Reconfiguring identities through Latin American Cinema by Asian Directors

Abstract

Despite the decline in the interest in class in Film and Cultural Studies in the last decades, Latin American cinemas have not remained immune to the sweeping changes in class and ethnic configurations brought about by globalization. This paper addresses the figurations (Jameson) of such transformations in two films totally or partially produced in Argentina and Brazil by ethnic Chinese directors: La salada (Juan Martín Hsu, 2014) and Plastic City (Yu Lik-wai, 2008). Both feature 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 (more or less reliant on national funding). The perspective of the Asian migrant and the non-criminalization of unauthorized (“truchos”/“piratas”) products in both films differ from stereotyping and criminalizing discourses typical of the press and other media in Argentina and Brazil. 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 that contests 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.