Category: Responses

I agree that the busty woman was more liberated in terms of sexual desire yet I feel that she was just as objectified as the other women within the movie if not more. When she falls down all the men fondle her in front of her over-controlling, angry and violent boyfriend. This could be viewed as a violation of the female body however at the same time she does not make any protestations or objections to being fondled. Therefore she uses her sexual allure in order to gain power especially in opposition to her boyfriend. At the beginning of the race her boyfriend speaks harshly to her yet in the middle of the conflict she takes the reins by taking away his gun. Once she takes this object of power away from him, he seems to be entirely at her mercy. It seems that the busty woman knows the power restraints of women within a male patriarchy yet she uses this to her advantage.

I agree about the colors and the vigorosity of the film. I also want to comment that I did not quite understood the role of the busty women. She was not a prostitute, she seemed more like a overly liberal (libertine) women who wanted to have fun. She did not seem to fit into any stereotype of Mexican culture and she left the film without explanation. She did not harm or was harmed. I was very intrigued by this character.

Es interesante como los espacios se pueden dictar la manera la gente interrelacionarse. Cuando la pelicula comence la gente inhabita el espacio diferentemente en contrato al fin de la pelicula. Eventualmente la carrera construye los espacios personales que son diferente de antes y como un resulto los relaciones entre las personas cambian. Pienso que haya muchos ejemplos en el mundo real donde este se puede demonstrar. Quizas con mas tecnologia nuestras relaciones con otras personas tomara una gira para el peor porque nos acostumbraremos con espacios privados donde no estamos con mucha gente.

There were a lot of scenes in the movie that did not correspond very well nor contributed anything to the overall plot, such as the couple who show up white and clean and leave filthy after they have spent days eating. Perhaps this is supposed to emphasize the effect the event had on the people. Our expectations for this couple may be marked by their appearance however what becomes funny and absurd about the situation is when they contradict the audience’s initial impressions by taking on almost animalistic tendencies. While husbands and wives flirted with other men and women, others were also participating in dance, drinking and sex. The event gives the croud the opportunity to flirt with immorality, normally something off limits to them in everyday life.
The race, shown by the couple who gorge themselves with food, in a way dirties, mentally, physically and morally the people, as the couple, originally angelic and white, leave with stained, soiled clothing. Similarly, the protagonist and his family leave with stains that will always remain attached to their daily interractions with one another and will and cannot be forgotten because of one night.

Alright!
Yeah.
This film was a visual treat to watch.
Loved the bright colours, the look, the feel.
It evoked such a youthful vigour and vibrancy.
The characters were big and outrageous, from the busty woman to the overeating grandmother to the gun toting machoman.
I also appreciated the jabs at English speaking Americans… “There’s nothing Mexican here” and “We are also Catholics”
The humour translated well.
Sincerely acted moments (at least they looked sincere, couldn’t say about their dialogue) such as the groups preference to watch the car race finish instead of staying at the funeral of the old woman, were great.
Silly idea but well portrayed.
In fact, I’ve come to realize that one of the biggest challenges facing a viewer who can’t understand the language, aside from the obvious, is the ability to detect sincerity in the characters.
For all I know, these actors look the part but might be delivering ridiculous cheeseball lines.
That being said, foreign language films automatically contain a level of authenticity because of this barrier.
Most likely that’s because the foreign films that I’m exposed to are brought over and released here because they are truly exceptional.
Regardless, fun film, high energy.
Nice.

It took me a little while to get into the movie as I wasn’t sure what to make of the style of filming as the camera shots and scenes were sort of confusing. I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of dubbing of the characters voices and that a few scenes, especially when they were all at the field having the get together and it also looked like some parts were shot in a studio with some trees and countryside looked artificial.
This film is quite different from the previous movies that we have seen in terms of the women not being seen to be in a powerful role. The men are seen to be macho and controlling of their women and the marchioness is emphasized in the older men showing with typical ball cap, big cars, guns, alcohol, men all gathered around telling their points of views and stories, while women watching and talking about their husbands. And there was sort of a double standard going on where the women get blamed and accused easily of flirting and would end up getting treated badly but it seemed it was ok or defined differently when the men did it so they could get away with it. It also showed an aspect of the father as a hierarchy figure within the family as showing an extreme loyalty to family values and upholding his strictness by scolding the daughter and wife for their actions and also shows his weaker side as being passionate to his mother. The director possibly tried to portray the views he had of how culture and society was being portrayed at the time in the 70’s and used the different generations sharing the same space as a way to compare these differences. The old ways with the older generation and how they try to teach their children, but now these children have more resources and advantages than their parents so they have different views and also the influence of the free spirit 70’s which adds extra pressure on changing attitudes and views. I also noticed a difference in comparing los olvidados where there was not a sense of community or happiness, whereas in Mecanica nacional, it portrays the community as strong and together with concern and respect for each other like in the scene where everyone put aside their differences and came together to give their respects to the deceased mother in the field and on the drive back to town.

Mecánico nacional

Me gusto la película. La historia era simple pero si era interesante considerar cómo el director demostró la cultura y el nacionalismo Mexicano. También pensé que era interesante cómo los Gringos o los extranjeros eran demostrados. El autor indicó a los gringos como males informados o aún estúpidos que no saben cómo funciona la cultura Mexicano. La película también demostró cómo la cultura americana tenía un impacto en cultura Pop mexicano jugando canciones americanas durante la fiesta. También el autor se burlo de la clase alta. En la película había una pareja rica en un coche de lujo y en el partido fueron demostradas comiendo y comiendo como animales. La película enseno todas partes de la sociedad Mexicano usando bromas y burlas de todos tipos de personas que representa varios caracteres de la sociedad.

I think this film says a lot about the culture of Mexico. First, there is the obvious “machismo” throughout the whole film. Men treat women as if they were very inferior. Women are slapped and pushed by men, and nobody thinks this is a big deal. So the society accepts this as a normal thing. There is no single person that stands up to the behavior of the “machos”. The men also have the idea that they need to be that way because they think they will be more respected. Women are depicted as weak as well as inferior. The voluptuous woman for example was touched everywhere when she fell down and then didn’t say a thing to them. It seems like they are oppressed. One of the wives at a point says that she sacrificed so much for the family, like staying up all night to take care of the kids, and never received the respect. She says things that she does that the men in the marriage never did. However, at the same time they were doing wrong by going off with two other guys that were not their husbands. So the movie is telling us that women deserve it that way.
There is also a lot of violence in the movie. Everyone wants to fight all the time; they only stop when someone pulls out a gun. The gun represents a higher status because nobody could do anything but talk them out of the situation. I found it interesting that feelings sometimes did not seem to be real. For example, when the grandmother was dead and the race was about to end, everyone leaves as if no one really cares about the poor dead. The doctors also said they wanted to leave fast so that they didn’t have to take care of the old woman. However, everyone shows sympathy to the son of the old woman and even have a minute of silence for him. It was very interesting to see that everyone was so united even though many did not know each other. There was this sense of community between everyone.
One last thing which was very interesting was when the reporters came and filmed the dead with everyone around. They were telling people to pose as if it was art. They were interested in getting people’s faces and actions not in a real mode. This bothered me because they were taking advantage of the death of the old lady for their own.

Wow. This movie really gives me mixed feelings. On the one hand I don’t like how it’s very chaotic and incoherent at some parts, on the other it might just be reflecting what Mexico City was really like at that time. It is chaotic since there were so many people and cars involved. The background noises sometimes made it difficult to hear what the main characters were saying.

First of all, I was rather bothered by the scene of traffic congestion at the beginning of the movie where everyone shouted at each other. The atmosphere was hostile and unpleasant; made me wonder why they would want to have this kind of “fiesta” often, as part of their life. Secondly, some of the scenes didn’t quite make sense to me; for example, the scene with a couple wearing white who ate from morning to night and from night to morning. I didn’t understand why it was there nor how to make logic sense out of it. I mean, how could that pot of paella lasted so long? Haha. Lastly, there was a scene with the wife running down a hill. When she began to run, the sky was dark, however when she got to the bottom of the hill, it was bright again.

However, despite the little pieces here and there, I thought the whole film gave a strong impression on the Mexican cultural of how the people were very tight and close to each other. They were also very open about the events/incidents that happened in their own families. I was somewhat shocked to find people discussing the death of the grandmother so casually like that. For me, it would have been a lot more private and personal. I think it is interesting that the personal space needed in Canadian culture and Mexican culture is so drastically different.

Moreover, the film reflected machismo vividly and realistically. When I was in Spain, the problem with machismo was also frequently discussed and debated. The film demonstrated how the society accepted such machismo and violence towards women.
I like the realistic takes on Mexican society and its values.

La película fue muy extraña. Los hombres trataban las mujeres con mucha violencia. Los hombres podrían coquetear con cualquiera mujer ellos deseaban, cuando el carácter principal lo descubrió que su esposa estuvo con un otro hombre. Me gusto como el tiempo paso durante la película por ejemplo al atardecer el sentimiento de la película se cambio. La manera la gente se trababa y como vivía durante el día fue muy distinto en contrato al noche cuando la gente practique el acto de infidelidad. Generalmente un tema reflejada en la identidad colectivo de México es la unidad de la familia. Pero en este caso siquiera la familia eventualmente se reunió, hay muchos eventos durante la película cuando el padre demostrara los actos violentes contra su hija y su esposa.
Fue muy interesante como la familia pareció muy devastada sin embargo una vez la carrera comenzó la gente que estuvieron mirando la ceremonia para la abuela se fueron para a ver seria el ganador. Es interesante como el fin de la película se termino porque el principio de la película también se comenzó con mucha gente manejando sus coches iban pegados unos a otros

La verdad es que no podía entender mucho el significado del cine, porque las personas hablan
muy rápido para mi, especialmente la primera parte antes de la muerte de la abuela. Pero creo
que la segunda parte es mucho más fácil para entender. Busco algunas informaciones en Internet,
y dicen que esta película es considerado una comedia, pero no estoy de acuerdo con esto punto
porque la mitad del film es trágico que todos son sobre por ejemplo, la muerte, la violencia
doméstica (o la violencia a mujer) etc., y aunque el cine tiene un argumento o una trama clara (el
protagonista y su familia van a mirar la carrera), lo que me parece al final es que no tiene un tema
principal y específico, sino algunos temas diferentes y varios que son sobre el amor, la fiesta, la muerte…y pienso que quizás el director trate de incluir todos los importantes que pasaban en
México en aquella época en su película.

Voy a decir algunos puntos que me interesan.
1. la muerte y la familia
Al principio creía que ellos son serios y respetuosos a la muerte de la abuela, pero parecía que yo no tenía razón, porque cuando empieza la carrera, todas las personas van a mirarlo y en el fin nadie está allí con el muerto del la abuela. Esta familia, aunque es una familia grande, muestra una indiferencia y una frialdad para mi, y no sé si sea la verdad en Mexico o no. La muerte conecta las personas en la familia, pero también, mientras muestra una separación en la relación entre ellos.
2. la religión
Todos son Católicos, pero ellos son Católicos verdaderos o no? Si sí, ellos pueden ser buena a sus familias, pueden ser serio a la muerte y pueden ser fiel al amor. La sociedad es Católico, pero esta religión pierde su significado para los pueblos, y por eso, es un poco irónical y inconsistente.
3. el amor
Todas las gentes están enamorados de alguien. Pero es un amor verdadero o no? Para mi, lo que pasa entre ellos es muy desordenado. Lo único que me parece buena es el amor (tal vez) entre la hija del protagonista y su novio.
4. el color del fondo del cine.
El la primera parte, el fondo es más claro, brillante, y feliz. Pero después de la muerte, viene un día más opaco y sombrío. Al final, el director usa una camara larga desde el cielo para rodar un retrato que incluye el tráfico y el aire opaco.

Mecanica Nacional fue una pelicula interesante. Es deficil para mi de decir que tipo de pelicula es. Hay aspectos de comedia.. pero pienso que el director quiere mandar un mensaje a la audiencia. La historia es relativamente simple, la mayoria de la pelicua ocure en lugar.

Pienso que el buto de la pelicula es para avertir a los Mexicos que tienen una vida que el director ve como negativa. La mayoria de la historia es una fiesta grande, con muchas comidas, bebidas, luchas y armas. Se culmina con una carrera de autos. Es muy simple. Pero veemos que la fiesta y la carrera tienen mas importante que el muerte de la abuela. Es especialmente notorio al fin de la pelicula, cuando todas las personas en la fiesta abandonan la abuela para mirar la carrera.

Un temo importante en este pelicula es que hay consecuencias por las personas que consumen demasiado. La abuela murio porque comió demasiado. Tambien la pareja rica que llevaban ropa blanca y come mucho fue representado como sucio.

Estoy ancioso de discutir esta pelicula con la clase. No es tan negra y blanca que las otras (no pun intended).

I don’t really know what to say about this film. It has 88 votes on IMBD (one is mine) and I can understand why. This is not really a good film. A good film has a narrative and characters the audience cares about. It follows a structure and makes a point about a theme. Its sorta like a thesis. Los olvidados presented the film of lack and education and stated that we need it to continue the progress of urbanization. Aguila o sol presented the theme of the poor versus the rich and by satirizing it, made us realize the difference in status and how Mexicans perceive each other, as the poor being uneducated and the rich being snobs, and that this has to change for Mexico to prosper. Mecanica Nacional doesn’t really make a statement about the themes it presents. It presents a lot of themes, yes, but it doesn’t really make a point about any of them. It shows people mourning about death, meaning that people come together when death is present, but then people immediately leave to see the end of the car race. This indifference suggests that Mexican people, even if they care about death, focus more on materialistic stuff. But that theme never shows up again the film. Then theres also the chauvinistic theme that is carried out by most members of the community (if I can call it that), but the director never says if its bad or good because the women still stick to their men and beg forgiveness. Maybe the director is trying to establish that chauvinism is necessary and a part of Mexican lives, but doesnt go for and against it and that’s what probably bothers me the most about this movie. It presents an event but makes no effort to state if its good or bad or what can be changed. Maybe this is what the film was trying to do, but that is what limits the film in narrative terms. I also never really got into the film. In Los Olvidados I cared what would happen to the characters. In Aguila O sol I would root for Cantinflas. Here I didnt. The main character was chauvinistic and vulgar, the women were portrayed as victims of their own destiny and promiscuous or naive, and the rest were hippies that only said “peace and love”. The film limits itself because of exactly what it is trying to do. Another thing I didnt like was the voices. It sounded like the film was dubbed or something, but the voices just sounded fake. I don’t know why that was, maybe poor acting, but it distracted me more than once.
What the film did well was portray the baby boom era in contrast to the more conservative type. It also shows the US impact in Mexico, people saying: “esa es la moda en los Estados Unidos” or the prostitute saying all thos spanglish terms. Yet again, it never states if this is bad or good. It simply shows it.

Watching this movie was like watching the wild side of immature teenagers. I didn’t understand most of the language, so most of my opinion is from a visual observation. It was like watching a party that I probably wouldn’t ever want to go to because it consisted of adults behaving like teenagers. The Human Geographies essay says that “They eat and drink, sing, flirt, make love, talk, argue, fight, threaten each other with violence…” (58) They played with boundaries, especially the way that the women were treated (the grandmother in particular…). The men and women seemed to want to fool around with people who they didn’t arrive with, and I don’t know her name, but everybody was all over the lady in the pink outfit…when she fell on the ground (which didn’t seem like a very hard position to get up from) everybody reached in to “help her.” Also, I don’t know his name either, but the main character whose mom died…when he found his daughter on the ground with her boyfriend, he seemed to snap out of party mode for awhile and act like an adult in order to punish her, but then he kept hitting her throughout the movie, even when she was sorry that his mom died. When the mother died, you would have thought that more people would have acted more serious, but they only seemed to act decently as a group when the press was there and when they were in another traffic jam at the end in the moment of silence. Otherwise, they were more interested in the race…even the old woman’s son couldn’t stay by her for more than a few minutes even though he seemed upset…especially when the race started. He got up from her side, and then all that was left was a dog for awhile. The whole thing was a giant party, and the death was hardly a distraction…they wouldn’t let it ruin their event.
The Human Geographies essay also says that the traffic jams at the beginning and the end are supposed to be a parody of a growing population….I didn’t get this connection until I read this in the essay…I just figured that it was supposed to symbolize impatience to get to their party/race.

Mecanica Nacional is to me a very clear example of a tragic-comedy. It has a linear narrative with a lot of funny situations and extravagant characters and at the same time, its turning point is a sad and tragic event: The death of the grand mother Dona Lola.

The humor in the movie is mostly synical. The characters make fun of Mexico, mexicans and Mexico-USA politics while they inpersonate the sterotypes they are making fun of. For example, when all Euebio’s friends were expalining to Gregorio why it was good to cheat they ended up going around in circles and laughing about themselves and about how absurd there arguments were. It was not clear to me whether the director was making a critique of Mexican society or if he was just making a commentary on the multiple layers, contradiccions, and contrasts embedded in the culure and social politics of Mexico.

There were many social issues mentioned in the movie but none of them were fully developed. Some of them were: Machism, violence against women, traffic, social indifference, sensationalism and lack of self control. Some topics were more prevalent than others but none seemed to bother any of the characthers. It almost appeared to me that the characters needed to have all the defects they had to be funny and for the movie to make sense. I think that if any critisism was intended by the director it had to do more with the audience’s reaction than with the characters themselves. If the audience could identify itself or its neighboors in the movie, then the audience would be accepting the director’s portray of mexico and therefore the director would be attacking the audience. Some times we can only identify our own defects when they are reflected in other people and I think that the director makes it obvious that some of the behaviour of the characters was wrong.

Some of the scenes in the movie are also very foreign to the narrative and therefore I would suggest that they are there to point out that some sort of social commentary is trying to be made. I am specifically reffering to the couple wearing white. They first appear very clean and tidy and slowly become very dirty as the movie progresses. I would say that the couple is trying to show what is happing in the movie and specially how the behacivour of the characters has spoilt the trip which was supposed to be fun. Another of these foreign scenes are the takes of the traffic vs the race which can have a methaphorical meaning of the crowded city life of the family vs the fun and spontaneity of the country side.

One last thing! The movie also presents some positive aspects of mexican culture . Mexican people were shown as solidary, simple, family oriented individuals with a big sense of humor and hospitality.