Author Topic: Undertow - "Brokeback Peru"  (Read 24863 times)

Offline Andrew

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Re: Undertow - "Brokeback Peru"
« Reply #60 on: June 11, 2011, 04:20:21 pm »
I watched it last weekend and hope to again tomorrow night. It is a really interesting concept I think, the two men being able to be "together" after one of them dies, and the temptations that come with it.

I liked the part when the wife starts to realize the connection with the husband uses the world "Whapo" which was translated into "Swell".

'Guapo' is mostly European Spanish for 'good-looking', and it got picked up in Sicily and Naples, where it must have been a joking friendly salutation among male friends, then was brought to the US by immigrants.  It must then have been overheard by the people who resented them and turned into the derogatory 'wop'.

But in this movie, the idea seems to be that the more cosmopolitan blue-eyed Santiago uses this European slang which no one else in the village uses.  Mariela is not from the village and her father used the word, but she associates it with his generation and thinks it funny that a young man is using it.  That is all from the marketplace scene. 

And it is a great touch that it is one of the things which starts to betray Miguel to her.  Mariela is quite attuned to words.  Perhaps her father, who was not from the village, was also a little cosmopolitan, or educated?  She thinks it a big joke when Miguel confuses 'ecografia' (ultrasound) with 'ecologia' (ecology).

One of the interesting things is how little we know about her background.  I think she has no identified relatives in the village.  Dona Flor is identified as Miguel's aunt, not as hers.

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Undertow - "Brokeback Peru"
« Reply #61 on: June 11, 2011, 05:11:16 pm »
I remember Amélie and the dreadful La Vie en Rose being quite popular.  I think they got wider releases.  Also, maybe the Almodovar films.

There's also Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by our own Ang Lee.
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Offline Andrew

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Re: Undertow - "Brokeback Peru"
« Reply #62 on: June 11, 2011, 10:32:39 pm »
I was just watching this for the first time with David.  When we came to the 'traveling to meet the loved one' sequence he asked me what the birds were which are visible for just a few seconds.





They are pelicans, and they make a vivid if brief impression as they too fly past on their way, in the same direction as Miguel.  They are like messengers of a world where Miguel and Santiago can be themselves, away from the village with its strictures .

These birds may look closer to the camera than they really are if you don't know how big they are - the wingspan can be eight feet.

This next is not from the film, just a clearer shot of how they look in flight, from Wikipedia.




And this is someone's travel picture of Peruvian Pelicans which was actually taken in Cabo Blanco where the filming took place.









« Last Edit: June 12, 2011, 11:23:07 am by Andrew »