This updated and expanded edition gives critical analyses of 23 Latin American films from the last 20 years, including the addition of four films from Bolivia. Explored throughout the text are seven crucial themes: the indigenous image, sexuality, childhood, female protagonists, crime and corruption, fratricidal wars, and writers as characters. Designed for general and scholarly interest, as well as a guide for teachers of Hispanic culture or Latin American film and literature, the book provides a sweeping look at the logistical circumstances of filmmaking in the region along with the criteria involved in interpreting a Latin American film. It includes interviews with and brief biographies of influential filmmakers, along with film synopses, production details and credits, transcripts of selected scenes, and suggestions for discussion and analysis.

La medicina y el cine son parte de nuestro día a día. Acudimos a la consulta o a la sala en busca de algún tipo de alivio y de puertas a otros mundos. Y la consulta y la sala, la medicina y el cine, se miran de reojo. La medicina quiere al cine para mirar, explorar y estudiar, diagnosticar y operar; también como herramienta publicitaria y de propaganda, para construir su autoridad. Y el cine cuenta muy a menudo con la medicina porque trabaja con experiencias rutinarias de salud y enfermedad, sus miedos y sus osadías, sus servidumbres y sus rebeldías. La medicina y el cine caminan de la mano con la experiencia cotidiana de la muerte y de la vida. Y la medicina es cine porque es soñar, cuestionar y luchar, como lo es sufrir, morir y amar. Y es por esto mismo que también, en nuestro día a día, el cine es medicina.

WINNER OF A CHOICE OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC TITLE AWARD 2019 The political violence that erupted towards the end of the twentieth century between the Peruvian state and militant group `Shining Path' left an indelible mark on the country that resonates even today. This study explores representations of the insurgency on screen, and asks what these tell us about the relationship between state, fiction cinema and identity in Peru. In the process, Sarah Barrow highlights the Peruvian experience as a paradigm for the wider study of film-making in societies faced with violence and terrorism. This book provides in-depth analyses of the pivotal films from the 1980s through to the present day that interpret the events, characters and consequences of the bloody conflict. Setting the films in the context of a time of turbulent transition for both Peruvian society and cinema - addressing developments in film policy and production - it reveals the attempts by filmmakers to reflect, shape, define and contest the identity of a fractured population. By interrogating important themes such as memory, trauma and cultural responses to terrorism, chapters explore local perception of nationhood, and highlight links to other Latin American cinemas and global issues. Featuring discussions of the work of Francisco Lombardi, Marianne Eyde, Fabrizio Aguilar and Josue Mendez, amongst others, this detailed investigation of the growing success and political importance of the industry's output traces the complexities of modern Peruvian history.

In the last decade, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar has grown from critical darling of the film circuit scene to mainstream success. Frequently comic, often deadly serious, always visually glorious, his recent films range from the Academy Award–winning drama Talk to Her to the 2011 horror film The Skin I Live In. Though they are ambitious and varied in style, each is a distinctive innovation on the themes that have defined his work. Desire Unlimited is the classic film-by-film assessment of Almodóvar’s oeuvre, now updated to include his most recent work. Still the only study of its kind in English, it vigorously confirms its original argument that beneath Almodóvar's genius for comedy and visual pleasure lies a filmmaker whose work deserves to be taken with the utmost seriousness.

The golden age of Mexican cinema, which spanned the 1930s through to the 1950s, saw Mexico's film industry become one of the most productive in the world, exercising a decisive influence on national culture and identity. In the first major study of the global reception and impact of Mexican Golden Age cinema, this book captures the key aspects of its international success, from its role in forming a nostalgic cultural landscape for Mexican emigrants working in the United States, to its economic and cultural influence on Latin America, Spain and Yugoslavia. Challenging existing perceptions, the authors reveal how its film industry helped establish Mexico as a long standing centre of cultural influence for the Spanish-speaking world and beyond.