Span 3250 Midterm

Mexico's Golden Age of Film, came about, in part, because

Mexico was able to fill a void by providing entertaining films while many other studios were involved in pro-war film production.

The musical spectacles in Aventurera _______. a. Are often interwoven into the narrative, helping to tell the story b. Only originate in Mexico c. Are all performed by entirely unknown musicians d. Are only a distraction

a. Are often interwoven into the narrative, helping to tell the story

According to historian Louis Pérez, "The size of the average sugar plantation in 1762 was 320 acres worked by six to eight slaves. Thirty years later the average had increased to 700 acres worked by almost one hundred slaves." How is that increase alluded to in The Last Supper? a. In the discussion about the lessons to be learned from Haiti. b. By Sebastián and the syncretism his character evokes. c. By converting the overseer into a symbol of Jesus Christ. d. By Ash Wednesday.

a. In the discussion about the lessons to be learned from Haiti.

Laughter in The Last Supper is frequently utilized as __________. a. a tool to display the break between different interpretive strategies and worldviews of the dominant and enslaved peoples. b. a spontaneous and therefore, empty symbol. c. a way to disconnect from thinking about history. d. there is no laughter in The Last Supper.

a. a tool to display the break between different interpretive strategies and worldviews of the dominant and enslaved peoples.

Juan's looking through the telescope at the masses _____________. a. echoes Sergio's actions from Memories of Underdevelopment. b. echoes el Conde's relationship to the birdcage. c. is his way of asserting his political goals. d. It never took place.

a. echoes Sergio's actions from Memories of Underdevelopment.

The initial establishing shot in the film evokes ________. (Juan on the raft in the water) a. the possibility of mounting a raft to migrate to the U.S. b. the threat of the zombies. c. the importance of the news. d. the problems with transportation in the Special Period.

a. the possibility of mounting a raft to migrate to the U.S.

For Sergio, Hannah represents ___________. a. what he envisions as civilization. b. the Holocaust. c. barbarism. d. US imperialism.

a. what he envisions as civilization.

The debates at the film's end relate more largely to ____________. a. what workers' roles should be in the creation of a new, more equal society. b. men being overly influenced by women in the new society. c. racial discrimination in the new society. d. the need for more time off in the new society.

a. what workers' roles should be in the creation of a new, more equal society.

The following influenced the Fernández-Figueroa style:

b and c

The sequence of pre-Columbian statues of faces at the beginning of the film _______________

b and c

In the chapter we read by Octavio Paz, he was concerned with understanding ______. a. what he calls surrealism b. the solitude of Mexicans in relation to having been torn from "the All" and concepts of orphanhood c. why young Mexicans migrated north d. universal prejudice

b. the solitude of Mexicans in relation to having been torn from "the All" and concepts of orphanhood

The function of the documentary footage in Memories of Underdevelopment is to ___________. a. show the explosion of the USS Maine. b. Identify the reasons why individual citizens are becoming and should become actively engaged in the political stakes of society. c. analyze bourgeois comportment. d. show inequality under the Revolution.

b. Identify the reasons why individual citizens are becoming and should become actively engaged in the political stakes of society.

The duality of mother/wh0re as an important theme in Mexico relates most closely to __________. a. Mexicans' exceptional relationship to the death. b. The conquest and the figure of La Malinche. c. The post-revolutionary experience d. Mexico's relationship to the pope

b. The conquest and the figure of La Malinche.

One Way or Another sets up tensions between __________. a. the working class and the military. b. classical documentary and fictional cinema. c. homosexuals and the Revolution. d. the bourgeois and the elite.

b. classical documentary and fictional cinema.

In Memories of Underdevelopment, Hollywood film is ___________. a. praised through metatextuality. b. critiqued through intertextuality. c. absent. d. copied throughout.

b. critiqued through intertextuality.

Imperfect cinema seeks to ______. a. abolish all North American independent film. b. ensure that spectators continue to debate the issues presented in film after the film is over. c. imitate European films in Latin America. d. turn Cuban spectators onto viewers of art-house cinema.

b. ensure that spectators continue to debate the issues presented in film after the film is over.

One Way or Another suggests that ___________. a. educators are entirely ineffective when it comes to changing society. b. every individual needs to become more aware of problems across society in order for the society to improve. c. the absent father is the only one to blame for Lázaro's poor performance at school. d. capitalism needs to come to this Caribbean island to save it.

b. every individual needs to become more aware of problems across society in order for the society to improve.

This film _____________. (Juan of the Dead) a. is entirely evolutionary. b. gestures toward the disintegration of socialist ideals. c. celebrates totally the triumph of Capitalism. d. marks the end of Castro's rule.

b. gestures toward the disintegration of socialist ideals.

Sergio's looking through a telescope in Memories of Underdevelopment relates to ________________. a. his poor eyesight. b. his distance from the masses. c. his scientific propensity to dissect insects. d. his obsession with books.

b. his distance from the masses.

Witchcraft ______________. a. has no relevance in The Last Supper. b. is commented upon by the priest in relation to Gaspar's ideas about sugar production. c. is purely a sign of the barbarism of the slaves. d. is something that the Count suggests is part of the Catholic religion.

b. is commented upon by the priest in relation to Gaspar's ideas about sugar production.

The slaves take the Count's definition of the Eucharist __________. a. as a sacrament, in memory of Jesus Christ. b. literally, and therefore enter into a conversation about cannibalism. c. to mean that they have Good Friday off from work. d. as a symbol of peace.

b. literally, and therefore enter into a conversation about cannibalism.

The posters in the urban landscape of Memories of Underdevelopment a. do not add much to the film. b. suggest to spectators that the characters' individual stories are part of real history. c. serve the very same function as the art in the Count's quarters in The Last Supper. d. only showcase the triumph of depoliticized art in the Revolution.

b. suggest to spectators that the characters' individual stories are part of real history.

The appearance of Edmundo Desnoes (see above) in Memories of Underdevelopmentrelates to ___________. a. a scene in which the characters are discussing the Batista's regime censorship of "pornography." b. the film's overall desire to encourage spectators to reflect upon the value of artistic production in a new society. c. Memories of Underdevelopment's imitation of auteur film. d. Gutiérrez Alea's intense critique of Desnoes's novel, Inconsolable Memories.

b. the film's overall desire to encourage spectators to reflect upon the value of artistic production in a new society.

The film suggests that the overseer's behavior reflects _________. a. his genuine concern for the slaves. b. the task/job he was assigned in society. c. that he is better than the priest by nature. d. that he is entirely irrational, egotistical, and not in line with the count's desires for the slaves to all be free.

b. the task/job he was assigned in society.

It appears that the director intends for the ending of Memories of Underdevelopment to suggest that _________. a. the liars come out on top in the Cuban Revolution. b. there is the possibility for justice in this new revolutionary state. c. all courts are corrupt. d. the culture of poverty will continue.

b. there is the possibility for justice in this new revolutionary state.

The film's ending ________. a. is unquestionably happy b. upholds family values and suggests that the "good guys" can win. c. renders no hope for "lost women." d. Is entirely transgressive of Catholicism.

b. upholds family values and suggests that the "good guys" can win.

Memories of Underdevelopment suggests that Elena's seeming willingness to be taken advantage of by Sergio parallels most closely _____________. a. his anger toward his ex-wife. b. Cuba's desire be the pawn of the Soviet Union. c. Cuba's pre-Revolutionary position vis-à-vis the United States. d. Elena's family's religious affiliation.

c. Cuba's pre-Revolutionary position vis-à-vis the United States.

The following is a characteristic of New Latin American cinema: a. Desire to entertain above and beyond second cinema. b. Happy endings. c. Desire to create engaged spectators. d. Desire to paint Latin America as if it were part of the first world.

c. Desire to create engaged spectators.

The boxer in the film ______________. a. Is a fictional character used to distract the audience. b. Is inconsequential in the film. c. Is a real person, non-actor, who serves as a model for Mario becoming a more conscious revolutionary subject. d. Plays the role of a champion, on account of male chauvinism.

c. Is a real person, non-actor, who serves as a model for Mario becoming a more conscious revolutionary subject.

Bourgeois taste ________________. a. was cast aside by the Revolution and Is virtually absent from One Way or Another. b. Is embraced in One Way or Another. c. Is evidenced in the behavior of Yolanda and Migdalia. d. Is envied by Mario.

c. Is evidenced in the behavior of Yolanda and Migdalia.

The dream sequence indicates that a. Pedro and Jaibo feel the same way toward Julián. b. the underside of the bed is where Julián is buried in real life. c. Pedro and Jaibo desire the same things. d. Pedro is always able to beat Jaibo at his own game.

c. Pedro and Jaibo desire the same things.

The cabareteras were _______. a. popular from the 1940s to early 50s and were called cabareteras because of their relation to cabernet wine. b. a way of showing the seedier sides of life in the times before the Mexican Revolution. c. Popular from the 1940s to early 50s and were called cabareteras because many of their plots took place in cabarets. d. Popular throughout the 2nd half of the 20th century in the Cuban Golden Age.

c. Popular from the 1940s to early 50s and were called cabareteras because many of their plots took place in cabarets.

Sebastián's spitting on the count __________. a. is analogous to the priest's conversion of the slaves. b. Is the result of the Count not having selected him to sit beside him at the "Last Supper." c. Relates to his refusal to "recognize" the Count, as master. d. Is analogous to the U.S. embargo of Cuba.

c. Relates to his refusal to "recognize" the Count, as master

What is suggested by the sequence about Abakuá in the film? a. That Cubans should convert to Catholicism. b. That Santería is syncretic. c. That Cuban Revolutionary society needs to transform the leftovers of patriarchal culture. d. That only by following the path of the First World might there be true modernization.

c. That Cuban Revolutionary society needs to transform the leftovers of patriarchal culture

The film makes clear that dissidents are _________________ . a. no relation to the economy. b. are a necessary evil. c. are a topic that concerns the Cuban government greatly. d. are a figment of Juan's imagination.

c. are a topic that concerns the Cuban government greatly.

Mario is to Yolanda ________________. a. as the U.S. is to Cuba. b. as the Soviet Union is to Cuba. c. as the popular sector is to the intellectual sector. d. as Cuba is to Mexico.

c. as the popular sector is to the intellectual sector.

The zombie genre _________. a. presented an explicit challenge to melodrama. b. is an explicit response to New Latin American Cinema. c. could be looked upon with suspicion by the Cuban government because it was perceived by some to be imported from the United States. d. a way of Cubans' dealing directly with the Soviet Union.

c. could be looked upon with suspicion by the Cuban government because it was perceived by some to be imported from the United States.

This still is _____. (Still of the boy who killed the other boy in Los Olvidados, dead) a. realistic. b. a justification for Jaibo's wrongdoings. c. manifests traces of surrealism in this largely realistic film. d. largely "forgotten."

c. manifests traces of surrealism in this largely realistic film.

Modernization in Aventurera is shown to be ______. a. purely positive b. good if an only if the indigenous are integrated within it c. problematic d. there are no visible signs of modernization

c. problematic

The panorama of blogging in Cuba is ___________. a. closed to outsiders. b. insignificant to this film. c. significant because there is a character who is a blogger in the film and because dissidence is addressed. d. one that is static and emptied of debates.

c. significant because there is a character who is a blogger in the film and because dissidence is addressed.

Vladi, at some point says, "If they ask me who Fidel Castro is, I'll stay there forever," suggesting _____________. a. that he's tired of living in Spain. b. that he supports the dissidents. c. that he wishes to escape the legacy of Fidel. d. that he is finally ready to support his father in the fight against zombies.

c. that he wishes to escape the legacy of Fidel.

When a commander who captures Juan and his friends states, "Whoever is not with the community is against the community," he is evoking most directly ____________. a. critique of the Soviet cars. b. the fight in Angola. c. the "Words to the Intellectuals." d. the Mariel Boatlift.

c. the "Words to the Intellectuals."

Sergio's statement that Havana is turning into Tegucigalpa, Honduras relates to _________. a. the influx of Hondurans in Cuba. b. the fact that the Americans are colonizing Havana. c. the fact that Sergio is suggesting that the Revolution has turned Cuba into a "regular" Third World country. d. the fact that Sergio no longer desires any woman.

c. the fact that Sergio is suggesting that the Revolution has turned Cuba into a "regular" Third World country.

This still and the scene in general exemplifies ________. (children working at the carousel) . equality in Mexico b. modernization at its best c. the haves and have nots d. how children are always children

c. the haves and have nots

Humberto's incident at work is supposed to represent ___________________. a. the need for better administrators. b. the need for better bureaucrats. c. the notion that if one individual slacks, the rest of society may suffer. d. the importance of romance.

c. the notion that if one individual slacks, the rest of society may suffer.

According to the priest, _________. a. the slaves are just plain lazy. b. the Count is a saint. c. the slaves have trouble understanding Christian doctrine. d. the slaves are happy go-lucky because they like women.

c. the slaves have trouble understanding Christian doctrine.

Luis Buñuel worked in ______. a. France b. Spain c. Mexico d. All of the above

d. All of the above

Which of the following qualities must always be present within the genre of melodrama? a. Mexico b. The plight of Indians c. The omnipresence of music d. An exaggerated representation of emotions, circumstances and acting

d. An exaggerated representation of emotions, circumstances and acting

The animalization of children living through these circumstances is evidenced through ___________. a. facial gestures and close-ups. b. Ojitos' drinking from Meche's breast. c. Ojitos' drinking dircectly from a goat's breast. d. Both a and c

d. Both a and c

Which genre is this still from One Way or Another referencing? a. Thriller b. Road Movie c. Horror d. Melodrama

d. Melodrama

Los olvidados is distinct from the other films from Mexico's Golden Age that we saw because __________. a. there are no "stars" in it. b. extra-diegetic sound doesn't play any role in it. c. there is no mother/ prostitute complex. d. More emphasis is placed on unraveling the complexities of the social environment that create the individuals' actions than on the private worlds of the characters and morals.

d. More emphasis is placed on unraveling the complexities of the social environment that create the individuals' actions than on the private worlds of the characters and morals.

Which of the following does Ana López signal as a challenge to patriarchy in Aventurera? a. That it was a woman who led Elena down the path of prostitution. b. Elena's maid's affection toward her. c. That it was Elena's mother, not her father, who had the affair. d. That Elena takes joy in her own body while dancing.

d. That Elena takes joy in her own body while dancing.

Aventurera criticizes the hypocrisy of _____________. a. The working class b. The farmers c. The Indians d. The bourgeoisie

d. The bourgeoisie

How does desire for a past political conservatism enter into the film's narrative? a. it does not. b. Through Pedro's mother who yearns for the father of Pedro. c. Through Julián's alcoholic father. d. Through don Carmelo's songs and reflections.

d. Through don Carmelo's songs and reflections.

Rengo is portrayed as _______. a. a criminal b. a teacher c. a naysayer d. a noble savage

d. a noble savage

Underdevelopment, for the film (not Sergio), is the result of ____________. a. having been dependent on the United States. b. having been colonized by Spain. c. living in a country that triumphed despite the Bay of Pigs invasion. d. a. and b.

d. a. and b.

The Last Supper can be said to be part of New Latin American Cinema ____________. a. because it relates to a historical event at the end of the 18th century. b. because it is entirely melodramatic. c. because it wants to raise spectators' consciousness about history and politics. d. a. and c.

d. a. and c.

Which of the following relate to the film's depiction of modernization? a. The fracturing of family values b. The presence of "loose" women c. The transnationalism of performance and performers d. all of the above

d. all of the above

The way the Count truly feels toward the "others" can be seen through __________. a. his allowing the old slave his wish, to be free. b. washing the slaves' feet. c. allowing the slaves to eat with him d. his explanation of the overseer's behavior as a "necessary sin."

d. his explanation of the overseer's behavior as a "necessary sin."

The concept of survival in Juan of the Dead ______________. a. is literal, only referencing the zombie threat. b. has to do with the Haitian Revolution. c. relates to the survival of the fittest. d. relates to a discourse around war against the US Empire promoted by the Cuban government.

d. relates to a discourse around war against the US Empire promoted by the Cuban government.

This film places blame for the children's behavior on __________. a. mothers' loose behavior b. drinking c. the indigenous d. society's inability to adequately care for that which it doesn't deem immediately useful or productive monetarily

d. society's inability to adequately care for that which it doesn't deem immediately useful or productive monetarily

One of the effects of the "Special Period in Times of Peace" on film ______. a. was that Cuban filmmakers formed special relations with the Soviet Union. b. was that Cuban filmmakers relied entirely on the ICAIC. c. was miniscule. d. was that filmmakers sought out funding not only from the ICAIC, but also from foreign investors.

d. was that filmmakers sought out funding not only from the ICAIC, but also from foreign investors.

When Los olvidados was made, many Mexicans __________. a. immediately loved it. b. liked the representation of their nations' developmentalism. c. resisted the film because of its sexual content. d. were angered by the representation of Mexico's slums.

d. were angered by the representation of Mexico's slums.

Don Damián's actions can be most easily explained through _________.

hungriness for power and money

The film entirely blames who/what for the fate of María Candelaria?

none of the above.

he story that unfolds in María Candelaria was set ________.

right before the Mexican revolution

When María sells flowers in the marketplace, _____________.

she is defying her community who sees her as cursed by her mother

Which cinematic technique is most frequently used to convey the relationship between Maria's community and Maria?

shot/reverse-shot

The "cinematic invention" of Mexico refers to ________.

the tensions between imitation and rejection of Hollywood models, and the exhortation of Mexicanness that Ramírez Berg discusses in the work of Fernández Figueroa.

Throughout the decades after the Mexican revolution, distinct administrations ___________.

took different approaches toward the indigenous and their role in the Mexican nation