“Madeinusa” is a film about a naive teenager who lives in a small, anonymous village with her sister and father. The film centers on two characters, Salvador, a grungy backpacker and the other is Madeinusa, who is considered a chosen girl and her father is unusually attracted to her. The plot is set against a bizarre festival, and the two main characters fall in love. The outsider from Lima is disliked by the local who fear that he will spoil the fun of their festival while Madeinusa sees an escape through him. What follows are a series of events that can be fatal (Gill 2009).
Many would get confused about the title “Madeinusa,” that can spell like” Made in USA,” but it is the name of the heroine, and it is how Mah-day-ah-noosa is pronounced in Peru. (Koehler 2006). Madeinusa is the favorite of her father, who is the mayor of the town. His disturbing sexual advances towards Madeinusa get coupled with the jealousy of her sister. The sourness in the household, after the mother fled is symbolized by the presence of dead rats. The town holds a bizarre Holy Days fest, where the God is believed to be dead and any kind of sinning is allowed just before he revives on Easter Sunday. The locals in the village are shown to be neither cruel not innocent. They are simply following the tribal rituals and Christian. The town celebrates a festival for the three days before Resurrection when Jesus was dead and believe that he cannot see their sins. They feel free to do and behave as they like without fear of divine retribution. However, the film is not just based on pure carnality.
The director of the film, Claudia Llosa has spun a clever tale of the old merging with the new in “Madeinusa”. she is able to maintain a depth and breadth to the characters. The core of the film revolves around the two main characters and the dad and sister of Madeinusa. The film portrays the contrasts between the poverty of the village and the opulent presents offered to Christ for Easter, thus asking for change (Gill 2009). There are no rules in the isolated village that is cut off from the rest of the county. The well-crafted script speaks of the escape from an extremely askew hometown for the innocent. The director does a great job, and the production department is first-class, and this is what makes the film a great one. Llosa's debut film shows a mirror to the society in the clash between old and new. The imaginative plot takes place in a strange Andean village in Peru may seem similar to the ones in Hollywood, and yet it feels Peruvian to the core. The terrific fest platform is enough to give the pic a theatrical window. The director adds dazzling night shots and fireworks as fantastical touches (Koehler 2006).
The festivities in the film appear from Good Friday through Easter Day, and the briefly reduced blind and mute God is the Roman Catholic one. Thus, the film is symbolic of faith of European conquerors and missionaries. It is rare to come across a fictional film that is as anthropological as this one. The fictional backward village with a bleak atmosphere and where no one can enter seems to protest against the colonialist invasion (MADEINUSA 2007). One sees eye-opening close-ups of faces and hands make the film visually dazzling. It can be coarse and vulgar at times along with being emotionally spectacular. The film shoulders the burden of history and penetrates convincingly under the thumb of social, political and economic forces.
“Madeinusa” is no doubt, one of the most acclaimed Peruvian films ever and has won several awards in film festivals. However, at the same time, it is one of the most controversial films made within Peru itself. It portrays to the world about the possibility of an ignorant and uncouth society, and how an upper-class man dares to bring sanity into this hell. The movie displays betrayal and refuses to endorse a politics of solidarity. There is a systematic need of religious, lay and liberal authority in Madeinusa. For any hope of liberation, the three male figures, Christ, the mayor, and the "gringo" should be killed. There are several transgressions within the logic of the film. The law gets suspended during the holy time when God is dead and the incest between father and daughter.
The cinematography in Madeinusa is particularly beautiful with the Andes in the background, and the work is a unique achievement in Peruvian filmmaking. It is not every day that the indigenous people get represented in cinematography. The cinematography is concerned with art direction ad makes up for typical Panasonic cameras (Matheou 132). However, the film was not an easy one for the Peruvians as Paternalism in Peru is very strong. They are used to Hollywood film and are not used to looking at themselves. Still, many tight that it as an important film and an original one. Some of the most impressive shots in the film are the breathtaking Andean peaks takes from a wide angle. There are no dialogues in the film for the first couple of minutes, and this adds to a kind of tension, as the audience wait for the characters to speak or say something. There are close up of Madeinusa’s hands and the back of her neck as she works in the kitchen. The colorful images that run through the movie speak of the elegance of the cinematography, and take you away from the bizarreness of the plot.
Madeinusa takes you through a crazy plot over the gorgeous Peruvian Andes and seen through the eyes of a Lima photographer. For most, it may it be easy and simple to follow the bunch of well-pictured characters. The film displays the evil spirit of human being. Still, it is a masterpiece of art; that tells the disturbing tale of a young girl and the fate of the young man from outside, whose fate is now at the mercy of the villagers. The move forces one to think of religion and morality as well as shallow traditions and rituals in the name of god and religion. The film takes one into Hell, taking a number of interesting twists and turns. Still, one should not think of indigenous people as ignorant savages who do not mind destroying their society for religion. The one week of the festival makes no sense as no society can bounce back to normal after total anarchy and chaos. The rituals of death and survival are indissolubly intertwined with the cycle of nature in the remote cultural landscape. The "Word of God" has displaced every human effort to build a civilized society, under common superstitions. The film presents a surreal vision of ignorance under collective hysteria.
Works Cited
Gill, Nicholas. " Movie Review: Madeinusa." newworldreview. 2009. Web. 19 June. 2016.
Koehler, Robert. " Review: ‘Madeinusa’." variety.com. 2006. Web. 19 June. 2016.
MADEINUSA (Claudia Llosa, 2006)." grunes. 2007. Web. 19 June. 2016.
Matheou, Demetrios. "The Faber Book of New South American Cinema." Faber & Faber 1.1 (2010): 1-432. Print
