Algo que me pareció interesante de la película The mark of Zorro (1920), es la presencia constante de lo que podríamos llamar un “Código del honor”, con base en el cual los protagonistas toman sus decisiones y se resuelven las disputas. El honor se enmascara, por ejemplo, en la preeminencia y el privilegio de la virtud femenina, con las peleas de espada que tienen los hombres con el fin de ganar los favores de la doncella: Lolita, mostrando a la mujer como el “trofeo” que obtiene el hombre más poderoso, luego de vencer en el duelo; con la vergüenza del gobernador y del capitán Ramón, quienes deben aceptar públicamente que “El Zorro” los ha vencido; con la necesidad de salvar el honor de la familia Pulido, buscando un matrimonio por conveniencia que les permita recobrar su “buen nombre” en el pueblo; con la deshonra de Diego de la Vega, quien no atiende la exigencia del padre de Lolita, que lo apremia a vengar su honor perdido, teniendo en cuenta que el capitán ha irrumpido en su casa y ha solicitado a su prometida; con la deshonra del padre de Diego de la Vega, pues su hijo le hace un desaire en la celebración con los caballeros, y abandona el recinto, convirtiéndose así en la “vergüenza” de la familia; también en la marca delatora que deja el Zorro en el cuerpo o en la ropa de sus adversarios, demostrando a través de esa letra: “Z”, que esos individuos ahora son parte de su propiedad, y dejándolos así deshonrados en el espectro público. El Zorro, a la manera de un caballero andante: valiente, decidido, en amores con una dama virtuosa, toma venganza de los opresores y los reduce a través de su espada.

El honor, tal y como se advierte en la película, es, ahora bien, un concepto clave a la hora de dilucidar el tipo de relaciones que se tejen en sociedades de influencia hispánica. En efecto, machismo, sexismo, patriarcalismo, hacen parte de la herencia cultural ibérica en Hispanoamérica. Así, resulta interesante ver cómo desde un lugar de frontera, como es California, se representan estos “valores” hispánicos del sur ¿La representación es caricaturesca, exagerada, acertada? ¿Esta imagen del “Código del Honor” es exclusiva del sur, o quizás el norte comparte algunos de los mismos valores (o antivalores) asociados con este código? Quizás, como se ha dicho en algún momento, a través de la película no solamente se ven las representaciones que hace Hollywood de Hispanoamérica, sino que también logramos ver algo de los productores de estas fantasías ¿Iron man, por citar solo un ejemplo, es muy distinto al Zorro, en lo que al “Codigo del Honor” se refiere?

“Leer” estas películas bajo el prisma del honor quizás permita detectar esas afinidades y desencuentros entre los mundos representados, y nos obligue a repensar no solo la manera en que Hispanoamérica se muestra en estos productos culturales, sino también la forma en que los estadounidenses se muestran a sí mismos.

To be completely honest, The Mark of Zorro (1920) was the first silent movie I have ever seen and, despite every prognostics, I liked it.

The plot of the movie was very basic and very story tall based: the protagonist, Don Diego, needs to complete a journey until he can get his “happy ending”. In order to achieve it, however, Don Diego requires the help of someone who would never betray his trust and the help of something that makes him more courageous and brave, whilst he needs some enemies to face and some obstacles to overcome. I think that all these elements are included in the movie. Bernardo is his helper; his cloak, the fake moustache and his mask are the “magical objects” he needs to be brave, to be someone else, someone braver than he is. It is peculiar how Don Diego creates a hard situation that he himself finds hard to handle just to have an occasion to wear Zorro’s clothes. In addition, this can be applied not only to situations that involve bravery, but also to situations that are men and love related. For example, when Don Diego tries to flirt with the girl, he says nothing but all the wrong stuff, while Zorro knows even a whole poem to recite. I reflected on how Don Diego needs Zorro to become someone else, but at the very end Zorro needs Don Diego to truly find himself. Eventually, when Don Diego beats his enemy as himself, without Zorro’s mask, he is free from Zorro’s “oppression”, he is welcomed by everyone and he can finally kiss the love of his life being himself. His alter ego Zorro has become useless and Don Diego throws his sword against the wall. It is odd, tough, that both protagonists, Don Diego and Merlin from “The Man from Acapulco”, feel the need to throw away what was forcing them to be someone else. Indeed, the double-life situation is what attracts the audience and makes it reflect about the reason why we need masks.

However, I found some parts that require a deconstruction of the image that this movie gives about South California/Mexico. During the first fight at the “cantina”, there is a group of Latin American guys who are been threatening by Colonel Gonzales. In this very scene, the only army they can seek help from is their faith. This action made me think about the Latin American image that US people have: the colonial discourse is happening all over again. Locals are pictured as unsophisticated and naïve if they think that faith can save them from a fight.

Lastly, I found interesting how the camera never moves, but it always keeps a direct scene. Also, it is unique how Spain is portrayed: the first time, Spain is the place where no woman has such beautiful eyes as Don Diego’s love; while the second one, Spain in the only place where Don Diego can get an education.

Francois Merlin is a writer of an espionage series books. In my view of Merlin, a clumsy man who is not taken seriously and can’t do anything right, lack of being perfect is the central concept of negating the real world. Merlin lives his imagination and tries to fill his “lacks” in his story. In his story or “imaginary world”, Francois is a well-known spy Bob Saint Clar. As Jacques Lacan mentions in his psychoanalytic philosophy, lack or better said manqué is a concept that shapes the desire in life. He has the desire of being a charming, jack of all trades, real “macho”, wealthy, well-shaped man. He uses the power of writing as a vital framework for thinking through subjectivity. The subjectivity of existing in the mind of his readers rather than the external world. In this case, his favourite reader is his beautiful neighbour Christine, the student of psychology who appears as Tatiana in his book. Merlin tries his best to approach Christine under the cover of his protagonist Bob. The peak of the movie is when he wrote the love scene as an excuse to kiss Christine and got rejected as not being Bob Saint Clar. This was a slap in his face that brought him back to reality. From that moment, we see the battle between the author and his protagonist to destroy Christine’s hero. Francois starts to hate Bob as a payback for his love and desire, I think that is why Merlin tried to kill him and come back to live his real life.

This movie is full of slapstick jokes and the narcissist characteristic of Bob that cares a lot about his appearance, creating funny scenes. He totally enjoys himself, it is clear when he kisses his biceps while playing the piano and abruptly looks around to make sure nobody is looking. “Loving oneself” as Freud maintains is the “libidinal complement to the egoism of the instinct”; thus, we can not separate this desire in Merlin from his sexual desires directed at Christine.

Although Merlin had never been to Mexico, he chose it for his book as an out of the box thinking. All he knew from this place was from brochures, pictures, and recognised stereotypes like Mariachi, sombreros, ancient history, dance, and so on. As a matter of fact, he knew nothing about Mexico; that is why the Mexican characteristics are limited to the background and only appear in the English title of the movie. He knew his culture and country well but to be a hero he needed to go to an unknown place to pass the borders and limitations of his mind and away from his ordinary life.

Finally, I think “Le Magnifique” the James bondesque parody was a success in mocking action movies, with bizarre and exaggerated acting, love story, and bad ending. Also, I really enjoyed the surreal scene cuts that came between his everyday life scenes and those that originated from his book, such as where the housecleaner passed through soldiers, vacuuming sands, or the one where his son is entering the Temple on Wednesday to have lunch together.

Images of Mexico in the movie “The man from Acapulco” include sombreros, the classical “Mariachi” band playing “Rancheras”, beaches, typical colonial squares, and a selection of prehispanic figures and buildings like pyramids, temples, Aztec and Mayan deities, among others. It seems like all these mexican images are not important in the movie in terms of historical or cultural meaning, but rather as a scenario or scenary that serves as the decoration of an Action Adventure film. It makes a parody of the James Bond series, but also of the later Indiana Jones saga, or of The Adventures of Tintin, where a white male protagonist who has a cultural or intelectual background “conquers” exotic lands in order to solve misteries, crimes, or to make anthropological or sociological discoveries that the people from this land couldn´t make. Mexico, in this sense, is just a pretext for the storyline to be told.

Mexico is also a dream of Mariachis and beautiful beaches in the mind of a french writer, who has already written more than 40 books with the same scheme, reflecting what has been referred to as “Bad literature”. Merlin has a deadline, so he must write whatever comes to his mind. It appears not to be a work of art, but instead an automatic practice just to make some money and subsist. The film, im my opinion, arouses the question about the process of making a work of art (¿It is in fact art?), and how it can transfer from book to film in an automatic way. A First World type of “art”, that uses representations of exotic scenarios to develop an “intriguing” plot that leads, always, to the same end.

While watching the film The Man from Acapulco (or Le Magnifique) directed by Philippe de Broca my first impression was that it was very comical. I found Bob Saint-Clar’s character hilarious with a very goofy childish personality. I was confused while watching the film when it transitioned from Bob Saint-Clair’s character to the real François Merlin. It actually took me a minute to realize that the storyline introduced throughout the film is being told through François Merlin’s imagination as he writes his latest novel. As soon I was able to piece this together I found the film even more interesting because it gives a perfect example of the unconscious versus the conscious mind which we briefly discussed in class.

In class, we discussed how Latin America is represented as the unconscious and what the U.S. desires. In Freudian psychology the unconscious is a displacement of the conscious mind, that affects the unconscious mind which helps to reveal actual thoughts and desires. This is what I believe that this film is trying to communicate to the audience. We are able to see examples of this in the film through the character of Christine (also Tatianna). I think that Christine’s role in the film is to have the voice of reason. She becomes somewhat obsessed with Merlin’s work and in doing so she is able to help Merlin recognize his unconscious mind. Two quotes that made me come to this conclusion are, “This dream was created by you…because you are a magician” along with, “I just had to go down one floor and found myself in Mexico”, both of these are said by Christine to Merlin. These quotes to me show how Christine was already living in the conscious mind but yet, she still had desires of her unconscious mind which maybe unintentionally or intentionally helped François discover the same for himself.

My assumption is that the title of the film The Man from Acapulco (or Le Magnifique) is the title of the novel that we are watching Merlin write, both titles describe the character of Bob Saint-Clar revealing the unconscious mind. However, at the same time, the titles both also portray the conscious mind (represented as François) as we continue to watch the film and see the changes within Merlin as his character develops. As I discussed previously, we are able to see Merlin’s character develop throughout the film in his relationship with Christine (Tatiana). The biggest change we see in Merlin’s character is at the end of the movie when he throws the pages of his typed up drafted novel off of his porch. To me, this act of liberation shows the process of creating the real because throughout the film his reality has been his life lived through his novels. It is as if he is in a constant battle with being his true self versus being his fictitious character of Bob Saint-Clar.

In Le Magnifique (Philippe de Broca, 1973) François Merlin, played by Belmondo, is an author who lives vicariously through his routinely published short espionage stories.  His stories suave protagonist, Bob Sinclair, is everything Merlin is not, but desires to be.  Where Merlin is timid and passive, Bob is brash and masculine.  Where Bob is a seducer, Merlin is inept.  Where Bob can make the effortless jump into a parked car in slow motion, Merlin fumbles.   The film slips back and forth between Bob’s fantasy and Merlin’s reality.  The irony is that while Bob Sinclair is an icon widely known, Merlin is almost a nobody.

Merlin is treated much like his short novels, which are enjoyed quickly and then discarded. His son from a divorced marriage visits him for a quick bite and some cash, then hastily departs like the electrician and plumber.

Most of the fantasy portion of the film follows Bob in Mexico, and while a crisis is repeatedly alluded to, we never see much in the way of an actual mission. Instead, Mexico is merely an exotic backdrop for Bob to clash with his arch nemise, the Albanian secret services leader Karpov, who is also Merlin’s editor. They repeatedly face off leaving a wake of destruction.  In their final showdown, after the comic rape scene of Tatiana, who is modeled after Merlin’s crush, Christine, the two face off in a busy city street.  Walking towards each other like a scene from a western, they embrace and begin to dance.  An abused and confused Tatiana stares and the two incredulously.  This change of character on the part of Bob and dismissal of Tatiana is a manifestation of Merlin’s feelings of betrayal after discovering Christine’s party which includes his editor Pierre Charron.

I do not see Le Magnifique as a problematic film in terms of representations of race. The whole film has a light hearted, not to be taken seriously tone to it.  It was this light hearted, comedic tone, which struck me as incongruous with the repeated rape of Tatiana.

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