

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Towards A New Third Cinema?

Introduction To Third Cinema

The murder of Swedish-Argentinean photo-journalist Leonardo Henrichsen on the

morning of June 23rd !"3 #$ a mutineering arm$ regiment in Santiago is %uite

possi#l$ the most poignant necessit$ for a further in&estigation into Third Cinema'

The callous gunning down of a field reporter( one who was filming a protest

supporting socialist )resident Sal&ador Allende( com#ined with the su#se%uent effort

#$ the )inochet-led militar$ to destro$ the literall$ *cinematic+ e&idence of the incident

is a uni&ersal s$m#ol of oppression and filmic censorship that could not #e

misconstrued' ,ithin )atricio u.man+s The Battle of Chile /!"01( the four hour

epic militant documentar$ reporting the &iolent re&olutionar$ action against Allende in

which Henrichsen+s untimel$ death is ehi#ited from newsreel footage( lies a

distur#ing reminder of the insidiousness nature of political turmoil and the elimination

of dissent' As the protesters retreat awa$ from Allende+s political head%uarters as an

armed militar$ inter&ention arri&es( the paniced faces of each indi&idual

re&olutionar$ can #e identified' Some scatter to a safe distance while others plead

with the filmmaer through the camera to join them in their withdrawal' 4onetheless(

the punishment for opposing an$ illusions within Chilean societ$ is unwarranted

&iolence( incarceration and ultimatel$ callous murder' 5ach indi&idual who is willing

to #ecome an agent of social and political change is the target of this punishment'

Henrichsen continues to film as the crowd+s num#ers slowl$ dwindle( interrupting his

sur&eillance of the arri&ing militar$ with focused and precise .oom shots of the

crowds fearing for their &er$ li&es' As the foot-soldiers continue to intimidate(

threaten and arrest more of their own people( the act of Henrichsen+s filming is

transformed from historical documentation to o&ert political act' The camera


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#ecomes a rifle( the filmmaer a soldier( and with this transformation comes the dut$

to fight against t$rann$( authoritarianism and unfounded persecution' 6ppression

personified must destro$ an$ recorded witness to the destructi&e nature of its

actions( almost paradoicall$ self-aware of the chaos and grotes%ue effects of their

own #eha&iour' As the militar$ tae aim /7ilm Image 1( the image of a soldier aiming

the #arrel of his gun straight at Henrichsen and with that( the spectator( is perhaps

the most pro&ocati&e film still to justif$ the need for a reactionar$( li&ing( #reathing act

of filmmaing' This filmmaing goes #e$ond the projector and the cinematic screen

of *fantas$+ or *escapism+ #ut with the direct aim of uniting a group with a

consciousness of change directl$ inspired #$ the documented suffering that informed

the creation of the film itself' As the soldier fires his weapon and the hand-held

camera spirals into the s$( a second reactionar$ trigger is in turn fired( one that is

collecti&el$ felt #$ the numerous and willing agents /such as Henrichsen1 stri&ing to

assert political( economic and social change &ia cinematic production( distri#ution

and ehi#ition' 8e&olutionar$ action through film' 5nter Third Cinema'

,ithin the so-called *Third ,orld+ #etween the earl$ !09s to the late !"9s( colonial

wars and re&olutionar$ #attles for independence #ased on ideological( cultural(

economic( religious and political reconfigurations were eacted on nations within The

Americas( Africa( Asia and the :iddle 5ast usuall$ #ased on the imperialist interests

of the ,estern world' ,ith such &ast and unwarranted changes enforced #$ the top-

down authori.ations onto the indigenous people #om#arded further #$ the consistent

reproduction of these changes within populari.ed culture( there is immediatel$ a

justification for a counter-cultural output that sought to re#el and re&olt against the

national changes that were apparentl$ in the #est interests of *progress+' 5merging


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The$ were further despondent to auteur cinema /Second Cinema1( the apparentl$

free speech cinema of the primaril$ 5uropean art house spheres' Second Cinema is

an output that rejects Holl$wood con&ention in form( $et struggles to articulate an$

form of consistent or eplicit political message due to its emphasis on an

auteurDagent as a singular epression of taste' This form of Second Cinema

epitomi.es auteurs such as Jean 8enoir( :a 6phEls and 8o#ert Fresson for their

apparent a#ilit$ to create wors of art with their own trademar st$listic consistencies

within *the s$stem+ of the commercial 5uropean film spheres' Howe&er( Solanas and

etino argued that an$ films operating within *the s$stem+ could ne&er #e completel$

free from the monolithic class or ideological &iew that that *s$stem+ promotes' The$

are instead granted onl$ a partial freedom to their art( a freedom which is go&erned

to a certain etent #$ the filmmaer( the rest #$ the concerned parties of in&estors

and studio eecuti&es who wield their own ideals of audience epectation( taste and

financial profits /hence the auteur is stuc still within *the fortress+ of 7irst Cinema1'

Therefore in opposition to this 7irst Cinema of Holl$wood #ased commercial

escapism and this Second Cinema of auteur #ased 5uropean art house cinema

Solanas and etino founded a Third Cinema' The$ sought to create an eplicitl$

confrontational output that had a &ague and indirect ideological concern #ut was still

associated with the struggles of its people through their associated culture( language

and social traditions' This cinema would #e st$listicall$ uni%ue and would see to

portra$ the harsh da$ to da$ struggles of its indigenous people and the causes of

their oppression' Taing on the forms of newsreel documentaries( historical epics(

a&ant-garde pieces and dramatic fictionali.ations of indigenous stories /amongst

man$ others1( Third Cinema su#&erts traditional cinematic st$le depending on their


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direct aims and the social and political climate of their concerned region upon

release' Through this su#&ersion the$ champion eplicitl$ the social( cultural(

economic and political &isions of the past( present and future meanwhile challenging

conceptions of histor$( cultural identities and marginali.ed groups' It is created

through a maeshift production( distri#ution and ehi#ition process to reach and

educate the people directl$ and independentl$' 7urthermore( it is directl$ antagonistic

to other forms of commercial cinema( the apparent passi&it$ of film spectatorship and

the sometimes hidden forces of imperialistic eploitations of colonial and neo-

colonial forces to the supposedl$ *Third ,orld+' Gia articulating such hea&$-weight

topics( Third Cinema sees to create a re&olutionar$ consciousness of societal

inter&ention' 5ach tet highlights where change is needed( those responsi#le for

cultural and political su#ordination and the direct reasons that inform the creation of

the film itself all the while championing a usuall$ &ague ideological or political

#acground' 5ach indi&idual film is #$ moulded #$ their geographical countr$ of

origin( the filmmaer+s own ideolog$ and how this ideolog$ would ultimatel$

contetualise the world around them' This ideolog$( /one that eclipses mere st$le

and must also #e anal$sed through a socio-historical contet1 is ultimatel$ the most

important factor when &iewing Third Cinema and its aim to >mae films that *the

s$stem+ cannot assimilate and which are foreign to its needs( or mae films that

directl$ and eplicitl$ set out to fight *the S$stem+? /!";


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industries that eist as mere indigenous recreations of Holl$wood+s 7irst Cinema [1].

This is the most directl$ eplicit justification for cinematic production' This is an

output that attempts to assert mass change on a national scale through the filming of

oppression and eploitation( distri#uting this message and finall$ ehi#iting and

inspiring social transformation' This is Third Cinema'

Though the ideal of Third Cinema was initiall$ discussed in an inter&iew within the

pages of Cineasteand later Tricontinentalin !;! #etween se&eral Argentinean

directors( man$ filmmaers /not just Solanas and etino1 prior to their pu#lication

had tried to concei&e a cinema that would concern itself with opposing the

oppression of its people' Argentinean filmmaer 7ernando Firr for eample sought to

create *a cinema that reinforces the re&olutionar$ consciousness of the masses+

/!;"cr$stallises an awaening within the

masses? /Sem#ene 299


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Third Cinema' espite its contesting definitions from its &ast countries of origin( Third

Cinema is enriched further in its association with mo&ements and indi&idual film tets

within the 7irst and Second ,orld' 7or eample the American 4ew Left group

*4ewsreel+ /,augh !";


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a concept /and a case stud$1 that is inherentl$ crucial to the current climate of film

theor$ and in fact general ,estern and 5uropean academia' As a form of cinema

that can #e justified in the causes of the production of the indi&idual film itself( Third

Cinema has recei&ed a concerning reception within academic tets' Its #latant

eclusion from most ,estern and 5uropean circles or its minimi.ation as a singular

narrowed form of cinematic output within enc$clopaedic #oos represents the

continued eistence of 5uro-centric outloos seeing to place film histor$ into

managea#le stories and chronologies' Third Cinema eists as #oth a crucial film

practice and a theoretical concept in great need of reconsidering and re&aluating' It

is these two facets of Third Cinema that will e%uall$ #e interrogated within this essa$(

seeing to articulate Third Cinema+s position in the 2st centur$' The ideal aim #eing

that filmmaers will #e a#le to continue creating Third Cinema tets through new

re&olutionar$ channels and its researchers and dedicated academics from all o&er

the glo#e will #e a#le to full$ understand these tets thorough a fresh methodological

approach' In understanding and eposing the current causes of its malnourishment

then looing towards new suita#le methodologies that ena#le its full anal$sis for

e&en the most ,estern researcher( Third Cinema can regrow on two counter-

informing front lines'

In also reflecting on the practice+s presence within academia( its greatest injustice is

the difficult$ film theorists ha&e to this present da$ in firml$ positioning Third Cinema'

:odern academic tets still consistentl$ contest the st$listic trademars and di&erse

forms this confrontational cinema can tae' As :ie ,a$ne writes@#$ taing riss and contri#uting his li&ing eperience

to the meeting the screeningB( he #ecame an actor( a more important protagonist

than those appearing in the films? /!";


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Cinema does little to further its aims( it instead must inspire a *freedom gi&ing energ$+

according to Solanas and etino inside e&er$ spectator in attendance which will then

&enture into *su#&ersi&e o#ser&ation( sensi#ilit$( imagination and reali.ation+

/!";


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spectator is graduall$ much more learned and acutel$ aware of the conceptions of

the right of e&er$ single man /woman and child1' 7urthermore( the$ are also

concerned with the eploitations of de&eloping nations at the hands of imperialist

forces #oth in the present da$ and within recent histories of so called national

*independence+' As factions are formed #ased on a dissatisfaction of political actions

and policies( post-colonialism eists as eplicit discourses on the insidious nature of

colonial su#jugation and the destruction of the m$thical self-ascri#ed superiorit$ the

,estern world has o&er the non-,estern world' 7or the ,esterner( it represents the

most epressi&e form of this destruction a&aila#le #e$ond the post-colonial writings

themsel&es' It is a methodolog$ that directl$ informs Third Cinema output and

therefore should #e anal$.ed as an integral categor$ of that what maes it

re&olutionar$'

)ost-colonialism< ,hen we later reflect on Third Cinema+s relationship to ,estern

forms of film theor$( the output+s comple relationship with post-colonial theor$ /most

nota#l$ the wor of 7ran. 7anon1 which informs its films and is su#se%uentl$

channeled #$ its cinematic output will #ecome e&en more apparent' et here( we will

discuss post-colonial theor$ as a methodolog$ that is consistent throughout Third

Cinema regardless of the di&erse tets that inform this artistic practice and one that

must #e contemplated here regardless' In seeing to eamine post-colonialism and

there#$ characteri.e Third Cinema precisel$( film theor$ prior to Third Cinema+s

official emergence in the mid-!;9s must #e addressed'


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F$ the late !;9s( theorists were no longer primaril$ concerned with demonstrating

that film was an art form or that the filmmaer was an auteur' Though these

discussions were still %uite fresh( other priorities within film theor$ #egan to emerge'

,hat #ecame important for theorists was to legitimi.e film theor$ itself' Questions

such as what is cinema( how spectators feel compelled to accept cinematic images

as truth and the categori.ation of narrati&e structures #egan to #e eplored'

Forrowing anal$tical methods from other disciplines to show that film studies was a

serious scholarl$ endea&or( theorists em#raced studies of semiolog$Dsemiotics(

ps$choanal$sis and linguistics to solidif$ more rigorous methods of anal$sis' This is

when >structuralism? - #orrowed from anthropolog$ - started #eing applied to film'

6riginating from 7erdinand de Saussure+s notions of structural linguistics(

structuralism argues that an element of human culture can onl$ #e comprehended

through that element+s specific relationship to language< the >signified?( an a#stract

concept or idea of that element( and a RsignifierR( the perception of that element'

Structuralism was refined and moderni.ed further #$ the wor of anthropologist

Claude L&i-Strauss 1.ythologi3"es/(!;=-!;;1' L&i-Strauss asserted that all

cultural acti&ities in all cultures function dialecticall$ and can #e reduced to sets of

#inaries( or antinomies< natureDcultureK famil$DclanK indoorsDoutdoorsK maleDfemale'

7or Strauss( e&er$thing can #e eplained( classified( structured in those terms'

Christian :et. was one of the first to appl$ this semiolog$ to the anal$sis of film in

his attempts to define film as simpl$ as possi#le' :et. sought to anal$.e all

cinematic signs - the filmic material - mechanicall$( that is( #$ tr$ing to mae all signs

fit into uni&ersal( timeless categories' sing the >)aradigmatic and S$ntagmatic

categories? /:et. !"=


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professional jargon and a gradual intellectual renaissance of :arist thining such as

structuralism into film theor$'

et structuralism was also &ulnera#le to criticism' Accused of #eing rigid and

nonnegotia#le in relation to historical de&elopments of language( the emergence of

deconstructi&e thining first de&eloped #$ philosopher Jac%ues errida in the late

!;9s was one of the first counter-theories that sought to directl$ undermine

structuralist comprehensions of linguistics' Thesepost-structuralist practices /which

also included 8ussian critic :ihail Fahtin+s dialogical criticism1 see to undermine

structuralist discourses of critical thining' econstruction itself is a post-structuralist

theor$ that sees to su#&ert the notion of #inar$ opposition through a linguistic

argument' It is a process that performs the undoing of meaning( showing that sta#le

meanings /an$ sta#le meaning1 is impossi#le to achie&e and cannot #e categori.ed

into structuralist forms' It asserts that it is impossi#le to ha&e a fied meaning for

an$thing #ecause no word is attached to a meaning /signified1 that is concrete and

unchanging' 7or eample( traditional structural theor$ would define the term >#lac?

onl$ #ecause it does not mean >white?' et deconstruction theor$ would tae the

argument further and ultimatel$ undermine structuralism #$ sa$ing that meaning is

alwa$s &aried #ecause for one word to ha&e meaning it re%uires another word to

ha&e meaning( which in turn re%uires another word to ha&e meaning and so forth' As

theorists lie errida would suggest( this would lea&e words in an endless chain of

&aria#le meanings and ultimatel$ undermine structuralism as an unreada#le attempt

to categori.e social s$stems into mechanical #inaries'


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As deconstructi&e film theorist )eter Frunette writes( structuralism eists purel$ as

the >articulation and self-re&elation of each tet+s unreada#ilit$' A defeat of the

demands of ,estern logic'? /Frunette( !!econstruction( if it teaches

an$thing( reminds us that we should not assume the wa$ we percei&e the world is

the same wa$ the world actuall$ is? /2999pastDpresent? #inar$

and indeed the undermining of the &er$ notion of >present? - led to the idea of the

>end of histor$'? The >end of histor$? suggests that the idea of a linear progression

from a primiti&e past to a more modern present is erroneous( #ecause the notion of

>modern present? does not eist as an$thing else than a &aried >primiti&e past?' Jean-

7ranUois L$otard in The -ostmodern Condition/!"!1 was one of the first theorists

to tal a#out the >end of histor$? as a >master narrati&e? that we can no longer

#elie&e in' The >postmodern? is the term that he coined to indicate that the >modern?

#elief in historical progress is no longer tena#le' Fased on the a#stract

deconstructi&e notion that >)ast?( >)resent? and >)rogress? are all meaningless

terms( post-modernism as a form of critical thining soon emerged through the

dissatisfaction with modernit$ and its promises of capitalist and industrialist

prosperit$ that notions such as *progress+ were affiliated with'


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The rise of post-modernism in the late !"9+s and #$ pro$ the rise of deconstructi&e

thining was one of the most o#&ious signs of the end of structuralism' et it also

saw the theoretical #irth of post-colonialism which is crucial to Third Cinema+s

de&elopment o&er the past half a centur$' ,hereas a desta#ili.ation of pastDpresent

#inaries saw the minimi.ation of structuralism( the destruction of the selfDother #inar$

ga&e rise to an anal$sis of the legacies of colonial and empirical powers' Fased upon

the final phase of the post-modern condition /L$otard !"!


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its implications of moral philosophies( political anal$sis and epistemological histories'

7irstl$( the use of the prefi *post+ certainl$ suggests an incorrect assumption a#out

the nature of anal$.ing how Latin America( Africa and Asia are su#ordinated to 4orth

American and 5uropean empires' Through signif$ing that this anal$sis of wor will

discuss #oth a temporal and ideological era of societ$ that is in fact now erased( the

term essentiall$ carries connotations of the minimi.ation of contemporar$ neo-

colonialism' 4eo-colonialism itself is the use of power through usuall$ financial

sectors such as capitalism( #usiness trading o&erhaulsDglo#ali.ation and

su#se%uentl$ the molding of culture through the dependence the indigenous

population has o&er this financial monopol$' 8ather than the usage of political power

or direct militar$ interference /*colonialism+1 that eisted within the pre-,orld ,ar II

climate of these empires( the de&eloped world instead optimi.e past economic

arrangements in order to eploit and eep constant the current im#alances of *first+

and *third world+ nations' In some cases( the de&eloped nations would intentionall$

pressuri.e coloni.ed nations for independence once their interests had #een placed

into the conscious of the people in order to continue their eploitation without

go&ernmental dependence' )ost-colonialist Jean )aul Sartre uses the eample of

the Congo Crisis /the era of turmoil within Congo from !;9 to !;; directl$ after its

independence from Felgium1 to emphasi.e the difference #etween colonialism and

neo-colonialism' >Through education and the di&ision of la#or it had introduced( the

colonial administration political and economic interests within FelgiumB urged the

Felgian go&ernment to grant independence@there#$ creating an unhol$ alliance

#etween the administration trained new #lac #ourgeois and imperialism? /299;


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alliance that too the form of the eploitation of the mineral rich atanga pro&ince'

He was su#se%uentl$ ousted within three months of power and eecuted #$ the

orders of the SA( ( CIA and Felgium authorities' Lumam#a was argua#l$ a

mart$r for pan-Africanism who defied neo-colonial attempts at the cost of his life' He

sought to create a go&ernment #eneficial for the Congolese people rather than the

eploiting eternal interested nations and opposed neo-colonialist forces to the

etent that colonialist militar$ powers had to reclaim the Congo region through

colonialinterference' As a s$m#ol of the almost in&isi#le $et e&er presence force of

colonialism( post-colonialism as a critical practice is in danger of reflecting on the

&isi#le militarism of colonialism at the etent of the hidden neo-colonialist forces

operating #eneath the surface of a nation that are not as #latant as the Congo crisis'

Secondl$( as a form of critical thining that sees to anal$.e the politics of

nowledge /creation( control and distri#ution1 outside of the ,est in relation to #oth

eploitation and po&ert$ in the Third ,orld and the methodologies with which these

political theories are identified( man$ argue post-colonialism eists as an ineffecti&e

top-down theor$' 7or eample( post-colonialist Jasper oss notes that post-

colonialism as a methodolog$ has unfortunatel$ #egun an unhealth$ o#session with

the tetual( #ecoming *a stud$ of stud$@a method of armchair decoloni.ation+

rendered meaningless #$ not speaing directl$ to the practice of participator$

de&elopment /!!;


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emphasis on political phenomena #ut through a polari.ing output of perspecti&e and

opinion of de&elopment( socialism( ecolog$ and social justice against one another' In

doing so( post-colonial outputs would often #e fractious and contradictor$ when

anal$.ed as a singular #od$ of wor' The usage of di&erse practices( #eliefs and

ideals within post-colonial theor$ without a singular set of consistent relations

#etween its tets has #een met with difficult$ in comprehension amongst the

majorit$' Though supposedl$ concerned with the su#altern /a group outside the

hegemonic dominant power1 and apparentl$ populist to indigenous people and their

cultures( post-colonialism has #een critici.ed for its a#straction and lac of specificit$

regarding the perspecti&es of the indigenous people that de&elop from first hand

indi&idual situations or eploitations in the *third world+' 8o#ert oung is an

eemplar$ post-colonial theorist who has sought to champion a colonial criti%ue that

maes >effecti&e political inter&entions within and #e$ond its own disciplinar$ field #$

de&eloping connections #etween the different forms of intellectual engagements and

acti&ism in the world toda$? /299


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and societal nowledge of the coloni.ed people and how this was used to o&erthrow

them and impose the coloni.er+s own traditions and ideals onto *other+ territories' It is

discussed further through the emergence of archet$pal cultural identities of coloni.er

and coloni.ed( the generation of the power of nowledge the ,est has o&er the

coloni.ed territor$ and how this is applied to eploit these indigenous people' sing

these methods of engagement( post-colonial theor$ has numerous critical purposes'

7irstl$( it sees to criticall$ attac the causes and effects of colonialist eploitation(

epose its remaining presences and desta#ili.e the dominant ideologies which

inspired or were inspired #$ it' Secondl$( it aims to offer a cultural and social space

to marginali.ed su#altern groups( as post-colonialist a$atri Spi&a suggests( a

&oice of *in&estigation and control of colonial discourses@a #lossoming garden

where the marginal can spea and #e spoen( e&en spoen for+ /!!3true identit$(? post-

colonialists are in danger of defining themsel&es onl$ in #inar$ opposition to the

coloni.er' In other words( the coloni.ed em#odies e&er$thing that the coloni.er is

not( which still means that the coloni.er determines what the coloni.ed person

actuall$ is' In introducing once more the selfDother #inar$ that directl$ informed post-


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colonialism through the emergence of post-modernism( this #inar$ must #e cruciall$

minimi.ed in fa&or of a decoloni.ation of the coloni.ed mind' It must aim neither for

rejection nor for assimilation #ut rather #e #oth at once so as to desta#ili.e the

coloni.er' These are the ultimate aims of post-colonialist writers and man$ of these

aims ha&e #een directl$ resonated through Third Cinema+s film tets #oth st$listicall$

and thematicall$'

As stated earlier( man$ post-colonial academics and artists anal$.e and criti%ue the

uni%ue politics of nowledge /creation( control and distri#ution1 of colonial

relationships' Fut the$ also ultimatel$ challenge the ,esterner+s perceptions of these

politics and continue to champion the alread$ noted selfDother /coloni.erDcoloni.ed1

in&ersion of the post-modern condition within their wor' 7or eample( Trinh T' :inh-

Ha( an important post-colonial filmmaer and theorist in the *9s and *!9s writes in

the third-person within man$ of her essa$s< >she :inh-HaB is this inappropriate

otherDsame who mo&es a#out with alwa$s at least twoDfour gestures< that of affirming

>I am lie $ou? while persisting in her differenceK and that of reminding >I am different?

while unsettling e&er$ definition of otherness arri&ed at'? /!!=


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21 and the dialecticall$ opposed( romantic &ision of China as m$sterious and

impossi#le to understand'

6n the one hand( she asserts that China is not the stereot$pical >oriental m$ster$?

that cannot #e understood( and on the other hand( she refuses to offer an$ clear

definition of what China is' 8ather she esta#lishes connections and differences

#etween ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius and contemporar$ Chinese

communist re&olutionar$ :ao PedongK she jutaposes images of traditional Chinese

art with commentaries on the pro#lems of filmmaing in China( and she mies

straightforward factual information with m$thical legends and foltales of ancient

Chinese d$nasties' In particular( :inh-Ha uses the recurring metaphor of the dragon

throughout the tet to represent China( #ecause the dragon can ultimatel$ #e

e&er$thing - it is all animals( it is #oth male and female' It is at once e&er$thing

#ecause it represents e&er$thing and nothing #ecause it does not eist /7ilm Image

31' The purpose of foregrounding this unsta#le su#ject and emphasi.ing the

desta#ili.ation of traditional #inaries is to counteract the traditional wa$s in which the

,est has defined the >Coloni.ed 6ther? and the wa$s in which the >Coloni.ed 6ther?

has traditionall$ defined herDhimself through the definitions imposed #$ the ,est'

That+s wh$ :inh-Ha also insists on her own identit$ #eing totall$ unsta#le within her

writings and furthermore is wh$ her documentaries also undermine sta#le notions of

documentar$ form' Trinh T' :inh-Ha also incorporates man$ foltales in her >histor$

of China(? precisel$ to suggest a different t$pe of histor$ than that of the ,est - she

maes no claim to factual authenticit$ #ut still informs us in an indirect wa$ a#out the

culture that in&ented these stories' St$listicall$( :inh-Ha implements a somewhat

t$pical inter&iew with a >specialist? who eplains China to us - a &er$ common

practice in traditional ,estern documentaries' Fut rather than ha&ing a white man


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telling it all to us( it is an African-American who taes on the role of the >specialist?'

This a&oids #oth sides of the ,estern dialectic< that is( on the one hand( the white

man who nows it all( and its opposite( the >all-nowing nati&e?( i'e' a Chinese

person who would ha&e some sort of organic nowledge of his or her own people'

:inh-Ha+s rejects the >all-nowing 4ati&e? further within her essa$s< >There can

hardl$ #e such a thing as an essential inside that can #e homogeneousl$

represented #$ all insidersK an authentic insider in there( an a#solute realit$ out

there( or an uncorrupted representati&e who cannot #e %uestioned #$ another

uncorrupted representati&e'? /!!=


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Third Cinema tets within a specificall$ Latin American contet continue to champion

post-colonial &alues st$listicall$ or thematicall$ al#eit perhaps in this case in an

indirect wa$' Fra.illian filmmaer lau#er 8ocha+s Barra%ento /!;21 is a particular

eample of Third Cinema which draws on >,estern source elements #ut in&erts and

distorts them so as to produce meanings which are radicall$ new? through dense

metaphors and allegories /Armes !"


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s$m#oli.es their #attle for dominance within the fishing &illage #ut also the rejection

or assimilation of the coloni.ed identit$ /7ilm Image =1' 5&entuall$( 7irmino is a#le to

con&ince Aruan to tae actionK resulting in him shedding his passi&e figure and

lea&ing the &illage seeing mone$ he can #ring #ac to help his fellow fisherman' F$

the conclusion( neither character is a#le to continue with their straightforward

mannerisms of rejection or assimilation to the coloni.er' Instead the tet champions

the post-colonial consciousness( resisting temptations of narrati&e closure /through

the unnown future of Aruan1 and #$ implementing post-positi&ism /which means

that it does not #elie&e in the a#ilit$ to comprehend e&er$thing &ia scientific

approaches1 through the religious enchantment with the fisherman+s ancestors

/sla&es who came from Africa1' F$ com#ining this personal *m$thical+ histor$ with

,estern source materials( the characters of Aruan and 7irmino eist as a singular

unsta#le su#ject that represents the undermining of ,estern thining apparent with

post-colonialism at the same sociall$ commenting on the corrupt nature of some

small time unregulated #usinesses in !;9+s Fra.il'

It should #e emphasi.ed that Third Cinema is not singularl$ concerned with one

singular methodolog$ and in fact champions other schools of thought that tacle the

eploitations of marginali.ed groups< the most common eample #eing feminism'

The decoloni.ation of culture is not limited to the ,estern patriarchal notions of the

need for just males to re#el and #e up in arms for societal change' ,omen are in

fact an integral part of the re&olution and are represented with e%ualit$( progression

and li#eration that is rarel$ underestimated' 7eminism as a collecti&e mo&ement and

ideolog$ is treated with a consistent respect rarel$ seen in 7irst and Second Cinema'

It is another factor that distinguishes Third Cinema and is treated with the same


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!o"r of the #"rnaceseists as an epic documentar$ /with a running time of roughl$

29 minutes1 that sees to articulate an anal$sis of the wider plight of Latin American

cultural( political( social and economic climates' This plight is implicated to #e caused

#$ neo-colonist eploitations through an eemplar$ specificit$ for the Argentinean

people during the self-ascri#ed 8e&oluciVn Argentina period #etween !;; to !"3'

The film is signed and championed anon$mousl$ #$ Solanas and etino+s Cine

Li#eraciVn film mo&ement as a direct reactionar$ cultural output to foreign

imperialism within Latin America prominentl$ doing so at the epense of populist

forms of corporate and commercial epressionism' The tet deri&es its title from ! th

centur$ Cu#an poet and philosopher Jos :artW who cited The !o"r of the

#"rnaces/ as the greatest time possi#le within Cu#an histor$( that #eing the hour to

#egin independence against all forms of Spanish repression' It should come as no

surprise that this ideal of radical antagonist re&olutionar$ #eha&ior associated with

:arti+s wor should continue within the *militant cinema+ tet of !o"r of the #"rnaces

and more so( is directl$ %uoted through intertitles with other post-colonial masters5

Articulated through three sections within the tet6 Notes and Testimonies on

Neocolonialism, 7iolence and LiberationKAct for Liberation and7iolence and

Liberation, Solanas and etino epose the current plight of the South American

continent' 7urthermore the$ chronicle the collision of two forms of ideological intent

/)eronism &s' - the militant fascism that followed1 that informs the creation of the

tet itself and the roles and responsi#ilities of the acti&e re&olutionar$ that is #orn

from the struggles that has a stranglehold o&er Argentina and Latin America as a

whole' The tet o&erall eists as a film-essa$ that s$stematicall$ eposes the

percei&ed causes and effects of this stranglehold( eemplified in its attac of the


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corrupt dictatorial oppression of enerals Juan Carlos 6nganWa( :arcelo Le&ingston

and Alejandro Lanusse and the actions of the Armed 7orces of Argentina as a whole

to protect the rights of the #ourgeois at the epense of the woring class' The film+s

attac against the coup dXetat dictatorial militanc$ of the Armed 7orces is pro&oed

and catal$.ed #$ Solanas and etino+s direct appeal to the )eronist-supporting

masses as the main catal$st for re&olutionar$ change' This )eronist position is not

directl$ cited until the second section of the tet /Act for Liberation8in order to eep

&ague its ideological concern for an$ neutral progressi&es( to eep ideological

considerations second #ehind an :anichean emphasis of ethics( and to a&oid an

Argentinean specificit$ within what is a continental wide criticism of imperialist

domination as a whole' )eronism /regardless of it #eing the main justification

according to the Argentinean go&ernment for the tet to #e censored and minimi.ed

#$ the authorities1 represents ideologicall$ an alternati&e to mainstream politics as

much as Third Cinema does to 7irst Cinema output' Literall$ %uoted as a *Third ,a$+

of political process( )eronism is a populist ideal that steers clear of communist and

capitalisms and refuses alignment with the left or right( instead seeing to mediate

class di&isional conflicts through free education( low income housing and free

medical care through wide nationali.ations /erassi !;01' Though it has #een

customi.ed /and critici.ed in man$ forms for its own forms of dictatorial tendencies1(

Juan omingo )erVn+s initial founding of the ideal since !=; and its foundations of

social justice( go&ernment authorit$ and economic independence saw it #ecome an

immensel$ adopted form of nationalism until )eron+s eile in !00 #$ militant

interference'


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Though this &ague form of )eronist intent to inspire the masses against the

Argentinean militanc$ regimes of 6ngania+s authoritarianism offers an o&erall

causalit$ of !o"r of the #"rnaces release and indeed the film har#ors large o&er

scaling o#jecti&es( the Cine Li#eraciVn group appl$ different aesthetic techni%ues for

different specificities in each section of the tet' In doing so( !o"r of the #"rnaces

represents significantl$ Third Cinema+s di&ersit$ as a film practice o&erall and the

importance of this di&ersit$ /through its immense popularit$ with audiences and

paradigmatic position of the output o&erall1 in seeing to agitate re&olutionar$ change

through cinema' As pre&iousl$ stated( one of Third Cinema+s aims is to challenge

pre&ious held notions of official histor$ and create its own re&isions of documented

chronologies /something post-colonialism and !o"r of the #"rnaces also attempt to

do1' Howe&er the numerous methods it attempts to do so in the case of this tet

represent the potential pathwa$s and opportunities 4ew Third Cinema has for the

future' The importance of this should not #e underestimated( especiall$ if Third

Cinema must stream-line( narrow or customi.e the categories that made it precisel$

re&olutionar$ in the past for a contemporar$ audience' In anal$.ing !o"r of the

#"rnaces/st$listic and thematic di&ersit$ in conjunction with the aforementioned

categories a#o&e( discussions of 4ew Third Cinema+s unsure position due to

glo#ali.ation( the trending of counter cultural themes for counter-producti&e causes

and the current uncertaint$ regarding the cinematic spectator can #e articulated'

)art 6ne( Neocolonialism and 7iolenceis perhaps the most prominentl$

eperimental of the three sections that sees to articulate its criticisms of official

histor$( cultural penetration #$ the ,est and the role of culture and the intellectual

through thirteen di&erse chapters' The tet o&erall implements collecti&e etracts


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2( deological 'ar( a long shot of a handheld camera tra&elling through the #ustling

streets of Fuenos Aires one e&ening and its penetrating and #right garish cultural

and commercial ad&ertising reinforces the off-putting *ideological frontiers+ that are

enforced upon the people' Howe&er( what #egins as an articulated argument of

*cultural penetration+ %uicl$ #ecomes a h$pnotic and distur#ing eploration of

cultural contradiction' ,estern roc and roll music rh$thmicall$ #egins an e&er

%uicening com#ination of newsreel and still photos com#ined with lurid .oom shots

of ,estern iconographic commodit$ images( oppressed protesters and the deceased

Latin American &ictims of dissent' Such hallucinogenic st$listic com#inations though

no dou#t are memora#le to emphasi.e and inform its own contentK the$ are also

implemented to reawaen the spectator from an$ consideration of passi&it$' 5&en

within the conclusion of Chapter !( Dependenceand the citing of imperialist staes in

national corporate monopolies &ia statistical data and percentages( the tet follows

perhaps a more dr$ and audio-centred scene with content that admittedl$ awaens

and demands the full attention of the spectator' This scene is the fran and

unforgi&ing eploration of the high amount of illiterate Latin Americans /se&ent$

million1 li&ing across the continent that is epressed &ia long handheld shots

eploring the woring class Fuenos Aires districts and actual inter&iews with the

woring class Argentineans currentl$ li&ing within less than accepta#le shant$ towns'

Such wide shifts in pace though designed to jolt all spectators to attention are also

an effecti&e strateg$ to force the audience to acnowledge and tae sides' As 8o#ert

Stam writesto choose one+s death is

to choose one+s life? at which the luewarm entertainment-seeer might feel


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that the demands for commitment ha&e escalated unaccepta#l$+ /Stam

!!


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moment $et emphasi.es the support for its )resident through a reliance on

epositor$ documentar$ and newsreel footage of a nostalgia populism and

nationalist unit$ of the countr$' This unit$ is #ased in particular on an emphasis of

the national traged$ of 5&a )eron+s death /)eron+s wife and Argentinean icon1 and

the wide class support )eronism had in contrast with the &iolent repressi&e actions of

the militar$ /in particular the mass slaughter of ci&ilians during the !00 )la.a de

:a$o demonstrations in Fuenos Aires1' Though argua#l$ not as etremist in st$le as

its former section( its content this time articulates a narrating &oice that is scathing to

the current regime in power while cele#rator$ /and grie&ing1 of a lost and populist

supporting go&ernmental power' The second Chronicle section conse%uentl$

#ecomes a much more personal process of inter&iew and reflection techni%ues in

order to emphasi.e the &ast indi&idual struggles of a wider class group and their own

dedication to a political regime that has now #een literall$ eiled' This transition from

a critical epositor$ documentar$ format towards a more reflecti&e testimon$ of

personal comrade+s efforts is undou#tedl$ effecti&e in foregrounding the proletariat+s

demands in the face of &ast oppression /7ilm Image ;1' et it is also is an

in&estigati&e reminder of the power of the filmic e&ent itself and the personal

discussion and inter&iew process that informs the film+s own ehi#ition techni%ue'

Though as pre&iousl$ stated less radical in aesthetics( its dualit$ as a critical

perspecti&e and also an effecti&e and resounding cr$ for &iolent re&olutionar$ action

for the spectator should not #e underestimated'

)art 3( 7iolence ; Liberationis dedicated directl$ *to the new man that will #e #orn

during this war of li#eration+ to create *man$ Gietnams+ against the imperialist forces

of militanc$ that ha&e #een counter-producti&e to the independent freedom of e&er$


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man( woman and child in Latin America' The most prominent form of cinematic

acti&ism within the entire tet( the concluding part of the epic documentar$ consists

of testimonies and reconstructi&e tours of re&olutionar$ fighters detailing the

despica#le actions of mass murder and torture at the hands of the authoritarian

state' Anal$.ing in particular the justification for &iolence /#oth against them in their

own oppression and their own re&olutionar$ counter-actions1( the tet is &er$ much at

this point still under construction' 5mphasi.ing this constructi&eness eplicitl$

through intertitles( the tet here sees to progressi&el$ add further scenes detailing

the process of national li#eration as a chronicle of re&olutionar$ action with its

ultimate goal #eing to topple the corrupti&e parties at the heart of Argentinean /and

Latin American1 politics' Though ultimatel$ this constructi&eness was ne&er

epanded upon #$ the Cine Li#eraciVn group( the act itself represents Third

Cinema+s wider attempts to directl$ in&ol&e itself with its people through a

progressi&e and personal relationship of contetual specificit$ and historiographical

hori.ontalism /see chapter four1' This short part concludes with an attempt at

articulating an allegiance #etween Latin American and South Asian re&olutionaries

and a cr$ for transnational assistance of *militant internationalism+( stating that

*imperialism that does not stand a chance+ against this united socialist and

progressi&e force' Though such an am#itious plea can certainl$ #e articulated #$ a

single tet( it ultimatel$ cannot #e achie&ed without &ast tets that flood a nation+s

cultural output' At the moment( the$ remain #lurred &isions of light within an

otherwise darened tunnel( an image directl$ cited through the tet+s flirtations with

a&ant-garde eperimentalism reminiscent of Stan Frahage+s &isual phenomena

shorts /7ilm Image "1' Though indeed ideals( Solanas himself contri#utes further with

this cultural output with a concluding film score that he personall$ wrote that


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reinforces the importance of e&er$ indi&idual spectator+s discussions of the tet and

more importantl$ their own actions towards Latin America+s *unresol&ed pro#lems+

through its l$rical nostalgic instrumental reminiscent of tradition' The tet re&eals a

final panning shot of an industriali.ed Fuenos Aires as a final reminder at what is at

stae for e&er$ fighter willing to em#race the need for social change through &iolent

re&olutionar$ #eha&ior and potentiall$( indi&idual mart$rdom'

!o"r of the #"rnaces eists as tet that articulates precisel$ the less precise

re&olutionar$ categories discussed within this chapter a#o&e( #ut it is also a tet that

epresses a di&ersit$ /though indeed criticall$1 of thematic political agendas of #oth

Cine Li#eraciVn+s &ague )eronist ideolog$ and the militant fascist dictatorship that

followed the )resident+s eile' 7urthermore( it champions a di&ersit$ of aesthetics

that encompasses nearl$ all of the dedicated idealistic st$les of the Third Cinema

artistic manifestos through its differing o#jecti&e chapters' et( as a landmar tet of

*militant cinema+ and Third Cinema as a whole( it also represents optimism in regards

to the current idealistic position of 4ew Third Cinema and its transcultural

applica#ilit$ across wide socio-historic contets across the world' Though

undou#tedl$ the stated categories a#o&e all com#ine to create a re&olutionar$

cultural output( within the current unsure climate of cinema distri#ution and ehi#ition

techni%ues( political reconfigurations and commoditi.ed counter-cultural

populari.ations( such categories are perhaps no longer re&olutionar$ toda$'

)otentiall$( such categories must #e customi.ed( minimi.ed or sacrificed completel$

if Third Cinema wishes to still #e considered a cinematic output $et still enjo$ a wide

and considered ehi#ition and release process to incite social change' 8egardless(

within chapter fi&e I will attempt to discuss a potential fresh form in which these


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categories can #e epressed in order to #e still considered a re&olutionar$ cinematic

output within a climate that perhaps can no longer #e compati#le with its original

forms' Howe&er( #efore such discussions can #e made I would now lie to turn to

Third Cinema+s second informing facet( its theoretical position within academic

circles in order to discuss wh$ /and later how1 a justification for Third Cinema still

eists indeed in terms of its own production( #ut also theoreticall$ within the wors of

film theor$ and wider academia'

Academic Justification for 4ew Third Cinema O Said+s


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*He emplo$s two main strategies< the first is to locate what he sees as

damning logical contradictions or flaws which would undermine the

soundness of the argumentK the second is to deli#eratel$ misunderstand an

argument #$ construing it literall$ or ingenuousl$ in order to emphasi.e its

a#surdit$' This tone of pee&ish arrogance %uicl$ maes for tiresome reading'

An ine&ita#le draw#ac to this insistence on the lac of intellectual rigour

elsewhere is that it draws attention to the lac of sophistication of his own

engagement with other writersX wor+ /!!;


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struggle for wider recognition' As I will demonstrate #elow( this struggle does not

re%uire further assistance'

As the onl$ #ranch of film theor$ that did not originate within a specificall$ 5uropean

or American contet and one with an etremel$ precise historical and ideological

relationship with its indi&idual target audience( Third Cinema has endured difficult$ in

de&eloping itself through theoretical discourses' espite its full attention from

indigenous academics and intellectuals who are full$ nowledgea#le of its aims and

outloos( Third Cinema was su#se%uentl$ distant geographicall$ from the nucleus of

critical interacti&it$ in 5urope and the SA on emergence' It initiall$ too the form of

idealistic manifestos from a polemical collection of a&ant-garde artists each with

differing st$listic #acgrounds and ideological approaches on a local( national and

international scale' Ideall$( these polemical manifestos and the film groups who

wrote them would ha&e #een collecti&el$ positioning together a critical practice in

which differences of form and st$le are discussed secondar$ #ehind cinematic

utterance of ideolog$ within a socio-historic contet' Howe&er( Third Cinema in fact

irregularl$ emerged around the glo#e #$ different filmmaers with theories

unaccommodating and contradictor$ to each other+s ideals' Com#ined further with its

confrontational approach to all forms of 5urocentrism( Third Cinema apparentl$

>laced the coherence that would ha&e won it either the censures or *appro&al+ of

Fordwell or Carroll@the epistephilic and logocentric enterprise of ,estern theor$?

/uneratne 2993


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the epense of new de#ates within the #odies of wor that inform Third Cinema+s

de&elopment' In anal$sing recent articles and essa$s that discuss and reflect on

Third Cinema and its output( I am alarmed #$ the consistent relia#ilit$ man$ of its

theorists place on its o&er-used( dated and perhaps now restricti&e collection of

wor' The almost constant #analit$ of reproduced ,estern discussions of 7anon for

eample without a fresh insight into contemporar$ methodologies themsel&es

epitomi.es an academic complacenc$ of perspecti&e the majorit$ of academics ha&e

when dealing with *other+ histories from a predominantl$ 5uro-American position' The

fetishi.ed o#session with writers such as 7anon /who argua#l$ has contri#uted

enough to post-colonial cinema1 #$ writers such as 4igel C' i#son /2993 O 291

and Lewis 8' ordon /!!0 O !!;1 and the eclusion of other academics /such as

the pre&iousl$ stated tra&el writers of )ico I$er and er&la :urph$1 incorrectl$

suggests that Third Cinema presents a singular post-colonial &iew' Instead( it is a

rich and comple cinematic practice in which &arious di&erse signif$ing #odies of

wor can inform its st$le( ideological position and socio-historic contet' A

disinclination to discuss and champion these fresh academic forms of thining is

matched onl$ #$ a frustrating outrecuidance of ,estern intellects in their refusal to

reconsider an$thing other than contemporar$ 5uro-American models of thought'

Though these wors are not the most ph$sicall$ accessi#le pieces( the$ represent

perspecti&es awa$ from the #anal and constrained landmars of acclaimed post-

colonial literature' Instead the$ re%uire a grasp of specific socio-historic information

and critical notions of historiograph$( post-colonialism and the technicalities of

political science and sociolog$ in order to #rea down academic #arriers of *us+

against *other+' In understanding the technicalities of specific forms of the humanities

and drawing on eact socio-historic information regarding the e&ent in %uestion( the


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#arriers #etween ,estern thiners and the rest of the free-thining world can #e

o#literated' As post-colonial theorist :argarita Sanche. )rietoa writes in discussing

5uro-centric a#solutes of truth and post-colonial culture< >The *other+ has #een

defined( %ualified and represented( utilising ,estern parameters and terms@this

originates in the ignorance of an *other+ theor$ which would rescue us from the

monism of ,estern thought? /299


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68

thought' Howe&er(


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69

/!"collecti&e notion of *identif$ing+ >us? 5uropeans against all

those >non-5uropeans? /!"


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70

and intellectual communit$( 6rient nowledge is ultimatel$ moulded #$ the

ideological prejudices of specific authors which are then spread throughout 5urope'

This is hegemon$ according to ramsci< >the gaining of legitimate consent of 6rient

as *6therB within the functional uni&erse of ci&il societ$( as opposed to simpl$ holding

it together through a monopol$ on the means of &iolence? /Adamson !3that of the international

critic who nows little a#out Thai histor$ or localisms( as opposed to that of a

locali.ed spectator with a wider and more nuanced appreciation of Thai histor$ and

custom? /299


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socio-historic contet /one that could #e discussed through a historiographical

process of research1( Suter suggests that ?ncle Boonmee 'ho Can +ecall !is -ast

Li%es suffersthrough a process of misrepresentation in its ehi#ition that undermines

the wor as one >unmoored in deciphera#le meaning? /299unchallenged and un%uestioned in the film itself?

/!=


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72

emphasi.es the issues at hand #ut lea&es the &iewer to implement the solutions

re%uired' It is not a tet that reflecti&el$ de#ates the trou#les of !;9s Argentina #ut

one that emphasi.es them and eposes them within a specificall$ aggressi&e contet

for a specificall$ learned and passi&el$ aggressi&e spectator' This is a particular fine

eample of how Third Cinema functions and addresses its spectator' It is aggressi&e

in its articulation and #om#ards the aware and socio-historicall$ learned spectator

with the pro#lems of societ$ and dominant culture while satisf$ing their resistance to

#e manipulated #$ that dominant culture' Though the spectator is directl$ satisfied #$

their resistance to dominant culture &ia the ehi#ition process of Third Cinema( !o"r

of the #"rnaces reinforces further the spectator+s oppositional /Xcounter-hegemonicX1

reading of dominant culture /Hall !9


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#$ machine-gun fire sound ecerpts that #uild to the h$pnotic and rh$thmic nature of

the film and reinforce the direct negati&it$ of the situation that re%uires for direct

interference to le&el the corrupt finances of the countr$' Though we ha&e discussed

other eamples within !o"r of the #"rnaces, itsinsistence on the open nature of

interpretation of the final part of the film 7iolence ; Liberation/ and the contri#uti&e

nature of reports and testimonies it is comprised of further underlines the rejection of

dominant cultural codes within the indi&idual' Though Ste&en 4eale critici.es the tet

for its lac of &alidit$ or scope( to the trained and learned socio-historic spectator( it

isn+t re%uired' Instead( the$ are gi&en the information and tools to de#ate the

incidents depicted on screen and the moti&ation and inspiration the spectator needs

to continue with their rejection of eploitation( oppression and imperialism' !o"r of

the #"rnaces/jutaposing of the death and #urial of an indigenous local re&olutionar$

in northern Argentina with the fi&e minute image of a Christ-lie iconi.ed Che

ue&era as he lies dead following his eecution from the failed Foli&ian re&olution at

the conclusion of part one /Neocolonialism and 7iolence/1 emphasi.es further this

moti&ation'

Julianne Furton+s journal article *:arginal Cinemas O :ainstream Critical Theor$+

/!!31 is another eample of wor that eplicitl$ champions and prioriti.es ,estern

thining( one that is ultimatel$ arrogant in its writing and counter-producti&e to Third

Cinema+s growth' Furton+s main argument is the assertion that ,estern theor$ is

#lindl$ more criticall$ effecti&e and can #e com#ined with underde&eloped *Third

,orld+ theories in dealing with Third Cinema' Throughout her piece within $creen/s

*6ther Cinemas( 6ther Criticisms+ special issue( Furton champions a &ague form of

*ps$chod$namics+ to critici.e indigenous Third Cinema theoretical output' Her


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emphasis on the ps$chological forces that underlie human #eha&ior within film theor$

taes into account ps$choanal$tical considerations of Third Cinema filmmaers to

create >a less ,esterni.ed indi&iduall$-#ased notion of li&ing-in-the-world? /!!3


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75

undermines the efforts of Third Cinema filmmaers as #eing inherent with the

coloni.er *master+ who must guide the coloni.ed towards a pre-colonial ignorance of

histor$( progress and nowledge [12].

3' Furton assumes that ,estern semiotics and theories are applica#le to Third

Cinema tets' 8egardless of presumptions that these theories can ascend social-

historic contets and language #arriers( it also maes a damning &aluation of

spectatorship theories as #eing transparent and negotia#le' As Teshome writes once

more /who Furton consistentl$ mis%uotes1< >The issue of transparenc$ should #e

looed at within a specific cultural-historical contet' ,hat is not transparent for a

,estern &iewer is transparent enough in its own contet' 7or instance( Third ,orld

ethnographic films tend to #e &iewed as political in the countr$ of their origin( while

the$ are &iewed as eotica outside it'? /!;


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auteurDm$thical ps$choanal$tical approach to anal$sis' As a ,estern researcher who

wishes to assist in Third Cinema indigenous theorists o#ligation /and right1 to

enlighten( Furton+s notions pro&oes m$self /a film theorist seeing to champion a

Cultural Studies inspired historiographical approach to Third Cinema1 just as it

would the most dedicated post-colonial theorist /and the aim to challenge and

rein&ent cultural perception1'

8eturning to 5dward Said once more( his notion of 6rientalism within his post-

colonial piece are asserted eclusi&el$ /for the most part1 to late !thand earl$ 29th

scholarship' et its notions of septicism within academia #ased on assumptions

and ignorance of *other+ theories( practices( ideals( #eliefs and methods can #e ain

to the present struggles Third Cinema has toda$' This can #e eemplified #$ Third

Cinema+s su#se%uent malnourishment #$ ,estern academics( critics and

researchers such as Furton( 4eale( Fordwell or Carroll' Said+s #oo is illustrati&e in

this respect of a theoretical despondenc$ within Third Cinema writings /and

su#se%uentl$ a justification for fresh contemporar$ insights1' et it is also illustrati&e

of Third Cinema tets themsel&es and the reactionar$ measure the$ tae to the

eplicit traces of 6rientalism e&ident within Holl$wood and 7irst Cinemas' Though

the application of Said+s wor has #een positi&el$ em#raced for the most part #e$ond

post-colonial theor$( it has also #een eemplified further #$ Holl$wood cinema,estern narrati&e and ethnographic cinemas inherited the narrati&e and &isual

traditions( as well as the cultural assumptions to which 6rientalism was #ased

allowing filmmaers to disco&er how popular 6rientalism could #e? /Fernstein

!!"


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per&asi&e and consistent portra$al of *other+ stereot$pes( man$ theorists ha&e

argued that Holl$wood has continuousl$ and consistentl$ produced films that

preser&ed a#surd stereot$pical notions of the language( milieu( ideologies and

traditions of distant cultures' 4ajat ajani for eample #rands &arious tets such as

The $hei9 /!21 and La=erence of Arabia /!;21 amongst others as >reinforcing

the segregation policies adhered to #$ coloni.ing powers? /2999


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remains' 7irstl$ I will emphasi.e further the current incompati#ilit$ of ,estern

theories such as auteur studies as #eing completel$ counter-producti&e to Third

Cinema+s grow' I will then champion a fresh form of film theor$( a Cultural Studies-

inspired historiographical approach< at first detailing this approach and then appl$ing

it to potential 4ew Third Cinema tet Nostalgia for the Light, I will champion this form

of critical thining as the singular form of anal$sis researchers must implement when

anal$sing indi&idual Third Cinema tets outside the specific geographical( social(

political and ideological #oundaries that informed their production' In seeing to

specificall$ articulate the form re%uired within academia to discuss Third Cinema

eactl$ from its #irth( I will not onl$ contest Fritish filmmaer John Aomfrah+s !!;

statement at a conference for African cinema that *Third Cinema is dead+ #ut

propose that it is in fact &er$ much ali&e /although perhaps under the guises and

forms of new practices of filmmaing1 and therefore re%uires contemporar$ tools and

approaches to dri&e forward #oth facets that inform it as a cinematic practice' In

defining these tools( we can ultimatel$ define where it is now'


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Historiograph$( Nostalgia for the Light O 8esearching 4ew Third Cinema

5isting as a &ast and perhaps somewhat o&erwhelming film practice( Third

Cinema+s aforementioned re&olutionar$ categories in chapter one are all crucial in

com#ining together to create the eemplar$ antagonistic political and cultural cinema

demonstrated a#o&e' This essa$ has so far sought to reiterate the foundational

categories that encompass Third Cinema+s uni%ueness in its forms and operations

and emphasi.e an academic justification for 4ew Third Cinema anal$sis toda$' et it

now must turn to the methodolog$ itself and clarif$ how it is to #e researched and

eplored particularl$ for researchers and theorists eisting within ,estern circles of

thought' )re&iousl$( I ha&e critici.ed the apparent arrogance of some past ,estern

writers and their wors for seeing to adapt Third Cinema into an unmanagea#le

form of uni&ersal understanding or for #latantl$ ignoring it due to its ina#ilit$ to do so'

Howe&er( I ha&e remained slightl$ ha.$ on the re%uired methodolog$ that should #e

implemented in its place to counter-act against this' et now I would lie to present a

form of Cultural Studies inspired-historiographical approach in researching Third

Cinema tets' It is a method that not onl$ %uestions the limitations of past historical

approaches #ut also precisel$ contetuali.es the social( economic and cultural

consciousness of a nation within a certain time period that Third Cinema tets

themsel&es attempt to do' 8einforcing this method further through an anal$sis of

*4ew+ Third Cinema tet /apotentialform of new political cinema rather than a

certainone1 Nostalgia for the Light( I will champion this methodolog$ as the singular

form of research &alid for those looing to research Third Cinema outside the

national realms of their indi&idual production'


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the camera' Instead( it must see to ehausti&el$ contetuali.e e&er$ indi&idual tet(

in particular emphasi.ing how this contetuali.ation would contri#ute to the formation

of a singular re&olutionar$ consciousness' A historiographical approach is the

ultimate wa$ of achie&ing this'

In introducing historiograph$ I immediatel$ must defend it &ia a concise description(

eliminating an$ form of similarit$ with the *end of histor$+( which was declared #$

post-modern theorists such as L$otard' 8ather( the rise of the historiographical turn

in the !!9s saw the reemergence of historical research( this time stronger and more

self-aware than e&er #efore' 4ow( historians are currentl$ more interested in

%uestions of how histor$ is written' 8ather than just assuming that histor$ eists and

onl$ has to #e written( historians now %uestion themsel&es on the &er$ practice of

writing histor$' 5dward Hallett CarrXs #oo *'hat is !istory@/was one of the first

wors to acnowledge the limitations of traditional histor$' 6ne of the points that Carr

emphasi.es in his #oo is the selecti&e nature historians ha&e in their writingsThe facts spea onl$ when the historian calls on them< it is he who decides to

which fact to gi&e the floor( and in what order or contet'''The historian is

necessaril$selecti%e? /!;


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5urocentric and strangel$ o#sessed with this singular great man theor$ of histor$ is

the prominent reason for this'

ue to the selecti&e nature of the historian( the rise of historiograph$ has seen less

an emphasis on simple &ertical chronological narrati&es of histor$ #ut in fact a

hori.ontal approach which contetuali.es each era #$ anal$.ing wider practices as a

whole' Clarif$ing further( in the >post-postmodern? period( it is now agreed upon that

the past is not just a more >primiti&e? step towards the present' 8ather( periods in the

past are studied on their own terms' 7or instance( film historians looing at the #irth

of cinema circa !0K do not onl$ loo at the earl$ LumiYre #rothers+ cinmatographe

as a primiti&e step towards more >e&ol&ed? film technologies' 8ather the$ stud$ what

else was going on in !0K in terms of earl$ film technolog$ of course( #ut also in

terms of other technological de&elopments( as well as in terms of cultural and social

practices to get a contet of !0 and how cinema graduall$ came to the foreground

of the entertainment industr$' :ichel 7oucault was the most influential proponent of

this hori.ontal approach to histor$( what he called the >Archeolog$ of nowledge?'

7oucault argued that historical research should loo at historical documents not in

order to esta#lish chronologies of e&ents or to eplain those e&ents( #ut rather to

identif$ the discourses that led to and resulted from those e&ents' In his !"2 #oo(

The Archeology of Kno=ledge( 7oucault eplains how documents from the past were

once seen as a unified o#ject that could #e used to re-construct the past' 4ow

howe&er( documents from the past are no longer seen as accurate records( #ut

rather as a group of elements in comple relations with other documents that are in

constant interaction with one another


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*Histor$ now organi.es the document( di&ides it up( distri#utes it( orders it(

arranges it in le&els( esta#lishes series ''' The document( then( is no longer for

histor$ an inert material through which it tries to reconstitute what men ha&e

said and done ''' Histor$ is now tr$ing to define within the documentar$

material itself( unities( totalities( series( relations'+ /!"2


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Cinema tets1 in that time and place' oing so will result in comprehending the

eperiences of the indi&idual spectator that each Third Cinema attempts to resonate

with' Certainl$( such a comprehension would assist in enlightening us further to

discussions of spectatorship and *the filmic e&ent+' et( the$ would ultimatel$ grant

e&en the most ,esterni.ed of researchers( the full perception of the Third Cinema

tet in relation to the categories mentioned in the first chapter and how the film as a

whole contri#uted /or perhaps failed to contri#ute1 to the formation of a re&olutionar$

consciousness for a specific aim' 8egardless( this historiographical approach for

researching and anal$.ing is certainl$ suita#le for Third Cinema precisel$ #ecause

these film tets see to articulate an unspoen and undocumented form of *histor$+

themsel&es< the eploitation and injustices against its people( while in turn critici.ing

the limitations of past *official+ documentations of histor$'

et( in seeing to eplain eactl$ how a historiographical approach to Third Cinema

and its contetuali.ation of an era can relate specificall$ to a re&olutionar$ wa$ of

thining( I would lie to cite 7oucauldian film historian :ichYle Lagn$' ,ithin his

essa$s( Lagn$ articulates a historiographical approach of *hori.ontal+ film research

which emphasi.es in turn the relationship of the film tet to other human actionsfleeting moments? caught

#$ the light from the camera taes tin$ millions of second to #e processed through

the lens' ala. later continues #$ theori.ing that human #ones are made up of

calcium that is constantl$ #eing processed and rec$cled from energ$ from the stars

and the #ig #ang' His comments are then jutaposed with slide images of asteroid

#elts passing high a#o&e the Atacama esert with the indistinguisha#le images of

fossili.ed #ones within the soil #eing eca&ated #$ the female relati&es of the dead'

ala.+s comments certainl$ emphasi.e the indistinguisha#le nature of past to

present #$ underlining the two seemingl$ unrelated searches in histor$ *hori.ontall$+

com#ined through the materialit$ of what all human action is literall$ achie&ed #$' His

notions of the ne&er-ending search within histor$ further counter-act the illusion of

*a#solute truth+ that has #een championed #$ the selecti&e nature of the Fordwell

and Carroll historians we ha&e eamined' et furthermore( ala. is also a#le to

position cinema within this ne&er ending temporalit$ #$ reflecting on a

historiographical approach to cinema' The process of filming is understood #$ ala.

as a historical document that does not present a window into a current moment

fro.en in time #ut rather it represents a millionth of a second of the past' Such an

understanding of cinema as less of a time-capsule of the present #ut rather a form of


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Nostalgia in fact underlines conceptions of remem#rance and nostalgia aimed at the

Chilean population through a su#jecti&e eploration into some of its most affected

people toda$' Though the tet certainl$ emphasi.es the process of disco&er$ and the

act of understanding the pasts of cosmological astronom$ and ancient ci&ili.ations( it

also underlines the specific reactions and catal$sts man$ Chileans ha&e undergone

due to recent histor$' Nostalgia highlights this reaction #$ connecting original

Chilean Third Cinema tets directl$ to Lagn$+s notions of *social ha#its+ that were

informed #$ them through the inter&iew with astronomer Galentina 8odrWgue.'

Though Galentina initiall$ appears to #e included within the tet to offer scientific

contetuali.ation similar to ala.( she in fact has a much more poignant relationship

to )inochet+s regime and Third Cinema tet themsel&es' 7eatured as a child in

newsreel footage of u.man+s epositor$ documentar$ $al%ador Allende /299=1(

Galentina sadl$ lost her parents to )inochet+s regime of the *disappeared+ due to the

manipulation of her grandparents at the hands of the Chilean police' Such a tragic

loss at the hands of a repressi&e go&ernment and her famil$+s o&erall interaction with

the re&olutionar$ form of cultural and social #eha&ior is seen to directl$ inspire her

em#racing of astronom$ as a personal and professional output' Galentina

understands her wor into the origin of life as a therapeutic resolution of the acts that

ha&e oppressed her own through her reciting of the theor$ of that which maes up

humans is eactl$ the same to particles within the cosmos' As she states( >we are all

part of a current[of energ$[of rec$cla#le matter'''it frees me a little from this great

suffering as I feel that nothing reall$ comes to an end?' Her em#racing of her wor

can #e understood as a form of ultimate remem#rance of her famil$( the loss of

others within )inochet+s regime and most poeticall$ of all( an$ human #eing dealing

with grief and loss #$ understanding humanit$+s position in the constant rec$cling


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process of planets and stars' et rather than emphasi.e this loss as through the

militant antagonism of his past tets( u.man instead reflects on it #ut also offers

hope that this c$cle of *rec$cla#le matter+ will fore&er continue' This is most

satisf$ingl$ portra$ed through the image of Galentina holding her new #orn child

within her arms and silentl$ rocing him to sleep /7ilm Image !1' As someone directl$

informed #$ /and in&ol&ed in1 the cultural mo&ement that Chilean Third Cinema

eists as a *hori.ontal+ document within( Galencia represents an indi&idual whom has

undertaen a reactionar$ cultural #eha&ior of remem#rance in order to

therapeuticall$ deal with the grief su#jected to her #$ )inochet+s regime'

Though such an act of historical remem#rance and the informing of cultural #eha&ior

of a re&olutionar$ era /that Third Cinema contri#utes to1 within Chilean histor$

resonate with earlier discussions of Lagn$+s idealistic historiographical approach(

u.man also discusses the rejection of remem#rance and accounta#ilit$ through

further su#jecti&e interactions with other Chileans' In seeing to anal$.e something

much wider and on a planetar$ scale( the tet articulates a distinct pride and dignit$

to reminiscing and rearticulating a#out the specificit$ of )inochet+s regime toda$ at

the epense of an arrogance to its past' u.man himself opens the tet with a

discussion a#out his lo&e of astronom$ as a child as we eplore a series of ordinar$

house-hold o#jects that eorci.e the mundane #ut also the tran%uil and peaceful era

of his Chilean childhood( >where nothing e&er happened@onl$ the present eisted?'

Though the Chilean re&olution destro$ed such peace( u.man continuall$

emphasi.es throughout the tet the lac of historical accounta#ilit$ within the

population when it comes to eorcising the political demons of )inochet+s era'

Though the interactions with the relati&es of the *disappeared+ are composed with the


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dignit$ and fragilit$ the$ deser&e( it is the stor$ of LuWs Henri%ue.( a sur&i&or of

)inochet+s Chaca#uco concentration camp( whom represents #oth the power of

nostalgia connecti&it$ for the #enefits of histor$ and wh$ contemporar$ Chile must

come to terms with the atrocities of )inochet+s regime' nlie past inter&iews of

simple face to face interactions( Henri%ue. is not properl$ introduced in order to

simpl$ spea in front of the camera( rather in this instance there is more of an

emphasis on the #urned out ruins of the camp itself and his own contri#uti&e memor$

of it' In reminiscing of his time within the concentration camp and particularl$ the

e&enings he and his fellow prisoners would spend star-ga.ing at the constellations(

Henri%ue.+s *personal histor$ is lined with facts' 7acts that are almost as o#jecti&e

as the scientific ones@ LuWs is the representati&e of the power of the memor$+

/2931' Henri%ue.+s a#ilit$ to recite the names from memor$ of his *disappeared+

comrades from a list imprinted onto a faded and ruined wall of the camp is a

testament to this power' ,e are also introduced to :iguel Lawner( a fellow camp

prisoner #etween !"3 and !"=' nown as the *architect of memories+( Lawner has

the uni%ue a#ilit$ to recreate to the precise dimensions the #lueprints of the camp

itself and implements a disciplined methodolog$ in order to #ecome reac%uainted

with the surrounding /#ut now non-eistent1 guard towers and #arracs' et( as

much as Lawner and Henri%ue. em#od$ willingness for remem#rance and reflection

of recent histor$( Lawner+s wife Anita /whom was also su#jected to go&ernmental

repression1 represents forgetfulness and the loss of the connection with the past

s$mptomatic of the Chilean people' iagnosed with a late stage of Al.heimer+s

disease and ultimatel$ unresponsi&e to the atrocities of the !"9s( Anita em#odies a

rejection /al#eit an in&oluntar$ one1 that seems to ha&e #ecome the norm for the

general population'


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Nostalgia for the Lighto&erall represents itself as a form of cinema championing a

historiographical approach to documents' It is a tet that &oices a personal $et still

nationalist truthfulness towards the political Chilean reconfigurations of the !"9s

while paradoicall$ articulating it on a wider scale that encompasses all life on 5arth

and what all human #eings comprise of' Articulating cinema itself as less of a fro.en

window of time #ut as a representation of the past( it positions Third Cinema

*hori.ontall$+( eisting as a cultural output that contri#utes to a wider

contetuali.ation of a specific period in time' et Nostalgialie the pre&iousl$

stated methodolog$ also goes e&en further' Though it offers a contet for this period

in time( it also eplicitl$ reflects on the cultural #eha&iors that are directl$ responsi#le

#$ it and how their populari.ation amongst some of the Chilean people came to

pass' 7urthermore( it also /lie original Third Cinema output1 criticall$ argues for an

idealistic change in popular ideological and societal thining( in this case( the

remem#rance and reconsideration of the atrocities committed #$ the go&ernmental

authorities that directl$ informs the content of the film' 6ffering a contetuali.ation of

modern da$ Chile through the #eha&iors of some of its people while also informing

the !"9+s re&olutionar$ era and the original Chilean Third Cinema tets that

*hori.ontall$+ inform that period( Nostalgia can also contri#ute much more' 4otions

of memor$( the past and the present are perfectl$ suited for eleu.ian philosophical

discussions of *the cr$stal image+ /:artin-Jones( 291' 7urthermore( the tet could

also offer #oth personali.ed and theoretical insights into the championing of

anarchist pro-feminist mo&ements within Chile in the !"9+s /7ra.ier 299"


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form of re&olutionar$ thining to its people' F$ anal$.ing the period *hori.ontall$+

through related documents and then anal$.ing the successful /or unsuccessful1

reactionar$ #eha&iors that arose from that era that Third Cinema contri#uted to( e&en

the most ,esterni.ed research has the opportunit$ to understand the socio-historic

specificities that inform the uni%ue re&olutionar$ categories of each Third Cinema

tet' et( when anal$.ing the tet as a form ofpotentialThird Cinema rather than a

ne= one( it resem#les a certain swan-song for u.man+s film group' It seems almost

a channeling form of acceptance towards the demons of political repression that the$

ha&e spent their whole li&es challenging' It certainl$ can #e reinforced in comparison

to the antagonistic aesthetic implemented within their past militant tets' Such

differences /and argua#l$ the o&erall sacrificing1 of some aforementioned

re&olutionar$ categories that are the foundation to original Third Cinema tets are

certainl$ distressing towards articulating how 4ew Third Cinema tets eist toda$' As

we will now in&estigate( does it e&en eist an$more under its original forms and

guises or does it eist now as something %uite difference and perhaps

unrecogni.a#le to the original idealistic &isions of the pastM

4ew Third Cinema O $ecret City

So far throughout this essa$ I ha&e attempted to outline as precisel$ as possi#le the

re&olutionar$ categories that comprise the uni%ue foundations for Third Cinema

output from its prominentl$ Latin American origins' I ha&e then interrogated the


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e%uall$-informed theoretical facet of Third Cinema( justif$ing the re%uirement of

future theoretical de&elopments /this essa$ included1 into Third Cinema #$

emphasi.ing its current lac of critical articulation and its less than etensi&e

histories in wider and suita#le forms of ,estern academia' 7urthermore( this

justification has #een further emphasi.ed through the application of a compati#le and

idealistic methodological anal$sis( a Cultural-studies historiographical

contetuali.ation of Third Cinema inspired #$ :ichel 7oucault and :ichYle Lagn$'

et now I would lie to spea with a certain degree of specificit$ regarding 4ew Third

Cinema itself' Initiall$ interrogating the current suita#ilit$ of the categories which

made it originall$ re&olutionar$ in the present da$( I will then appl$ these categories

to critical and marginali.ed Fritish documentar$ $ecret City in order to understand

full$ if the original and idealistic &ision of Third Cinema can eist toda$ and if not(

what does it eist asM

7irstl$( I feel I must #riefl$ justif$ the self-informed title I ha&e granted this

contemporar$ form of political output< 4e

MA Dissertation: Towards A New Third Cinema

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