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2018 - Volume 1 - Number 1

Use of Space in the Physical Separation of the Bourgeoisie and the Working Class in “The Exterminating Angel” (1962) and “The Swamp” (2001)

Matthew Berg (MA student) * bergm2@montclair.edu * ORCID: 0000-0002-8833-8254 * ResearcherID: G-7158-2018
Montclair State University, College of Humanities and Social Science

Open Journal for Studies in Arts, 2018, 1(1), 43-50 * https://doi.org/10.32591/coas.ojsa.0101.04043b
Online Published Date: 31 July 2018

LICENCE: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ARTICLE (Full Text - PDF)

KEY WORDS: Spanish film, Latin American film, class, Spanish language, gender studies.

ABSTRACT:
The struggle between the bourgeoisie and the working class is reflected in the filmography of many countries, including that of Spain and Argentina, specifically through the films El Ángel Exterminador (The Exterminating Angel) (1962), directed by Luis Buñuel, and La Ciénaga (The Swamp) (2001), directed by Lucrecia Martel. Each director utilizes interior and exterior space to demonstrate the difference between the working and bourgeoise classes within their films. As stated by Charles Shiro Tashiro in his observations of The Go-Between, the set design and narrative of cinema are intertwined in such a way that the setting of a film is essential to the successful delivery of the message and context of said film. This comparative study will focus on how Buñuel’s and Martel’s aforementioned films follow a similar pattern in 3 aspects of this use of space: the use of large estates with the mansion in The Exterminating Angel and the La Madrágona house in The Swamp to create a physical barrier that is representative of the metaphorical barrier between socioeconomic classes, the use of interior space to create a sense of entrapment within the confines of the bourgeoisie, and the sense of barrenness created by the grandeur of the bourgeois space.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Matthew Berg, 21 Lakeview Court, Cherry Hill, NJ, USA 08003. E-mail: bergm2@montclair.edu.

REFERENCES:

Alatriste, G. (Producer) & Buñuel, L. (Director). (1962) The exterminating angel [Motion Picture]. Mexico: Gustavo Alatriste.

Brescia, P. (2002). La ciénaga. Chasqui, 2, pp. 152-155.

Forcinto, A. (2013). Lo invisible y lo invivible: El nuevo cine argentino de mujeres y sus Huellas acústicas. Chasqui, 1, pp. 37-53.

Martins, L. (2013). En contra de contar historias. Cuerpos e imágenes hápticas en el cine argentino (Lisandro Alonso y Lucrecia Martel). Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana, 37(73), 401-420.

Poyato, P. (2011). Suspensión del sentido y repetición en El ángel exterminador (Buñuel, 1962). Fotocinema: Revista Científica De Cine Y Fotografía, 3, 3-16.

Ramey, J. (2016). Buñuel’s social close-up: An entomological gaze on El ángel exterminador/The exterminating angel (1962). Studies in Spanish & Latin American Cinemas. 13(3), 319-337.

Stantins, L. (Producer) & Martel, L. (Director). (2001). The Swamp [Motion Picture]. Argentina, Spain, France: Cowboy Pictures. 

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