Saturday, February 13, 2010

Se acabó la música

After reading "Race in American Politics" by a cuartet of political scientists and "The Feminist Method" by Sandra Harding, I decided to take a "mental" break and watch a movie. I must say that Netflix is amazing. The selection of movies is astonishing. You will find movies on Netflix that you will never see on the shelves at Blockbuster. Last time, I mentioned the movie Dear Zachary: A Letter to a son about his Father. Tonight, a few friends and I watched El Violín, a movie released in 2005 by the director Francisco Vargas. El Violín is a somber, slow-paced, black and white film that depicts the struggles of many indigenous people throughout Latin America. The movie tells the story of a family composed of Plutarco Hidalgo the grandpa (Ángel Tavira), Genaro Hidalgo the son and guerilla (Gerardo Taracena), and Lucio Hidalgo the grandson (Mario Garibaldi). Here is the plot as it comes from the film's website (roughly translated by yours truly). Plutarco and his family lead a double life. On one hand, they are humble rural musicians and on the other hand they are active supporters of a guerilla movement against an oppressive government. When the army invades their village, the guerillas are forced to abandon their supply of ammunition. Plutarco, taking advantage of his appearance as a humble violinist, comes up with a plan to recuperate the ammunition. This movie is absolutely beautiful. The plot is well-developed, the black and white photography is awe-inspiring, and the acting is topnotch. The following is a clip from the movie showing and interaction between the general and Plutarco as well as the official trailer. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles for those who do not speak Spanish. However, a this link you can find a video that does.

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