CoMo No. 23: Peru (May, 2024)

[sally]

[Holdrüholoheuho]

all the Peru-related films I logged/watched lately (my starting point to this CoMo):

Metal and Melancholy (Heddy Honigmann, 1994, 80m)
When Faith Moves Mountains (Francis Alÿs, 2002, 15m)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972, 93m)
Killing Klaus Kinski (Spiros Stathoulopoulos, 2016, 20m)
Nehemías (Daniel Jacoby, 2019, 16m)
Paracas (Cecilia Vicuña, 1983, 18m)
Inca Light (Robert E. Fulton, 1972, 17m)

the picture above is from “When Faith Moves Mountains” → https://vimeo.com/130921402

Alÿs’s motto for When Faith Moves Mountains is “Maximum effort, minimum result.” For this epic project the artist invited five hundred volunteers to walk up a sand dune on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, shoveling in unison, thus displacing the dune by a few inches. Demonstrating a ridiculous disproportion between an effort and its effect, the work is a metaphor for Latin American society, in which minimal reforms are achieved through massive collective efforts. Participants in the project gave their time for free, reversing conservative economic principles of efficiency and production. Embracing rumor, urban myth, and oral history, Alÿs aims to make works that continue beyond the duration of the event itself, through stories disseminated by word of mouth.

[rischka]

en la selva no hay estrellas (armando robles godoy 1967) - in the jungle there are no stars













it's the story of a desperate man and how he became lost in the jungle. non-sequential time structure serves to emphasize his delirium.

the jungle is a hostile place for gringos. see also la muralla verde (1970)

[Holdrüholoheuho]

VEINS OF THE AMAZON (Terje Toomistu, Diego E. Sarmiento Pagan, Álvaro Sarmiento, 2021) #CoMoPeru
→ https://dafilms.com/film/15654-veins-of-the-amazon

The observations of the Peruvian brothers Álvaro and Diego Sarmiento and the anthropologist Terje Toomistu are focused entirely on the occurrences on the boat: loading and unloading sugar, chickens, onions, lemonade and building material, the crew, the passengers travelling hammock to hammock on deck, and the people waiting on the banks of the river. The camera never glorifies either the landscape or the work; instead it is always in the midst of things, sometimes even in the way. The journey downstream is accompanied by tales of sinking ships, swimming animals and newfound faith. Observed with such reserve, a lot can still be inferred: about the tough jobs of the dockers, the lives of the women and children who come aboard to sell food, about the influence of the “Israelitas” and how important trading by boat is for the indigenous population of the tributaries.

[Holdrüholoheuho]

btw. i was looking into this (CINE PERUANO AND OTHER PERU BITS) → https://mubi.com/en/lists/cine-peruano- ... -peru-bits
noticed this (HEIGHTS OF MACCHU PICCHU, 1981) → https://mubi.com/en/cz/films/heights-of-macchu-picchu
and subsequently found the album (saving the link here to listen in the next days) → https://youtu.be/Rc9rHyb_1Wc?si=4bcn_5Nm06G1nahr

This is one of the most celebrated prog albums to come out from the South American Continent, and one of the definitive highlights of the Chilean band Los Jaivas. Conceived and recorded while the fivesome were residing in Paris, the lyrics were taken from an evocative poem collection written by Pablo Neruda (also Chilean), inspired by the amazing and mysterious beauty of the ruins of Macchu Picchu - located in Peru

[Holdrüholoheuho]

THE RESTORATION (Alonso Llosa, 2020) #CoMoPeru

A man



who needs money begins scheming to sell his bedridden mother's home out from under her,



relocating her to a replica of her bedroom in the hopes that she won't notice the difference.

Good Bye, Lenin! Peruvian.

[rischka]

i watched la teta asustada (claudia llosa 2009) which certainly looks like festival bait (it won at berlin)













it's a nicely shot story of massive rape trauma and made me cringe. a lot.

[Holdrüholoheuho]

HORROR IN THE ANDES: AYACUCHEAN CINEMA IN THE MAKING (Martha-Cecilia Dietrich, 2020) #CoMoPeru

Horror in the Andes is a behind-the-scenes documentary that follows the process of making a horror movie in Ayacucho, Peru. Directed by audio-visual anthropologist Martha-Cecilia Dietrich, it explores how Andean filmmakers use the horror genre as a means to revive stories of a pre-colonial past.

Appropriating a global cinematic language to tell local (hi)stories, Horror in the Andes pays testament to the craft of filmmaking and its community.

[Holdrüholoheuho]

PERUVIAN WEAVING (John Cohen, 1980) #CoMoPeru

This informative documentary examines warp pattern weaving in Peru, an ancient Andean Indian tradition handed down from woman to woman for some 5,000 years.



The film features a detailed demonstration of the warp pattern technique on back-strap and four-stake looms by Indian weavers and an interview with Dr. Junius Bird, of the American Museum of Natural History, who discusses this weaving tradition and analyzes significant examples.

HOWEVER, according to a herd of fine-woolen alpacas...

Before weaving is done, the yarn must be spun.

[rischka]

their hairdos ♥♥ i think i have another peruvian film too

[rischka]

yes it's called Canción sin nombre (Melina León 2019)





















another wonderfully photographed and harrowing tale - this time about the theft of newborns for foreign adoption - a true story i love some of the effects here. much local color and music. can't seem to find out about the huge stringed instrument - some kind of harp

[rischka]

https://youtu.be/al2qQl_nM-0

inca light -- in memoriam. it dropped from doubling the canon this year and was one of my first nominees

[Holdrüholoheuho]

CARNIVAL IN Q'EROS (John Cohen, 1992) #CoMoPeru

the authorities hand out coca leaves and also distribute cups of chicha

[Holdrüholoheuho]

NEIGHBORHOOD CINEMAS (Wari O. Gálvez Rivas, 2020) #CoMoPeru
→ https://dafilms.com/film/15661-neighbor ... s-de-video

this doc presents countless Peruvian cinema theaters (and gives voice to its employees/ex-employees)


to see so many variegated buildings that served as cinema theaters is fascinating even from an architectural pov



"the best and most sophisticated cinema of Peru" is showcased too





Cine Rex changed over time (as you can see above ↑) but it's nothing compared to Cine Lido (see below ↓)






what force caused the general decline of the movie theaters in Peru?



some blame DVD, VHS, or Betamax, others the hyperinflation during the reign of Alan Garcia
→ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Garc%C3%ADa


anyway, whatever...
in this film, one can also witness the making-off of a hand-painted movie poster
(to end this post & this CoMo on a positive note)

[sally]

fully intended to watch la muralla verde etc at least a decade after angel first promoted it, but it is still in the exact same shit quality it was when i first found i couldn't watch, sorry armando!