Reconfiguring Identities: Latin American Cinema by Asian Filmmakers

• In Event: Asia/Asians in Contemporary Latin American Culture

Abstract

Latin American cinema has not remained immune to the sweeping changes in class and ethnic configurations brought about by globalization. This paper addresses the figurations of such transformations in two films produced in Argentina and Brazil by ethnic Chinese directors: La salada (Juan Martín Hsu, 2014) and Plastic City (Yu Lik-wai, 2008). Both films highlight the flow of people and commodities, considered a defining characteristic of globalization (Stiglitz, Appadurai), which affects both their internal composition (themes and style) and their mode of production (reliant on national funding). This paper argues that the two films offer a counter-narrative to the stereotyping and criminalizing discourses on Asian migrants typical in Argentine and Brazilian media and press by emphasizing the perspective of the Asian migrants and not criminalizing their economic activities. The cinematography and the polyphonic soundscape of La salada invite the viewer to adopt a perspective of the nation from the migrants’ point of view, contesting the view of Argentina as an ethnic Caucasian country, while Plastic City historicizes and contextualizes migration and trade to avoid common prejudices regarding the Asian migrant and the trade of migrant products. A closer look at the films, however, prompts us to observe significant differences regarding aesthetic and ideological choices. While Plastic City points towards an emancipatory ideology regarding class differences and exhibits a high degree of aesthetic experimentation, La salada embraces conservative ideological and aesthetic approaches.

Author

• Maria Mercedes Vazquez Vazquez, The University of Hong Kong