"Arranged chronologically, this updated and revised edition covers the scope of Mexican cinema. The main films and their directors are discussed, together with the political, social and economic context of the times. Appendices offer selected filmographies and useful addresses"--Provided by publisher.

How were femininity and motherhood understood in Mexican cinema from the 1940s to the early 1990s? Film analysis, interviews with filmmakers, academic articles and film reviews from newspapers are used to answer the question and trace the changes in such depictions. Images of mothers in films by so-called third-wave filmmakers (Busi Cortes, Maria Novaro, Dana Rotberg and Marisa Sistach) are contrasted with those in Mexican classical films (1935-1950) and films from the 1970s and 1980s. There are some surprising conclusions. The most important restrictions in the depiction of mothers in classical cinema came not from the strict sexual norms of the 1940s but in reactions to women shown as having autonomous identities. Also, in contrast to classical films, third-wave films show a woman's problems within a social dimension, making motherhood political--in relation not to militancy within the left but to women's issues. Third-wave films approach the problems of Latin American society as those of individuals differentiated by gender, sexuality and ethnicity; in such films mothers are citizens directly affected by laws, economic policies and cultural beliefs.

The female image has been an ambiguous one in Mexican culture, and the place of women in Mexican cinema is no less tenuous--yielding in the films of Luis Buñuel and others a range of characterizations from virgin to whore, mother to femme fatale. Mexican Cinema/Mexican Woman, 1940-1950 examines a singular moment in the history of Mexican film to investigate the ways in which the cinematic figures of woman functioned to mediate narrative and social debates. The book raises new questions about the relations between woman and cinema. It will have broad appeal among students and scholars of film, feminist studies, and Latin American studies, as well as those interested in the popular culture of Mexico. Considering the historical and cultural representations of sexual difference as well as race and class, Hershfield closely examines the portrayal of women and gender identity in six films: María Candelaria (Emilio Fernández, 1943), Río Escondido (Emilio Fernández, 1947), Distinto amanecer (Julio Bracho, 1943), Salón México (Emilio Fernández, 1948), Doña Bárbara (Fernando de Fuentes, 1943), and Susana (Carne y demonio) (Luis Buñuel, 1950).