Aesthetics and Politics in the Mexican Film Industry

Evaluating a broad selection of Mexican films produced from the early 1990s to the present, this study examines how production methods, audience demographics, and aesthetic approaches have changed throughout the past two decades and how these changes relate to the country's transitions to a democratic political system and a free-market economy. Aesthetics and Politics in the Mexican Film Industry is the first English-language analysis of what some called a "renaissance" at the turn of the twenty-first century. It examines the years surrounding Mexico's presidential elections in 2000 and the fall of the ruling party after seventy one years in power in order to better understand a moment when politics and cinema shared the limelight. Moving beyond the international blockbusters, the research evaluates a broad selection of films, produced from the early 1990s to the present, to help demystify this period for scholars and students. It explains in clear language how production methods, audience demographics, and aesthetic approaches have changed throughout the past two decades of Mexican cinema and how these changes relate to Mexico's transitions to a democratic political system and free-market economy 'This is a major contribution to Mexican film studies. Going well beyond the study of films by internationally recognized auteurs, Misha MacLaird provides us with an indispensable road map to navigate through the discourses of crisis and renaissance that hover over contemporary Mexican cinema. She applies wit and intelligence as well as over 15 years of fieldwork to bear on her study of this critical moment in Mexico's political and cinematic culture.' - Sergio de la Mora, University of California, Davis, USA, author of Cinemachismo 'Aesthetics and Politics in the Mexican Film Industry draws on Misha MacLaird's extensive knowledge and first-hand research to make a compelling argument for thinking about recent Mexican cinema and its aesthetic and narrative elements including successes like Amores perros, Y tu mama tambien, and El crimen del Padre Amaro as the product of profound political and economic changes. Through analysis of formal elements, industry practices, and legislation, MacLaird skillfully examines the ways in which cultural policy, censorship and the inequities of trade liberalization in Mexico and the rest of the Americas have shaped Mexico's film industry and film texts at the turn of the twenty first century. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary Mexican cinema.' - Dolores Tierney, University of Sussex, UK, author of Emilio Fernandez: Pictures in the Margins 'Misha Maclaird discusses Mexican national cinema in terms of cultural policy, wider public policy, foreign policy, and meaning. Elegant and purposeful, this is an important book, not only for the study of Latin American and especially Mexican film but for the entire discipline of cinema studies.' - Toby Miller, University of California, Riverside, USA "Aesthetics and Politics in the Mexican Film Industry is the first English-language analysis of what some called a "renaissance" at the turn of the twenty-first century. It examines the years surrounding Mexico's presidential elections in 2000 and the fall of the ruling party after seventy one years in power in order to better understand a moment when politics and cinema shared the limelight. Moving beyond the international blockbusters, the research evaluates a broad selection of films, produced from the early 1990s to the present, to help demystify this period for scholars and students. It explains in clear language how production methods, audience demographics, and aesthetic approaches have changed throughout the past two decades of Mexican cinema and how these changes relate to the country's transitions to a democratic political system and free-market economy"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction....Pages 1-17 Front Matter....Pages 19-19 Industry and Policy: Privatizing a National Cinema....Pages 21-44 Audiences and Target Markets: On Spectatorship and Citizenship....Pages 45-71 Censorship and Sensationalism: “el neotremendismo autoritario” ....Pages 73-97 Front Matter....Pages 99-99 Hyperrealism and Violence: Fatal Aesthetics....Pages 101-129 Independence and Innovation: Indie Film and the Youth Market....Pages 131-162 Coproduction and Transnationalism: National Cinema in a Global Market....Pages 163-187 Conclusion....Pages 189-200 Back Matter....Pages 201-230