Course blog for the 2018-19 Muwekma House Seminar
We'll be posting reflections from the course on here, as well as any other pertinent course materials.
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
winter reflections on Ixcanul
Optional prompt: How do the problems faced by María (the main character) reflect any problems that your people/culture/community/current indigenous people face today?
This film highlights the topic of culture and language barriers in health such that the Indigenous community are taken advantage of; Ignacio takes advantage of the language barrier to sell the baby and misinterprets to keep the Maria and her parents from comprehending what actually happened. -Taylor
What frustrated me the most about the film was the lack of agency Maria and her mother had. The lack of agency they had due to their language barrier, poverty, and indigenous background was frustrating to watch as Maria ran towards the road and as her mother begged for the officials to find her lost granddaughter. At each scene, you could see the amount of love Maria's mother had for her. Her mother's unconditional love and strength throughout the movie was powerful and heartwarming (which made the situation made the situation more frustrating!).
In this movie, I felt that their treatment and attitudes towards women was horrible. Women should be treated with respect, and kindness. The language they used towards them was pretty disrespectful, and that is something that I do not agree with. -Gavin
One of the parts of this movie that I thought was particuarly honest was the methods through which people were kept subordinate. Whether it was through the means of a dominant language being used to confuse or directly lie to indigenous peoples or through their own societal structures (misogynistic tendencies that even mothers enforced upon their daughters), this is very poignant reflection of the struggles that indigenous people continue to face around the world.
Although I thought it was a beautifully shot film and interesting story, I was also really curious about the parts that were cut, what about Maria's background wasn't being described. What about her community, or friends? And the snake scene comes on so quickly - Maria (and her mother's) relationship with/understanding of local myths is left somewhat unexplored. I read in a review that the film used local actors, I wonder what they thought/think of it as a representation of their way of life. - Marina
One thing that was noticeable in the film was that alcohol was very present a lot of the time. I loved this film for the relationship between the mom and daughter, and the scenes of everyday life. I loved seeing some of the beliefs around pregnancy and preparing for the baby. I also thought it was poignant that Pepe and his friends were aware that the U.S. is a racist space and he would struggle there, but they still wanted to go anyways. - Kendall
I think that this movie was beautifully made and told of a story that was very difficult to see unfurl as it went on. I found it very unsettling how the characters who had the ability to speak and interpret between the two languages abused it for their own benefit. There are numerous occasions throughout history where the barrier between indigenous languages and the specific dominant language for that particular location has played a part in undermining the "minority" for a one-sided gain. With that said and knowing that it happens all too often, it was heartbreaking to see it in this setting and in Maria’s situation.
Ixcanul lingered in my mind hours and even days after watching. The actors, landscape, indigenous language and overall rawness of emotional comes to mind as I type up this comment. And of course, Maria with her dark hair adorned with colorful garb enters my head space.
What made the biggest impression on me oddly enough was Maria's unconditional and longlasting love for her daughter. An undying commitment to love and nurture her offspring was heartful and endearing. As someone who comes from a culture of strict values (especially for women) and cultural upstanding, I have rarely witnessed such a great display of selfless love. Especially in the face of strife and conflict and notably, a pregnancy before marriage with a man who was not the fiance. As I watched Maria's story unfold, I braced myself for the harsh backlash of physical and emotional abuse, abandonment and ostracism that I was sure Maria would fall victim; my heart unclenched when that reality did not come to fruition.
Of course, my heart and hands did clench various times throughout the film and not at all for good reason; but it was Maria's mother and Maria relationship that stays rooted in me.
The film represented a problem that people in my culture face today which is access to western medical care. Representations and arguments about this topic can be really frustrating because often times it seems that access to western medicine is often used as a justification for anti-indigenous practices/policies etc. Can often time have the effect of patronizing and demeaning indigenous practices/ cultural/ religious traditions etc. while not giving full context to the ways that indigenous knowledge and ways of being are under pressure and threat in many ways.
I think the film represented this well, with the family panicking and struggling at the end after the snake bite, and with the scenes of Ignacio intentionally tricking them/ and being weird to them during the census worker's survey. These scenes showed how some medical and social tools could and can be used to benefit the lives and well being of indigenous people but that they and their ways of life are still disrespected and belittled.
To me, what made this movie award-winning material is the relevancy and applicability of disadvantaged communities. It reminded me of the stories told by my family members and elders from all around the Great Basin area. A lot of people were taken advantage of because of the lack of English comprehension and "too good to be true" deals that could hurt our people.
It also mirrored how some of us still live the old way today and how we could be mistreated and discriminated against even in the world of business, health, and education. We see that even in our communities today, and a lot of people are kept under the dark about it because there wasn't really a motivation to succeed kind of like now. If we have an emergency, we have to be flown out because we lost funding for an ER. Some tribes don't even have a police station so they have to travel way out of the area to even be held.
More deeply, it shows how power and corruption can run a whole town, a country, or even a certain group of people.
This was a devastating film. At every compellingly dreadful instance - visual, thematic, rhetorical - I was reminded of and felt grateful for the fact that this story was told outside the confines of Western cinema. Stories surrounding issues this intense deserve to be recognized as such by the formal components of the craft through which they're told. I don't think the censorship and watering down habits of palatable, profit-driven Western film would befit this subject matter, or have done it justice.
One of the aspects of the film that I thought was very saddening was the use of language and how people were taking advantage of other people through the language barrier that was present. In the film, when Maria realized that her baby was not dead and was in fact still alive, Maria and her parents went to the police for help. When they went to the police to ask them for help to find the baby, Ignacio abused his ability to speak different languages. When Ignacio was asked to interpret for Maria’s parents, he did not say what they had said. He also did not translate what the police officer was saying to him, to Maria’s parents. He took advantage of the parents for not knowing how to speak Spanish. I thought that it was amazing how Maria spoke her native language, but then to have Ignacio take advantage of her and her family for only speaking their native language is very upsetting.
This movie was beautiful and heartbreaking. Ignacio's advantage from the language barrier played out so powerfully and made me realize the importance of translators, especially in the health care world. Because English is my first language and a dominant language, I have never really had to worry about miscommunication in the way Maria suffered. Even abroad, in some places it seems like the world caters to English-speakers. It was disappointing to consider the ways the repercussions of history still echo today in the dominance of western power, stories, and language.
This film touches on a very pressing issue for numerous reservations where a lot of low-income individuals live: alcoholism and the problem with drug-dependent lifestyles in general. It'd be interesting to delve more into how this problem came to be so prevalent in these communities and what's currently being done to address it. - Griffin
Ixcanul highlights one of the many ways in which the language barriers between the urban population and rural communities allow for the exploitation of these rural communities. In the film, the language barrier between the indigenous people and the urban population allow for exploitation through health practices as people seize Maria's child. Many examples of this type of exploitation and abuse can be seen between rural and urban communities, especially when such a language barrier exists, but the socioeconomic difference alone can be enough for organizations and industries to take advantage of rural communities and force harmful businesses and practices onto these communities without their well-informed consent. For example, in the US, waste facility organizers abuse language barriers with predominantly Spanish speaking communities and force their facilities on these communities without their active and well-informed consent. DAPL also comes to mind when thinking about the exploitation of indigenous people in this way, especially considering the altered plans in moving DAPL from near Bismarck to its final location near the Standing Rock Reservation. (Other examples: Ward Valley Nuclear Waste Dump; Waste Management Incinerator in New South Wales, Australia)
I think Ixcanul reflects how often movements of civil rights and their advancements are only seen and cared about through an American lens, specifically in this case the fight for women's rights. While these movements have made relatively significant progress in our own society and continue to move forward, often we forget about those marginalized in societies outside of our media circle and community, who struggle just as much if not way more. Whether it be human trafficking in China, slave labor in blood mines, or the lack of basic human rights and independence shown here in Ixcanul, these struggles and communities cannot be forgotten, and as Emma Lazarus said, "none of us are free until all of us are free". This rings very true for our narrow lens on civil rights progressions.
One thing that I found very interesting was the Kaqchikel peoples' intense and complex relation to Ixcanul ~ the volcano which they live at the base of. This relationship is reflected in María's family's beliefs (i.e. her mom praying for a successful and happy marriage for María, her mom telling her to jump in the ashes of the volcano to abort the baby), how the family views what is beyond the volcano and their lack of care for what is beyond, and also the way in which María wholeheartedly relies on the volcano to help her (i.e. when she is going to run away but is caught by Ignacio, so she tells him she was going to the volcano to pray). The volcano itself, an almost living and breathing character, plays a prominent role in the piece of María's life story that manifests in and is dedicated to Ixcanul.
The movie reminded me of the desire youth on the Navajo Nation want for a better life. The United States represented independence, a better life and freedom for Maria. Anywhere off the reservation is the desire Navajo youth have. This is mainly because of the lack of opportunities on the reservation, youth feel like they have to fulfill the place in society that their families have given them. I feel like Maria is in the same situation, she wants to be able to make her own decisions and control her own life rather than her mother or a husband.
This film was really disturbing. I loved María, she was resilent and peaceful. I found the disturbing parts of the film like the role of gender, extremely interesting. Upon reflection, it is apparent to me that many things about my indigenous upbringing could be disturbing to some. Yet, these are things that make indigeneity so coexistant with resilience.
After watching this movie one thing that I was very intrigued with was the the lack of expressions that Maria had on her face throughout. I was pondering ideas as to why she seemed like she lived life without expressions. There were a couple ideas that came to mind and the one that I felt was most reasonable was that by her family basically choosing her life, she began to lose the excitement that comes with living. However, I don't understand Maria's culture well so she could be experiencing emotions. She just has a different way of expressing it.
I thought it was really interesting the amount of emotion that the film was able to express even without the use of music or much dialogue. The visual scenes and expressions of the actors conveyed a lot on their own.
One thing that I still think about when it comes to the movie was the cinematography and the visual/audible choices the director/filmmaker decided on. The use of silence as a main character in the movie speaks volumes. It reflects a reality that often times is obscured by excessive voices or unnecessary dialogue. The silence, to a degree, was the loudest part of the movie to me.
In watching Ixcanul, I had a lot of thoughts running through my mind, especially the persistent, deeply engrained racism in Latin America. Someone mentioned this in class, but the film was filled with hierarchies and exploitation. Although many "mestizo" Latinos pride themselves of having cultures rooted in both traditions, these same Latinos will make racist remarks regarding indigenous peoples- i.e. regarding languages, customs, etc. This hierarchy is present in the scene where Maria is talking to Pepe, and she tells him he'll need to learn Spanish before he can learn English. Furthermore, Ignacio clearly took advantage of the language barrier to give away Maria's child (without her consent, and likely against her will).
Watching this film I was deeply perplexed by the coffee plantation business scheme and its effects on the workers. The film aptly showed that 1) plantation workers were hired for seasonal contracts 2) the only place they could socially engage with each other was at a bar owned by Pepe who also owned the plantation 3) Drinks could only be purchased on credit and 4) Wages were paid at the end of the season. All of these factors work together to create a system that easily exploits the worker, leaves little room for negotiation, and often leaves workers in debt to the plantation owner. Business schemes like these have been utilized all over the world and for centuries to keep people enslaved to the land. Watching this unfold in Ixcanul begs me to dig deeper into the plantation histories of Hawai'i that brought an influx of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Portuguese, and African American laborers and ultimately changed the makeup of the islands.
There was definitely a lot to unpack about this movie but for me the most striking thing was definitely the portrayal of alcoholism and the role that alcohol played for the indigenous people. It reminded me a lot of what I have seen at home, as well as what I can imagine is true for many indigenous communities. In the film, alcohol became the only option for an after-work activity for the plantation workers. It also acted as a form of oppression, putting workers into debt and perpetuating an endless cycle of work-drink-work-drink. Alcohol has been used as an oppressive tool by colonizers for centuries, and it is still a significant issue today in our communities.
Seeing people destroyed by an industry that is basically a new form of slavery, where people have to run away to get free of it reminds me a lot of the BIA run schools in the villages back home during the 1940s.
What hit me most about this film was about how lack of knowledge can be used to manipulate one's surroundings. Belief has a strong drive for most people and the fact that the characters in this film believed that they would succeed despite all their own doubts reminded me a lot of communities back home and the fact that nothing really worked out in the end, but things were relatively still the same emphasized the reality of the film. Sometimes the worst things in the world can happen to people and yet their lives are still the "same" and the fact that the characters in this story still kept going shows their commitment to their reality.
After watching this film, what struck me was the impact of alcohol within a community. My comment is specifically drawing towards the scene where the workers were being paid and the one character's pay was not given because it was taken from the amount of alcohol in which they consumed. This scene struck me because it allowed the viewers to see how alcohol impacts an individual outside of physical effects, and towards lifestyle effects. This then results in a clear alcohol-community issue that many communities, indigenous communities in particular, face today to where alcohol is a negative element.
Ixcanul was such a beautiful film. Not only because of its amazing pictures of the volcanic Guatemalan landscape. And not only because it depicts the exotically traditional lifestyle of the indigenous protagonists with their rituals. Its particular beauty lies in showing the dignity the Mayan people have in spite of being marginalised, poor and uneducated. - Jasmin
The most striking thing about the film is how quickly Maria was forced to face the consequences of her decisions. Whether being pressured by her family, society, tradition, etc.. her character development and the (unsatisfying) conclusion of the movie is truly thought provoking.
Ixcanul is a truly great film that seems to transcend it's intended audience. As an English speaking man growing up in America, I feel as though the film may not have been intended for me, yet I can relate through an indigenous lens. While it was only a brief moment of the film, the scene that stuck with me most was that of the pig-slaughtering. While this scene is probably extremely shocking for most non-indigenous audiences in North America, it's a very normal thing for Native people. Personally, my family has hunted deer for generations and does so to this day. A lot of people in my tribe are also cattle farmers, including my grandparents, so it's not out of the ordinary for us to kill and butcher our own meat. I think this small scene of Ixcanul shows that the gruesome act of preparing your own food is a part of everyday life for some communities.
For me the most salient part of the film for me was the treatment of language throughout the different scenes. There appears to be a hierarchy of languages, with Mayan at the bottom, Spanish slightly higher, and English occupying a distant and magical space. There were a lot of social connotations involved with different characters depending on what language they spoke, notably when they fantasized about the guy that left for America being able to buy a house and speak English. The most important scene as far as language is when Maria and her mom cannot speak Spanish but the landlord can and eventually gets her to sign her baby away. I felt that it was especially poignant for my indigenous story because the Hawaiian language was pushed out of use by English. Even the pidgin language was put into a lower social class. For me, I think that language holds a lot of how a culture functions and that there needs to be work done to recover lost languages in indigenous parts of the world because they hold with them valuable snapshots of different cultures that are ultimately a part of our collective humanity. Keoni Rodriguez
I felt quite sad throughout the movie because most of what it portrayed was something that was generally true to native communities: lots of poverty and alcoholism which makes it hard to live in a stable household. Guatemala is trapped in a cycle of poverty and it reminded me of how its government has been unable to recover from the civil wars that broke out in the late turn of the century. This unfortunate price has to be paid by its citizens and, as seen in the movie, by young girls who deeply want to escape.
This film highlights the topic of culture and language barriers in health such that the Indigenous community are taken advantage of; Ignacio takes advantage of the language barrier to sell the baby and misinterprets to keep the Maria and her parents from comprehending what actually happened. -Taylor
ReplyDeleteWhat frustrated me the most about the film was the lack of agency Maria and her mother had. The lack of agency they had due to their language barrier, poverty, and indigenous background was frustrating to watch as Maria ran towards the road and as her mother begged for the officials to find her lost granddaughter. At each scene, you could see the amount of love Maria's mother had for her. Her mother's unconditional love and strength throughout the movie was powerful and heartwarming (which made the situation made the situation more frustrating!).
ReplyDeleteIn this movie, I felt that their treatment and attitudes towards women was horrible. Women should be treated with respect, and kindness. The language they used towards them was pretty disrespectful, and that is something that I do not agree with.
ReplyDelete-Gavin
One of the parts of this movie that I thought was particuarly honest was the methods through which people were kept subordinate. Whether it was through the means of a dominant language being used to confuse or directly lie to indigenous peoples or through their own societal structures (misogynistic tendencies that even mothers enforced upon their daughters), this is very poignant reflection of the struggles that indigenous people continue to face around the world.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I thought it was a beautifully shot film and interesting story, I was also really curious about the parts that were cut, what about Maria's background wasn't being described. What about her community, or friends? And the snake scene comes on so quickly - Maria (and her mother's) relationship with/understanding of local myths is left somewhat unexplored. I read in a review that the film used local actors, I wonder what they thought/think of it as a representation of their way of life.
ReplyDelete- Marina
One thing that was noticeable in the film was that alcohol was very present a lot of the time. I loved this film for the relationship between the mom and daughter, and the scenes of everyday life. I loved seeing some of the beliefs around pregnancy and preparing for the baby. I also thought it was poignant that Pepe and his friends were aware that the U.S. is a racist space and he would struggle there, but they still wanted to go anyways. - Kendall
ReplyDeleteI think that this movie was beautifully made and told of a story that was very difficult to see unfurl as it went on. I found it very unsettling how the characters who had the ability to speak and interpret between the two languages abused it for their own benefit. There are numerous occasions throughout history where the barrier between indigenous languages and the specific dominant language for that particular location has played a part in undermining the "minority" for a one-sided gain. With that said and knowing that it happens all too often, it was heartbreaking to see it in this setting and in Maria’s situation.
ReplyDeleteIxcanul lingered in my mind hours and even days after watching. The actors, landscape, indigenous language and overall rawness of emotional comes to mind as I type up this comment. And of course, Maria with her dark hair adorned with colorful garb enters my head space.
ReplyDeleteWhat made the biggest impression on me oddly enough was Maria's unconditional and longlasting love for her daughter. An undying commitment to love and nurture her offspring was heartful and endearing. As someone who comes from a culture of strict values (especially for women) and cultural upstanding, I have rarely witnessed such a great display of selfless love. Especially in the face of strife and conflict and notably, a pregnancy before marriage with a man who was not the fiance. As I watched Maria's story unfold, I braced myself for the harsh backlash of physical and emotional abuse, abandonment and ostracism that I was sure Maria would fall victim; my heart unclenched when that reality did not come to fruition.
Of course, my heart and hands did clench various times throughout the film and not at all for good reason; but it was Maria's mother and Maria relationship that stays rooted in me.
The film represented a problem that people in my culture face today which is access to western medical care. Representations and arguments about this topic can be really frustrating because often times it seems that access to western medicine is often used as a justification for anti-indigenous practices/policies etc. Can often time have the effect of patronizing and demeaning indigenous practices/ cultural/ religious traditions etc. while not giving full context to the ways that indigenous knowledge and ways of being are under pressure and threat in many ways.
ReplyDeleteI think the film represented this well, with the family panicking and struggling at the end after the snake bite, and with the scenes of Ignacio intentionally tricking them/ and being weird to them during the census worker's survey. These scenes showed how some medical and social tools could and can be used to benefit the lives and well being of indigenous people but that they and their ways of life are still disrespected and belittled.
To me, what made this movie award-winning material is the relevancy and applicability of disadvantaged communities. It reminded me of the stories told by my family members and elders from all around the Great Basin area. A lot of people were taken advantage of because of the lack of English comprehension and "too good to be true" deals that could hurt our people.
ReplyDeleteIt also mirrored how some of us still live the old way today and how we could be mistreated and discriminated against even in the world of business, health, and education. We see that even in our communities today, and a lot of people are kept under the dark about it because there wasn't really a motivation to succeed kind of like now. If we have an emergency, we have to be flown out because we lost funding for an ER. Some tribes don't even have a police station so they have to travel way out of the area to even be held.
More deeply, it shows how power and corruption can run a whole town, a country, or even a certain group of people.
This was a devastating film. At every compellingly dreadful instance - visual, thematic, rhetorical - I was reminded of and felt grateful for the fact that this story was told outside the confines of Western cinema. Stories surrounding issues this intense deserve to be recognized as such by the formal components of the craft through which they're told. I don't think the censorship and watering down habits of palatable, profit-driven Western film would befit this subject matter, or have done it justice.
ReplyDeleteOne of the aspects of the film that I thought was very saddening was the use of language and how people were taking advantage of other people through the language barrier that was present. In the film, when Maria realized that her baby was not dead and was in fact still alive, Maria and her parents went to the police for help. When they went to the police to ask them for help to find the baby, Ignacio abused his ability to speak different languages. When Ignacio was asked to interpret for Maria’s parents, he did not say what they had said. He also did not translate what the police officer was saying to him, to Maria’s parents. He took advantage of the parents for not knowing how to speak Spanish. I thought that it was amazing how Maria spoke her native language, but then to have Ignacio take advantage of her and her family for only speaking their native language is very upsetting.
ReplyDeleteThis movie was beautiful and heartbreaking. Ignacio's advantage from the language barrier played out so powerfully and made me realize the importance of translators, especially in the health care world. Because English is my first language and a dominant language, I have never really had to worry about miscommunication in the way Maria suffered. Even abroad, in some places it seems like the world caters to English-speakers. It was disappointing to consider the ways the repercussions of history still echo today in the dominance of western power, stories, and language.
ReplyDeleteThis film touches on a very pressing issue for numerous reservations where a lot of low-income individuals live: alcoholism and the problem with drug-dependent lifestyles in general. It'd be interesting to delve more into how this problem came to be so prevalent in these communities and what's currently being done to address it. - Griffin
ReplyDeleteIxcanul highlights one of the many ways in which the language barriers between the urban population and rural communities allow for the exploitation of these rural communities. In the film, the language barrier between the indigenous people and the urban population allow for exploitation through health practices as people seize Maria's child. Many examples of this type of exploitation and abuse can be seen between rural and urban communities, especially when such a language barrier exists, but the socioeconomic difference alone can be enough for organizations and industries to take advantage of rural communities and force harmful businesses and practices onto these communities without their well-informed consent. For example, in the US, waste facility organizers abuse language barriers with predominantly Spanish speaking communities and force their facilities on these communities without their active and well-informed consent. DAPL also comes to mind when thinking about the exploitation of indigenous people in this way, especially considering the altered plans in moving DAPL from near Bismarck to its final location near the Standing Rock Reservation. (Other examples: Ward Valley Nuclear Waste Dump; Waste Management Incinerator in New South Wales, Australia)
ReplyDeleteI think Ixcanul reflects how often movements of civil rights and their advancements are only seen and cared about through an American lens, specifically in this case the fight for women's rights. While these movements have made relatively significant progress in our own society and continue to move forward, often we forget about those marginalized in societies outside of our media circle and community, who struggle just as much if not way more. Whether it be human trafficking in China, slave labor in blood mines, or the lack of basic human rights and independence shown here in Ixcanul, these struggles and communities cannot be forgotten, and as Emma Lazarus said, "none of us are free until all of us are free". This rings very true for our narrow lens on civil rights progressions.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I found very interesting was the Kaqchikel peoples' intense and complex relation to Ixcanul ~ the volcano which they live at the base of. This relationship is reflected in María's family's beliefs (i.e. her mom praying for a successful and happy marriage for María, her mom telling her to jump in the ashes of the volcano to abort the baby), how the family views what is beyond the volcano and their lack of care for what is beyond, and also the way in which María wholeheartedly relies on the volcano to help her (i.e. when she is going to run away but is caught by Ignacio, so she tells him she was going to the volcano to pray). The volcano itself, an almost living and breathing character, plays a prominent role in the piece of María's life story that manifests in and is dedicated to Ixcanul.
ReplyDeleteThe movie reminded me of the desire youth on the Navajo Nation want for a better life. The United States represented independence, a better life and freedom for Maria. Anywhere off the reservation is the desire Navajo youth have. This is mainly because of the lack of opportunities on the reservation, youth feel like they have to fulfill the place in society that their families have given them. I feel like Maria is in the same situation, she wants to be able to make her own decisions and control her own life rather than her mother or a husband.
ReplyDeleteThis film was really disturbing. I loved María, she was resilent and peaceful. I found the disturbing parts of the film like the role of gender, extremely interesting. Upon reflection, it is apparent to me that many things about my indigenous upbringing could be disturbing to some. Yet, these are things that make indigeneity so coexistant with resilience.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching this movie one thing that I was very intrigued with was the the lack of expressions that Maria had on her face throughout. I was pondering ideas as to why she seemed like she lived life without expressions. There were a couple ideas that came to mind and the one that I felt was most reasonable was that by her family basically choosing her life, she began to lose the excitement that comes with living. However, I don't understand Maria's culture well so she could be experiencing emotions. She just has a different way of expressing it.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really interesting the amount of emotion that the film was able to express even without the use of music or much dialogue. The visual scenes and expressions of the actors conveyed a lot on their own.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I still think about when it comes to the movie was the cinematography and the visual/audible choices the director/filmmaker decided on. The use of silence as a main character in the movie speaks volumes. It reflects a reality that often times is obscured by excessive voices or unnecessary dialogue. The silence, to a degree, was the loudest part of the movie to me.
ReplyDeleteIn watching Ixcanul, I had a lot of thoughts running through my mind, especially the persistent, deeply engrained racism in Latin America. Someone mentioned this in class, but the film was filled with hierarchies and exploitation. Although many "mestizo" Latinos pride themselves of having cultures rooted in both traditions, these same Latinos will make racist remarks regarding indigenous peoples- i.e. regarding languages, customs, etc. This hierarchy is present in the scene where Maria is talking to Pepe, and she tells him he'll need to learn Spanish before he can learn English. Furthermore, Ignacio clearly took advantage of the language barrier to give away Maria's child (without her consent, and likely against her will).
ReplyDeleteWatching this film I was deeply perplexed by the coffee plantation business scheme and its effects on the workers. The film aptly showed that 1) plantation workers were hired for seasonal contracts 2) the only place they could socially engage with each other was at a bar owned by Pepe who also owned the plantation 3) Drinks could only be purchased on credit and 4) Wages were paid at the end of the season. All of these factors work together to create a system that easily exploits the worker, leaves little room for negotiation, and often leaves workers in debt to the plantation owner. Business schemes like these have been utilized all over the world and for centuries to keep people enslaved to the land. Watching this unfold in Ixcanul begs me to dig deeper into the plantation histories of Hawai'i that brought an influx of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, Portuguese, and African American laborers and ultimately changed the makeup of the islands.
ReplyDeleteThere was definitely a lot to unpack about this movie but for me the most striking thing was definitely the portrayal of alcoholism and the role that alcohol played for the indigenous people. It reminded me a lot of what I have seen at home, as well as what I can imagine is true for many indigenous communities. In the film, alcohol became the only option for an after-work activity for the plantation workers. It also acted as a form of oppression, putting workers into debt and perpetuating an endless cycle of work-drink-work-drink. Alcohol has been used as an oppressive tool by colonizers for centuries, and it is still a significant issue today in our communities.
ReplyDeleteSeeing people destroyed by an industry that is basically a new form of slavery, where people have to run away to get free of it reminds me a lot of the BIA run schools in the villages back home during the 1940s.
DeleteWhat hit me most about this film was about how lack of knowledge can be used to manipulate one's surroundings. Belief has a strong drive for most people and the fact that the characters in this film believed that they would succeed despite all their own doubts reminded me a lot of communities back home and the fact that nothing really worked out in the end, but things were relatively still the same emphasized the reality of the film. Sometimes the worst things in the world can happen to people and yet their lives are still the "same" and the fact that the characters in this story still kept going shows their commitment to their reality.
ReplyDeleteThis Is Aidan's post BTW
DeleteAfter watching this film, what struck me was the impact of alcohol within a community. My comment is specifically drawing towards the scene where the workers were being paid and the one character's pay was not given because it was taken from the amount of alcohol in which they consumed. This scene struck me because it allowed the viewers to see how alcohol impacts an individual outside of physical effects, and towards lifestyle effects. This then results in a clear alcohol-community issue that many communities, indigenous communities in particular, face today to where alcohol is a negative element.
ReplyDeleteIxcanul was such a beautiful film. Not only because of its amazing pictures of the volcanic
ReplyDeleteGuatemalan landscape. And not only because it depicts the exotically traditional lifestyle of
the indigenous protagonists with their rituals. Its particular beauty lies in showing the
dignity the Mayan people have in spite of being marginalised, poor and uneducated. - Jasmin
The most striking thing about the film is how quickly Maria was forced to face the consequences of her decisions. Whether being pressured by her family, society, tradition, etc.. her character development and the (unsatisfying) conclusion of the movie is truly thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteIxcanul is a truly great film that seems to transcend it's intended audience. As an English speaking man growing up in America, I feel as though the film may not have been intended for me, yet I can relate through an indigenous lens. While it was only a brief moment of the film, the scene that stuck with me most was that of the pig-slaughtering. While this scene is probably extremely shocking for most non-indigenous audiences in North America, it's a very normal thing for Native people. Personally, my family has hunted deer for generations and does so to this day. A lot of people in my tribe are also cattle farmers, including my grandparents, so it's not out of the ordinary for us to kill and butcher our own meat. I think this small scene of Ixcanul shows that the gruesome act of preparing your own food is a part of everyday life for some communities.
ReplyDeleteFor me the most salient part of the film for me was the treatment of language throughout the different scenes. There appears to be a hierarchy of languages, with Mayan at the bottom, Spanish slightly higher, and English occupying a distant and magical space. There were a lot of social connotations involved with different characters depending on what language they spoke, notably when they fantasized about the guy that left for America being able to buy a house and speak English. The most important scene as far as language is when Maria and her mom cannot speak Spanish but the landlord can and eventually gets her to sign her baby away. I felt that it was especially poignant for my indigenous story because the Hawaiian language was pushed out of use by English. Even the pidgin language was put into a lower social class. For me, I think that language holds a lot of how a culture functions and that there needs to be work done to recover lost languages in indigenous parts of the world because they hold with them valuable snapshots of different cultures that are ultimately a part of our collective humanity. Keoni Rodriguez
ReplyDeleteI felt quite sad throughout the movie because most of what it portrayed was something that was generally true to native communities: lots of poverty and alcoholism which makes it hard to live in a stable household. Guatemala is trapped in a cycle of poverty and it reminded me of how its government has been unable to recover from the civil wars that broke out in the late turn of the century. This unfortunate price has to be paid by its citizens and, as seen in the movie, by young girls who deeply want to escape.
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