LA Film: Secondary Lesson
Title: Latin American Film
Arizona State Standards:
- Reading: Strand 2-Concept 1 (apply reading strategies) Strand 3-Concept 1 (analyze non-fiction)
- Writing: Research Document: Strand 1-Concept 1, Strand 2- Concepts 1,2,6, Strand 3–Concept 6.
- Listening and Speaking: LS-P1 & P5 (shares, presents, listens & responds) VP-P1-P3 (develop, analyze, evaluate, organize)
- History: 1SS-P1(chronological & spatial skills) 1SS-P2 (research methods) 1SS-P3 (interpretation) 1SS-D1 (historical sources) 1SS-D2 (historical thinking)
- Geography: 3SS-P3 (social interaction, migration)
- Arts: 2AV-P1/P2/3AV-P2(cultural & historical relevance) 2AV-P4(role of art in society)
Goals &
Objectives:
Students will...
- Discuss the relationship between film and culture
- Analyze the influence of art and literature on film through Eisenstein’s movie “Que Viva Mexico!”
- Express opinions and feelings about society through art.
Length of lesson: three one-hour periods.
Materials & Preparation:
- Film: !Que Viva México!
- Handouts
Lessons:
First Period:
- Ask students to write down what their favorite movie is and why they like it. Would they recommend it to all audiences or to a specific audience? Why? Discuss as a class.
- Ask students why they think that most of the films they wrote down are Hollywood films. Which non-Hollywood films do they know? Why do they think that Hollywood films reach such a broad audience all over the world? Explain to students that Latin America has had a long history of film, particularly Mexico, Argentina and Brazil. The budget of these films is not as high as for Hollywood films. Just based on the budget, how do they think Latin American films might be different?
- Discuss with students the relationship between film and culture. How do films reflect the culture in which they are produced? Discuss with students the fairness of the Oscar Awards for example. Do they think that the judges miss a lot about a movie because they don’t know about the culture in which it was produced?
- Give students handout #1 and go over it in class. Select pieces of Sergei Eisenstein’s film “Que Viva Mexico!’ and identify the camera techniques.
- Give students handout #3 and read it together. Show them some printed pictures of the film. How do the pictures explore the simultaneity of past and present? What do the images show about Mexican life? Take time to analyze each image and use the vocabulary from handout #1.
- Eisenstein’s work is inspired in famous Mexican artists, specifically David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco and Guadalupe Posada and Spanish artist Francisco de Goya. Divide the class in groups and ask each group to research one of these painters and bring samples of their work to class.
Second Period:
- Students share their findings with the class. Play some selections of Eisenstein’s film again and ask them how the film reflects the work of the painter they researched. Discuss in class.
- Upton Sinclair produced the film. What does for example The Jungle by Upton Sinclair share with this film? Discuss the concept of social class. How does the movie understand the relations between higher and lower classes? How does the camera work reflect Eisenstein’s and Sinclair’s opinion of the popular class? and of the rich and the politicians?
- What are other factors, besides class that shape social differences and people’s opportunities in life? Ask students to denounce these divisions through their own artwork. Ask students to create a visual representation of their society and its divisions. They should write a two-page description of their piece explaining their choice of angle, of color, of technique, etc. and its relationship to Eisenstein’s work.
Closure: Students present their projects in class.
Evaluation:
- Assess students’ individual and group participation;
- Grade their research on an artist and the associations they draw between the paintings and the film;
- Evaluate their artwork and essay based on content and form. Emphasize the relationship with Eisenstein’s work.
Extensions:
- Watch with students the film Gringo Viejo. Discuss the U.S. portrayal of the Mexican revolution and how the film represents the North American writer Ambrose Beirce. Draw relations between the Mexican Revolution and the U.S. Civil War.
- Discuss the film The Burning Season about the life of Chico Mendes. There is a great lesson plan at http://lilt.ilstu.edu/smexpos/cinergia/Burningseason.htm
Bibliography
- A Guide to Latin American, Caribbean, and U.S. Latino-Made Film and Video.
- A filmography of 445 titles, arranged by country, with title and subject indexes and an extensive bibliography. Each title is reviewed by an educator who includes suggestions for use of the film in teaching.
- http://vlib.iue.it/hist-film/latin-america.html
Database on Latin American film - http://www.filmeducation.org
For concepts and lesson plans of a variety of films, mainly from England and the U.S. - http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/s/a/sam50/cinergia/cinergia.htm
A Web site dedicated to the study of Spanish, Latin American and Latino Cinema, Film, Movies and Media for students and scholars - http://www.facets.org/asticat
- http://www.latinamericanvideo.org/