Download - MA Dissertation: Towards A New Third Cinema
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Towards A New Third Cinema?
Introduction To Third Cinema
The murder of Swedish-Argentinean photo-journalist Leonardo Henrichsen on the
morning of June 23rd !"3 #$ a mutineering arm$ regiment in Santiago is %uite
possi#l$ the most poignant necessit$ for a further in&estigation into Third Cinema'
The callous gunning down of a field reporter( one who was filming a protest
supporting socialist )resident Sal&ador Allende( com#ined with the su#se%uent effort
#$ the )inochet-led militar$ to destro$ the literall$ *cinematic+ e&idence of the incident
is a uni&ersal s$m#ol of oppression and filmic censorship that could not #e
misconstrued' ,ithin )atricio u.man+s The Battle of Chile /!"01( the four hour
epic militant documentar$ reporting the &iolent re&olutionar$ action against Allende in
which Henrichsen+s untimel$ death is ehi#ited from newsreel footage( lies a
distur#ing reminder of the insidiousness nature of political turmoil and the elimination
of dissent' As the protesters retreat awa$ from Allende+s political head%uarters as an
armed militar$ inter&ention arri&es( the paniced faces of each indi&idual
re&olutionar$ can #e identified' Some scatter to a safe distance while others plead
with the filmmaer through the camera to join them in their withdrawal' 4onetheless(
the punishment for opposing an$ illusions within Chilean societ$ is unwarranted
&iolence( incarceration and ultimatel$ callous murder' 5ach indi&idual who is willing
to #ecome an agent of social and political change is the target of this punishment'
Henrichsen continues to film as the crowd+s num#ers slowl$ dwindle( interrupting his
sur&eillance of the arri&ing militar$ with focused and precise .oom shots of the
crowds fearing for their &er$ li&es' As the foot-soldiers continue to intimidate(
threaten and arrest more of their own people( the act of Henrichsen+s filming is
transformed from historical documentation to o&ert political act' The camera
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#ecomes a rifle( the filmmaer a soldier( and with this transformation comes the dut$
to fight against t$rann$( authoritarianism and unfounded persecution' 6ppression
personified must destro$ an$ recorded witness to the destructi&e nature of its
actions( almost paradoicall$ self-aware of the chaos and grotes%ue effects of their
own #eha&iour' As the militar$ tae aim /7ilm Image 1( the image of a soldier aiming
the #arrel of his gun straight at Henrichsen and with that( the spectator( is perhaps
the most pro&ocati&e film still to justif$ the need for a reactionar$( li&ing( #reathing act
of filmmaing' This filmmaing goes #e$ond the projector and the cinematic screen
of *fantas$+ or *escapism+ #ut with the direct aim of uniting a group with a
consciousness of change directl$ inspired #$ the documented suffering that informed
the creation of the film itself' As the soldier fires his weapon and the hand-held
camera spirals into the s$( a second reactionar$ trigger is in turn fired( one that is
collecti&el$ felt #$ the numerous and willing agents /such as Henrichsen1 stri&ing to
assert political( economic and social change &ia cinematic production( distri#ution
and ehi#ition' 8e&olutionar$ action through film' 5nter Third Cinema'
,ithin the so-called *Third ,orld+ #etween the earl$ !09s to the late !"9s( colonial
wars and re&olutionar$ #attles for independence #ased on ideological( cultural(
economic( religious and political reconfigurations were eacted on nations within The
Americas( Africa( Asia and the :iddle 5ast usuall$ #ased on the imperialist interests
of the ,estern world' ,ith such &ast and unwarranted changes enforced #$ the top-
down authori.ations onto the indigenous people #om#arded further #$ the consistent
reproduction of these changes within populari.ed culture( there is immediatel$ a
justification for a counter-cultural output that sought to re#el and re&olt against the
national changes that were apparentl$ in the #est interests of *progress+' 5merging
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The$ were further despondent to auteur cinema /Second Cinema1( the apparentl$
free speech cinema of the primaril$ 5uropean art house spheres' Second Cinema is
an output that rejects Holl$wood con&ention in form( $et struggles to articulate an$
form of consistent or eplicit political message due to its emphasis on an
auteurDagent as a singular epression of taste' This form of Second Cinema
epitomi.es auteurs such as Jean 8enoir( :a 6phEls and 8o#ert Fresson for their
apparent a#ilit$ to create wors of art with their own trademar st$listic consistencies
within *the s$stem+ of the commercial 5uropean film spheres' Howe&er( Solanas and
etino argued that an$ films operating within *the s$stem+ could ne&er #e completel$
free from the monolithic class or ideological &iew that that *s$stem+ promotes' The$
are instead granted onl$ a partial freedom to their art( a freedom which is go&erned
to a certain etent #$ the filmmaer( the rest #$ the concerned parties of in&estors
and studio eecuti&es who wield their own ideals of audience epectation( taste and
financial profits /hence the auteur is stuc still within *the fortress+ of 7irst Cinema1'
Therefore in opposition to this 7irst Cinema of Holl$wood #ased commercial
escapism and this Second Cinema of auteur #ased 5uropean art house cinema
Solanas and etino founded a Third Cinema' The$ sought to create an eplicitl$
confrontational output that had a &ague and indirect ideological concern #ut was still
associated with the struggles of its people through their associated culture( language
and social traditions' This cinema would #e st$listicall$ uni%ue and would see to
portra$ the harsh da$ to da$ struggles of its indigenous people and the causes of
their oppression' Taing on the forms of newsreel documentaries( historical epics(
a&ant-garde pieces and dramatic fictionali.ations of indigenous stories /amongst
man$ others1( Third Cinema su#&erts traditional cinematic st$le depending on their
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direct aims and the social and political climate of their concerned region upon
release' Through this su#&ersion the$ champion eplicitl$ the social( cultural(
economic and political &isions of the past( present and future meanwhile challenging
conceptions of histor$( cultural identities and marginali.ed groups' It is created
through a maeshift production( distri#ution and ehi#ition process to reach and
educate the people directl$ and independentl$' 7urthermore( it is directl$ antagonistic
to other forms of commercial cinema( the apparent passi&it$ of film spectatorship and
the sometimes hidden forces of imperialistic eploitations of colonial and neo-
colonial forces to the supposedl$ *Third ,orld+' Gia articulating such hea&$-weight
topics( Third Cinema sees to create a re&olutionar$ consciousness of societal
inter&ention' 5ach tet highlights where change is needed( those responsi#le for
cultural and political su#ordination and the direct reasons that inform the creation of
the film itself all the while championing a usuall$ &ague ideological or political
#acground' 5ach indi&idual film is #$ moulded #$ their geographical countr$ of
origin( the filmmaer+s own ideolog$ and how this ideolog$ would ultimatel$
contetualise the world around them' This ideolog$( /one that eclipses mere st$le
and must also #e anal$sed through a socio-historical contet1 is ultimatel$ the most
important factor when &iewing Third Cinema and its aim to >mae films that *the
s$stem+ cannot assimilate and which are foreign to its needs( or mae films that
directl$ and eplicitl$ set out to fight *the S$stem+? /!";
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industries that eist as mere indigenous recreations of Holl$wood+s 7irst Cinema [1].
This is the most directl$ eplicit justification for cinematic production' This is an
output that attempts to assert mass change on a national scale through the filming of
oppression and eploitation( distri#uting this message and finall$ ehi#iting and
inspiring social transformation' This is Third Cinema'
Though the ideal of Third Cinema was initiall$ discussed in an inter&iew within the
pages of Cineasteand later Tricontinentalin !;! #etween se&eral Argentinean
directors( man$ filmmaers /not just Solanas and etino1 prior to their pu#lication
had tried to concei&e a cinema that would concern itself with opposing the
oppression of its people' Argentinean filmmaer 7ernando Firr for eample sought to
create *a cinema that reinforces the re&olutionar$ consciousness of the masses+
/!;"cr$stallises an awaening within the
masses? /Sem#ene 299
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Third Cinema' espite its contesting definitions from its &ast countries of origin( Third
Cinema is enriched further in its association with mo&ements and indi&idual film tets
within the 7irst and Second ,orld' 7or eample the American 4ew Left group
*4ewsreel+ /,augh !";
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a concept /and a case stud$1 that is inherentl$ crucial to the current climate of film
theor$ and in fact general ,estern and 5uropean academia' As a form of cinema
that can #e justified in the causes of the production of the indi&idual film itself( Third
Cinema has recei&ed a concerning reception within academic tets' Its #latant
eclusion from most ,estern and 5uropean circles or its minimi.ation as a singular
narrowed form of cinematic output within enc$clopaedic #oos represents the
continued eistence of 5uro-centric outloos seeing to place film histor$ into
managea#le stories and chronologies' Third Cinema eists as #oth a crucial film
practice and a theoretical concept in great need of reconsidering and re&aluating' It
is these two facets of Third Cinema that will e%uall$ #e interrogated within this essa$(
seeing to articulate Third Cinema+s position in the 2st centur$' The ideal aim #eing
that filmmaers will #e a#le to continue creating Third Cinema tets through new
re&olutionar$ channels and its researchers and dedicated academics from all o&er
the glo#e will #e a#le to full$ understand these tets thorough a fresh methodological
approach' In understanding and eposing the current causes of its malnourishment
then looing towards new suita#le methodologies that ena#le its full anal$sis for
e&en the most ,estern researcher( Third Cinema can regrow on two counter-
informing front lines'
In also reflecting on the practice+s presence within academia( its greatest injustice is
the difficult$ film theorists ha&e to this present da$ in firml$ positioning Third Cinema'
:odern academic tets still consistentl$ contest the st$listic trademars and di&erse
forms this confrontational cinema can tae' As :ie ,a$ne writes@#$ taing riss and contri#uting his li&ing eperience
to the meeting the screeningB( he #ecame an actor( a more important protagonist
than those appearing in the films? /!";
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Cinema does little to further its aims( it instead must inspire a *freedom gi&ing energ$+
according to Solanas and etino inside e&er$ spectator in attendance which will then
&enture into *su#&ersi&e o#ser&ation( sensi#ilit$( imagination and reali.ation+
/!";
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spectator is graduall$ much more learned and acutel$ aware of the conceptions of
the right of e&er$ single man /woman and child1' 7urthermore( the$ are also
concerned with the eploitations of de&eloping nations at the hands of imperialist
forces #oth in the present da$ and within recent histories of so called national
*independence+' As factions are formed #ased on a dissatisfaction of political actions
and policies( post-colonialism eists as eplicit discourses on the insidious nature of
colonial su#jugation and the destruction of the m$thical self-ascri#ed superiorit$ the
,estern world has o&er the non-,estern world' 7or the ,esterner( it represents the
most epressi&e form of this destruction a&aila#le #e$ond the post-colonial writings
themsel&es' It is a methodolog$ that directl$ informs Third Cinema output and
therefore should #e anal$.ed as an integral categor$ of that what maes it
re&olutionar$'
)ost-colonialism< ,hen we later reflect on Third Cinema+s relationship to ,estern
forms of film theor$( the output+s comple relationship with post-colonial theor$ /most
nota#l$ the wor of 7ran. 7anon1 which informs its films and is su#se%uentl$
channeled #$ its cinematic output will #ecome e&en more apparent' et here( we will
discuss post-colonial theor$ as a methodolog$ that is consistent throughout Third
Cinema regardless of the di&erse tets that inform this artistic practice and one that
must #e contemplated here regardless' In seeing to eamine post-colonialism and
there#$ characteri.e Third Cinema precisel$( film theor$ prior to Third Cinema+s
official emergence in the mid-!;9s must #e addressed'
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F$ the late !;9s( theorists were no longer primaril$ concerned with demonstrating
that film was an art form or that the filmmaer was an auteur' Though these
discussions were still %uite fresh( other priorities within film theor$ #egan to emerge'
,hat #ecame important for theorists was to legitimi.e film theor$ itself' Questions
such as what is cinema( how spectators feel compelled to accept cinematic images
as truth and the categori.ation of narrati&e structures #egan to #e eplored'
Forrowing anal$tical methods from other disciplines to show that film studies was a
serious scholarl$ endea&or( theorists em#raced studies of semiolog$Dsemiotics(
ps$choanal$sis and linguistics to solidif$ more rigorous methods of anal$sis' This is
when >structuralism? - #orrowed from anthropolog$ - started #eing applied to film'
6riginating from 7erdinand de Saussure+s notions of structural linguistics(
structuralism argues that an element of human culture can onl$ #e comprehended
through that element+s specific relationship to language< the >signified?( an a#stract
concept or idea of that element( and a RsignifierR( the perception of that element'
Structuralism was refined and moderni.ed further #$ the wor of anthropologist
Claude L&i-Strauss 1.ythologi3"es/(!;=-!;;1' L&i-Strauss asserted that all
cultural acti&ities in all cultures function dialecticall$ and can #e reduced to sets of
#inaries( or antinomies< natureDcultureK famil$DclanK indoorsDoutdoorsK maleDfemale'
7or Strauss( e&er$thing can #e eplained( classified( structured in those terms'
Christian :et. was one of the first to appl$ this semiolog$ to the anal$sis of film in
his attempts to define film as simpl$ as possi#le' :et. sought to anal$.e all
cinematic signs - the filmic material - mechanicall$( that is( #$ tr$ing to mae all signs
fit into uni&ersal( timeless categories' sing the >)aradigmatic and S$ntagmatic
categories? /:et. !"=
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professional jargon and a gradual intellectual renaissance of :arist thining such as
structuralism into film theor$'
et structuralism was also &ulnera#le to criticism' Accused of #eing rigid and
nonnegotia#le in relation to historical de&elopments of language( the emergence of
deconstructi&e thining first de&eloped #$ philosopher Jac%ues errida in the late
!;9s was one of the first counter-theories that sought to directl$ undermine
structuralist comprehensions of linguistics' Thesepost-structuralist practices /which
also included 8ussian critic :ihail Fahtin+s dialogical criticism1 see to undermine
structuralist discourses of critical thining' econstruction itself is a post-structuralist
theor$ that sees to su#&ert the notion of #inar$ opposition through a linguistic
argument' It is a process that performs the undoing of meaning( showing that sta#le
meanings /an$ sta#le meaning1 is impossi#le to achie&e and cannot #e categori.ed
into structuralist forms' It asserts that it is impossi#le to ha&e a fied meaning for
an$thing #ecause no word is attached to a meaning /signified1 that is concrete and
unchanging' 7or eample( traditional structural theor$ would define the term >#lac?
onl$ #ecause it does not mean >white?' et deconstruction theor$ would tae the
argument further and ultimatel$ undermine structuralism #$ sa$ing that meaning is
alwa$s &aried #ecause for one word to ha&e meaning it re%uires another word to
ha&e meaning( which in turn re%uires another word to ha&e meaning and so forth' As
theorists lie errida would suggest( this would lea&e words in an endless chain of
&aria#le meanings and ultimatel$ undermine structuralism as an unreada#le attempt
to categori.e social s$stems into mechanical #inaries'
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As deconstructi&e film theorist )eter Frunette writes( structuralism eists purel$ as
the >articulation and self-re&elation of each tet+s unreada#ilit$' A defeat of the
demands of ,estern logic'? /Frunette( !!econstruction( if it teaches
an$thing( reminds us that we should not assume the wa$ we percei&e the world is
the same wa$ the world actuall$ is? /2999pastDpresent? #inar$
and indeed the undermining of the &er$ notion of >present? - led to the idea of the
>end of histor$'? The >end of histor$? suggests that the idea of a linear progression
from a primiti&e past to a more modern present is erroneous( #ecause the notion of
>modern present? does not eist as an$thing else than a &aried >primiti&e past?' Jean-
7ranUois L$otard in The -ostmodern Condition/!"!1 was one of the first theorists
to tal a#out the >end of histor$? as a >master narrati&e? that we can no longer
#elie&e in' The >postmodern? is the term that he coined to indicate that the >modern?
#elief in historical progress is no longer tena#le' Fased on the a#stract
deconstructi&e notion that >)ast?( >)resent? and >)rogress? are all meaningless
terms( post-modernism as a form of critical thining soon emerged through the
dissatisfaction with modernit$ and its promises of capitalist and industrialist
prosperit$ that notions such as *progress+ were affiliated with'
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The rise of post-modernism in the late !"9+s and #$ pro$ the rise of deconstructi&e
thining was one of the most o#&ious signs of the end of structuralism' et it also
saw the theoretical #irth of post-colonialism which is crucial to Third Cinema+s
de&elopment o&er the past half a centur$' ,hereas a desta#ili.ation of pastDpresent
#inaries saw the minimi.ation of structuralism( the destruction of the selfDother #inar$
ga&e rise to an anal$sis of the legacies of colonial and empirical powers' Fased upon
the final phase of the post-modern condition /L$otard !"!
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its implications of moral philosophies( political anal$sis and epistemological histories'
7irstl$( the use of the prefi *post+ certainl$ suggests an incorrect assumption a#out
the nature of anal$.ing how Latin America( Africa and Asia are su#ordinated to 4orth
American and 5uropean empires' Through signif$ing that this anal$sis of wor will
discuss #oth a temporal and ideological era of societ$ that is in fact now erased( the
term essentiall$ carries connotations of the minimi.ation of contemporar$ neo-
colonialism' 4eo-colonialism itself is the use of power through usuall$ financial
sectors such as capitalism( #usiness trading o&erhaulsDglo#ali.ation and
su#se%uentl$ the molding of culture through the dependence the indigenous
population has o&er this financial monopol$' 8ather than the usage of political power
or direct militar$ interference /*colonialism+1 that eisted within the pre-,orld ,ar II
climate of these empires( the de&eloped world instead optimi.e past economic
arrangements in order to eploit and eep constant the current im#alances of *first+
and *third world+ nations' In some cases( the de&eloped nations would intentionall$
pressuri.e coloni.ed nations for independence once their interests had #een placed
into the conscious of the people in order to continue their eploitation without
go&ernmental dependence' )ost-colonialist Jean )aul Sartre uses the eample of
the Congo Crisis /the era of turmoil within Congo from !;9 to !;; directl$ after its
independence from Felgium1 to emphasi.e the difference #etween colonialism and
neo-colonialism' >Through education and the di&ision of la#or it had introduced( the
colonial administration political and economic interests within FelgiumB urged the
Felgian go&ernment to grant independence@there#$ creating an unhol$ alliance
#etween the administration trained new #lac #ourgeois and imperialism? /299;
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alliance that too the form of the eploitation of the mineral rich atanga pro&ince'
He was su#se%uentl$ ousted within three months of power and eecuted #$ the
orders of the SA( ( CIA and Felgium authorities' Lumam#a was argua#l$ a
mart$r for pan-Africanism who defied neo-colonial attempts at the cost of his life' He
sought to create a go&ernment #eneficial for the Congolese people rather than the
eploiting eternal interested nations and opposed neo-colonialist forces to the
etent that colonialist militar$ powers had to reclaim the Congo region through
colonialinterference' As a s$m#ol of the almost in&isi#le $et e&er presence force of
colonialism( post-colonialism as a critical practice is in danger of reflecting on the
&isi#le militarism of colonialism at the etent of the hidden neo-colonialist forces
operating #eneath the surface of a nation that are not as #latant as the Congo crisis'
Secondl$( as a form of critical thining that sees to anal$.e the politics of
nowledge /creation( control and distri#ution1 outside of the ,est in relation to #oth
eploitation and po&ert$ in the Third ,orld and the methodologies with which these
political theories are identified( man$ argue post-colonialism eists as an ineffecti&e
top-down theor$' 7or eample( post-colonialist Jasper oss notes that post-
colonialism as a methodolog$ has unfortunatel$ #egun an unhealth$ o#session with
the tetual( #ecoming *a stud$ of stud$@a method of armchair decoloni.ation+
rendered meaningless #$ not speaing directl$ to the practice of participator$
de&elopment /!!;
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emphasis on political phenomena #ut through a polari.ing output of perspecti&e and
opinion of de&elopment( socialism( ecolog$ and social justice against one another' In
doing so( post-colonial outputs would often #e fractious and contradictor$ when
anal$.ed as a singular #od$ of wor' The usage of di&erse practices( #eliefs and
ideals within post-colonial theor$ without a singular set of consistent relations
#etween its tets has #een met with difficult$ in comprehension amongst the
majorit$' Though supposedl$ concerned with the su#altern /a group outside the
hegemonic dominant power1 and apparentl$ populist to indigenous people and their
cultures( post-colonialism has #een critici.ed for its a#straction and lac of specificit$
regarding the perspecti&es of the indigenous people that de&elop from first hand
indi&idual situations or eploitations in the *third world+' 8o#ert oung is an
eemplar$ post-colonial theorist who has sought to champion a colonial criti%ue that
maes >effecti&e political inter&entions within and #e$ond its own disciplinar$ field #$
de&eloping connections #etween the different forms of intellectual engagements and
acti&ism in the world toda$? /299
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and societal nowledge of the coloni.ed people and how this was used to o&erthrow
them and impose the coloni.er+s own traditions and ideals onto *other+ territories' It is
discussed further through the emergence of archet$pal cultural identities of coloni.er
and coloni.ed( the generation of the power of nowledge the ,est has o&er the
coloni.ed territor$ and how this is applied to eploit these indigenous people' sing
these methods of engagement( post-colonial theor$ has numerous critical purposes'
7irstl$( it sees to criticall$ attac the causes and effects of colonialist eploitation(
epose its remaining presences and desta#ili.e the dominant ideologies which
inspired or were inspired #$ it' Secondl$( it aims to offer a cultural and social space
to marginali.ed su#altern groups( as post-colonialist a$atri Spi&a suggests( a
&oice of *in&estigation and control of colonial discourses@a #lossoming garden
where the marginal can spea and #e spoen( e&en spoen for+ /!!3true identit$(? post-
colonialists are in danger of defining themsel&es onl$ in #inar$ opposition to the
coloni.er' In other words( the coloni.ed em#odies e&er$thing that the coloni.er is
not( which still means that the coloni.er determines what the coloni.ed person
actuall$ is' In introducing once more the selfDother #inar$ that directl$ informed post-
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colonialism through the emergence of post-modernism( this #inar$ must #e cruciall$
minimi.ed in fa&or of a decoloni.ation of the coloni.ed mind' It must aim neither for
rejection nor for assimilation #ut rather #e #oth at once so as to desta#ili.e the
coloni.er' These are the ultimate aims of post-colonialist writers and man$ of these
aims ha&e #een directl$ resonated through Third Cinema+s film tets #oth st$listicall$
and thematicall$'
As stated earlier( man$ post-colonial academics and artists anal$.e and criti%ue the
uni%ue politics of nowledge /creation( control and distri#ution1 of colonial
relationships' Fut the$ also ultimatel$ challenge the ,esterner+s perceptions of these
politics and continue to champion the alread$ noted selfDother /coloni.erDcoloni.ed1
in&ersion of the post-modern condition within their wor' 7or eample( Trinh T' :inh-
Ha( an important post-colonial filmmaer and theorist in the *9s and *!9s writes in
the third-person within man$ of her essa$s< >she :inh-HaB is this inappropriate
otherDsame who mo&es a#out with alwa$s at least twoDfour gestures< that of affirming
>I am lie $ou? while persisting in her differenceK and that of reminding >I am different?
while unsettling e&er$ definition of otherness arri&ed at'? /!!=
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21 and the dialecticall$ opposed( romantic &ision of China as m$sterious and
impossi#le to understand'
6n the one hand( she asserts that China is not the stereot$pical >oriental m$ster$?
that cannot #e understood( and on the other hand( she refuses to offer an$ clear
definition of what China is' 8ather she esta#lishes connections and differences
#etween ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius and contemporar$ Chinese
communist re&olutionar$ :ao PedongK she jutaposes images of traditional Chinese
art with commentaries on the pro#lems of filmmaing in China( and she mies
straightforward factual information with m$thical legends and foltales of ancient
Chinese d$nasties' In particular( :inh-Ha uses the recurring metaphor of the dragon
throughout the tet to represent China( #ecause the dragon can ultimatel$ #e
e&er$thing - it is all animals( it is #oth male and female' It is at once e&er$thing
#ecause it represents e&er$thing and nothing #ecause it does not eist /7ilm Image
31' The purpose of foregrounding this unsta#le su#ject and emphasi.ing the
desta#ili.ation of traditional #inaries is to counteract the traditional wa$s in which the
,est has defined the >Coloni.ed 6ther? and the wa$s in which the >Coloni.ed 6ther?
has traditionall$ defined herDhimself through the definitions imposed #$ the ,est'
That+s wh$ :inh-Ha also insists on her own identit$ #eing totall$ unsta#le within her
writings and furthermore is wh$ her documentaries also undermine sta#le notions of
documentar$ form' Trinh T' :inh-Ha also incorporates man$ foltales in her >histor$
of China(? precisel$ to suggest a different t$pe of histor$ than that of the ,est - she
maes no claim to factual authenticit$ #ut still informs us in an indirect wa$ a#out the
culture that in&ented these stories' St$listicall$( :inh-Ha implements a somewhat
t$pical inter&iew with a >specialist? who eplains China to us - a &er$ common
practice in traditional ,estern documentaries' Fut rather than ha&ing a white man
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telling it all to us( it is an African-American who taes on the role of the >specialist?'
This a&oids #oth sides of the ,estern dialectic< that is( on the one hand( the white
man who nows it all( and its opposite( the >all-nowing nati&e?( i'e' a Chinese
person who would ha&e some sort of organic nowledge of his or her own people'
:inh-Ha+s rejects the >all-nowing 4ati&e? further within her essa$s< >There can
hardl$ #e such a thing as an essential inside that can #e homogeneousl$
represented #$ all insidersK an authentic insider in there( an a#solute realit$ out
there( or an uncorrupted representati&e who cannot #e %uestioned #$ another
uncorrupted representati&e'? /!!=
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Third Cinema tets within a specificall$ Latin American contet continue to champion
post-colonial &alues st$listicall$ or thematicall$ al#eit perhaps in this case in an
indirect wa$' Fra.illian filmmaer lau#er 8ocha+s Barra%ento /!;21 is a particular
eample of Third Cinema which draws on >,estern source elements #ut in&erts and
distorts them so as to produce meanings which are radicall$ new? through dense
metaphors and allegories /Armes !"
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s$m#oli.es their #attle for dominance within the fishing &illage #ut also the rejection
or assimilation of the coloni.ed identit$ /7ilm Image =1' 5&entuall$( 7irmino is a#le to
con&ince Aruan to tae actionK resulting in him shedding his passi&e figure and
lea&ing the &illage seeing mone$ he can #ring #ac to help his fellow fisherman' F$
the conclusion( neither character is a#le to continue with their straightforward
mannerisms of rejection or assimilation to the coloni.er' Instead the tet champions
the post-colonial consciousness( resisting temptations of narrati&e closure /through
the unnown future of Aruan1 and #$ implementing post-positi&ism /which means
that it does not #elie&e in the a#ilit$ to comprehend e&er$thing &ia scientific
approaches1 through the religious enchantment with the fisherman+s ancestors
/sla&es who came from Africa1' F$ com#ining this personal *m$thical+ histor$ with
,estern source materials( the characters of Aruan and 7irmino eist as a singular
unsta#le su#ject that represents the undermining of ,estern thining apparent with
post-colonialism at the same sociall$ commenting on the corrupt nature of some
small time unregulated #usinesses in !;9+s Fra.il'
It should #e emphasi.ed that Third Cinema is not singularl$ concerned with one
singular methodolog$ and in fact champions other schools of thought that tacle the
eploitations of marginali.ed groups< the most common eample #eing feminism'
The decoloni.ation of culture is not limited to the ,estern patriarchal notions of the
need for just males to re#el and #e up in arms for societal change' ,omen are in
fact an integral part of the re&olution and are represented with e%ualit$( progression
and li#eration that is rarel$ underestimated' 7eminism as a collecti&e mo&ement and
ideolog$ is treated with a consistent respect rarel$ seen in 7irst and Second Cinema'
It is another factor that distinguishes Third Cinema and is treated with the same
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!o"r of the #"rnaceseists as an epic documentar$ /with a running time of roughl$
29 minutes1 that sees to articulate an anal$sis of the wider plight of Latin American
cultural( political( social and economic climates' This plight is implicated to #e caused
#$ neo-colonist eploitations through an eemplar$ specificit$ for the Argentinean
people during the self-ascri#ed 8e&oluciVn Argentina period #etween !;; to !"3'
The film is signed and championed anon$mousl$ #$ Solanas and etino+s Cine
Li#eraciVn film mo&ement as a direct reactionar$ cultural output to foreign
imperialism within Latin America prominentl$ doing so at the epense of populist
forms of corporate and commercial epressionism' The tet deri&es its title from ! th
centur$ Cu#an poet and philosopher Jos :artW who cited The !o"r of the
#"rnaces/ as the greatest time possi#le within Cu#an histor$( that #eing the hour to
#egin independence against all forms of Spanish repression' It should come as no
surprise that this ideal of radical antagonist re&olutionar$ #eha&ior associated with
:arti+s wor should continue within the *militant cinema+ tet of !o"r of the #"rnaces
and more so( is directl$ %uoted through intertitles with other post-colonial masters5
Articulated through three sections within the tet6 Notes and Testimonies on
Neocolonialism, 7iolence and LiberationKAct for Liberation and7iolence and
Liberation, Solanas and etino epose the current plight of the South American
continent' 7urthermore the$ chronicle the collision of two forms of ideological intent
/)eronism &s' - the militant fascism that followed1 that informs the creation of the
tet itself and the roles and responsi#ilities of the acti&e re&olutionar$ that is #orn
from the struggles that has a stranglehold o&er Argentina and Latin America as a
whole' The tet o&erall eists as a film-essa$ that s$stematicall$ eposes the
percei&ed causes and effects of this stranglehold( eemplified in its attac of the
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corrupt dictatorial oppression of enerals Juan Carlos 6nganWa( :arcelo Le&ingston
and Alejandro Lanusse and the actions of the Armed 7orces of Argentina as a whole
to protect the rights of the #ourgeois at the epense of the woring class' The film+s
attac against the coup dXetat dictatorial militanc$ of the Armed 7orces is pro&oed
and catal$.ed #$ Solanas and etino+s direct appeal to the )eronist-supporting
masses as the main catal$st for re&olutionar$ change' This )eronist position is not
directl$ cited until the second section of the tet /Act for Liberation8in order to eep
&ague its ideological concern for an$ neutral progressi&es( to eep ideological
considerations second #ehind an :anichean emphasis of ethics( and to a&oid an
Argentinean specificit$ within what is a continental wide criticism of imperialist
domination as a whole' )eronism /regardless of it #eing the main justification
according to the Argentinean go&ernment for the tet to #e censored and minimi.ed
#$ the authorities1 represents ideologicall$ an alternati&e to mainstream politics as
much as Third Cinema does to 7irst Cinema output' Literall$ %uoted as a *Third ,a$+
of political process( )eronism is a populist ideal that steers clear of communist and
capitalisms and refuses alignment with the left or right( instead seeing to mediate
class di&isional conflicts through free education( low income housing and free
medical care through wide nationali.ations /erassi !;01' Though it has #een
customi.ed /and critici.ed in man$ forms for its own forms of dictatorial tendencies1(
Juan omingo )erVn+s initial founding of the ideal since !=; and its foundations of
social justice( go&ernment authorit$ and economic independence saw it #ecome an
immensel$ adopted form of nationalism until )eron+s eile in !00 #$ militant
interference'
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Though this &ague form of )eronist intent to inspire the masses against the
Argentinean militanc$ regimes of 6ngania+s authoritarianism offers an o&erall
causalit$ of !o"r of the #"rnaces release and indeed the film har#ors large o&er
scaling o#jecti&es( the Cine Li#eraciVn group appl$ different aesthetic techni%ues for
different specificities in each section of the tet' In doing so( !o"r of the #"rnaces
represents significantl$ Third Cinema+s di&ersit$ as a film practice o&erall and the
importance of this di&ersit$ /through its immense popularit$ with audiences and
paradigmatic position of the output o&erall1 in seeing to agitate re&olutionar$ change
through cinema' As pre&iousl$ stated( one of Third Cinema+s aims is to challenge
pre&ious held notions of official histor$ and create its own re&isions of documented
chronologies /something post-colonialism and !o"r of the #"rnaces also attempt to
do1' Howe&er the numerous methods it attempts to do so in the case of this tet
represent the potential pathwa$s and opportunities 4ew Third Cinema has for the
future' The importance of this should not #e underestimated( especiall$ if Third
Cinema must stream-line( narrow or customi.e the categories that made it precisel$
re&olutionar$ in the past for a contemporar$ audience' In anal$.ing !o"r of the
#"rnaces/st$listic and thematic di&ersit$ in conjunction with the aforementioned
categories a#o&e( discussions of 4ew Third Cinema+s unsure position due to
glo#ali.ation( the trending of counter cultural themes for counter-producti&e causes
and the current uncertaint$ regarding the cinematic spectator can #e articulated'
)art 6ne( Neocolonialism and 7iolenceis perhaps the most prominentl$
eperimental of the three sections that sees to articulate its criticisms of official
histor$( cultural penetration #$ the ,est and the role of culture and the intellectual
through thirteen di&erse chapters' The tet o&erall implements collecti&e etracts
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2( deological 'ar( a long shot of a handheld camera tra&elling through the #ustling
streets of Fuenos Aires one e&ening and its penetrating and #right garish cultural
and commercial ad&ertising reinforces the off-putting *ideological frontiers+ that are
enforced upon the people' Howe&er( what #egins as an articulated argument of
*cultural penetration+ %uicl$ #ecomes a h$pnotic and distur#ing eploration of
cultural contradiction' ,estern roc and roll music rh$thmicall$ #egins an e&er
%uicening com#ination of newsreel and still photos com#ined with lurid .oom shots
of ,estern iconographic commodit$ images( oppressed protesters and the deceased
Latin American &ictims of dissent' Such hallucinogenic st$listic com#inations though
no dou#t are memora#le to emphasi.e and inform its own contentK the$ are also
implemented to reawaen the spectator from an$ consideration of passi&it$' 5&en
within the conclusion of Chapter !( Dependenceand the citing of imperialist staes in
national corporate monopolies &ia statistical data and percentages( the tet follows
perhaps a more dr$ and audio-centred scene with content that admittedl$ awaens
and demands the full attention of the spectator' This scene is the fran and
unforgi&ing eploration of the high amount of illiterate Latin Americans /se&ent$
million1 li&ing across the continent that is epressed &ia long handheld shots
eploring the woring class Fuenos Aires districts and actual inter&iews with the
woring class Argentineans currentl$ li&ing within less than accepta#le shant$ towns'
Such wide shifts in pace though designed to jolt all spectators to attention are also
an effecti&e strateg$ to force the audience to acnowledge and tae sides' As 8o#ert
Stam writesto choose one+s death is
to choose one+s life? at which the luewarm entertainment-seeer might feel
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that the demands for commitment ha&e escalated unaccepta#l$+ /Stam
!!
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moment $et emphasi.es the support for its )resident through a reliance on
epositor$ documentar$ and newsreel footage of a nostalgia populism and
nationalist unit$ of the countr$' This unit$ is #ased in particular on an emphasis of
the national traged$ of 5&a )eron+s death /)eron+s wife and Argentinean icon1 and
the wide class support )eronism had in contrast with the &iolent repressi&e actions of
the militar$ /in particular the mass slaughter of ci&ilians during the !00 )la.a de
:a$o demonstrations in Fuenos Aires1' Though argua#l$ not as etremist in st$le as
its former section( its content this time articulates a narrating &oice that is scathing to
the current regime in power while cele#rator$ /and grie&ing1 of a lost and populist
supporting go&ernmental power' The second Chronicle section conse%uentl$
#ecomes a much more personal process of inter&iew and reflection techni%ues in
order to emphasi.e the &ast indi&idual struggles of a wider class group and their own
dedication to a political regime that has now #een literall$ eiled' This transition from
a critical epositor$ documentar$ format towards a more reflecti&e testimon$ of
personal comrade+s efforts is undou#tedl$ effecti&e in foregrounding the proletariat+s
demands in the face of &ast oppression /7ilm Image ;1' et it is also is an
in&estigati&e reminder of the power of the filmic e&ent itself and the personal
discussion and inter&iew process that informs the film+s own ehi#ition techni%ue'
Though as pre&iousl$ stated less radical in aesthetics( its dualit$ as a critical
perspecti&e and also an effecti&e and resounding cr$ for &iolent re&olutionar$ action
for the spectator should not #e underestimated'
)art 3( 7iolence ; Liberationis dedicated directl$ *to the new man that will #e #orn
during this war of li#eration+ to create *man$ Gietnams+ against the imperialist forces
of militanc$ that ha&e #een counter-producti&e to the independent freedom of e&er$
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man( woman and child in Latin America' The most prominent form of cinematic
acti&ism within the entire tet( the concluding part of the epic documentar$ consists
of testimonies and reconstructi&e tours of re&olutionar$ fighters detailing the
despica#le actions of mass murder and torture at the hands of the authoritarian
state' Anal$.ing in particular the justification for &iolence /#oth against them in their
own oppression and their own re&olutionar$ counter-actions1( the tet is &er$ much at
this point still under construction' 5mphasi.ing this constructi&eness eplicitl$
through intertitles( the tet here sees to progressi&el$ add further scenes detailing
the process of national li#eration as a chronicle of re&olutionar$ action with its
ultimate goal #eing to topple the corrupti&e parties at the heart of Argentinean /and
Latin American1 politics' Though ultimatel$ this constructi&eness was ne&er
epanded upon #$ the Cine Li#eraciVn group( the act itself represents Third
Cinema+s wider attempts to directl$ in&ol&e itself with its people through a
progressi&e and personal relationship of contetual specificit$ and historiographical
hori.ontalism /see chapter four1' This short part concludes with an attempt at
articulating an allegiance #etween Latin American and South Asian re&olutionaries
and a cr$ for transnational assistance of *militant internationalism+( stating that
*imperialism that does not stand a chance+ against this united socialist and
progressi&e force' Though such an am#itious plea can certainl$ #e articulated #$ a
single tet( it ultimatel$ cannot #e achie&ed without &ast tets that flood a nation+s
cultural output' At the moment( the$ remain #lurred &isions of light within an
otherwise darened tunnel( an image directl$ cited through the tet+s flirtations with
a&ant-garde eperimentalism reminiscent of Stan Frahage+s &isual phenomena
shorts /7ilm Image "1' Though indeed ideals( Solanas himself contri#utes further with
this cultural output with a concluding film score that he personall$ wrote that
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reinforces the importance of e&er$ indi&idual spectator+s discussions of the tet and
more importantl$ their own actions towards Latin America+s *unresol&ed pro#lems+
through its l$rical nostalgic instrumental reminiscent of tradition' The tet re&eals a
final panning shot of an industriali.ed Fuenos Aires as a final reminder at what is at
stae for e&er$ fighter willing to em#race the need for social change through &iolent
re&olutionar$ #eha&ior and potentiall$( indi&idual mart$rdom'
!o"r of the #"rnaces eists as tet that articulates precisel$ the less precise
re&olutionar$ categories discussed within this chapter a#o&e( #ut it is also a tet that
epresses a di&ersit$ /though indeed criticall$1 of thematic political agendas of #oth
Cine Li#eraciVn+s &ague )eronist ideolog$ and the militant fascist dictatorship that
followed the )resident+s eile' 7urthermore( it champions a di&ersit$ of aesthetics
that encompasses nearl$ all of the dedicated idealistic st$les of the Third Cinema
artistic manifestos through its differing o#jecti&e chapters' et( as a landmar tet of
*militant cinema+ and Third Cinema as a whole( it also represents optimism in regards
to the current idealistic position of 4ew Third Cinema and its transcultural
applica#ilit$ across wide socio-historic contets across the world' Though
undou#tedl$ the stated categories a#o&e all com#ine to create a re&olutionar$
cultural output( within the current unsure climate of cinema distri#ution and ehi#ition
techni%ues( political reconfigurations and commoditi.ed counter-cultural
populari.ations( such categories are perhaps no longer re&olutionar$ toda$'
)otentiall$( such categories must #e customi.ed( minimi.ed or sacrificed completel$
if Third Cinema wishes to still #e considered a cinematic output $et still enjo$ a wide
and considered ehi#ition and release process to incite social change' 8egardless(
within chapter fi&e I will attempt to discuss a potential fresh form in which these
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categories can #e epressed in order to #e still considered a re&olutionar$ cinematic
output within a climate that perhaps can no longer #e compati#le with its original
forms' Howe&er( #efore such discussions can #e made I would now lie to turn to
Third Cinema+s second informing facet( its theoretical position within academic
circles in order to discuss wh$ /and later how1 a justification for Third Cinema still
eists indeed in terms of its own production( #ut also theoreticall$ within the wors of
film theor$ and wider academia'
Academic Justification for 4ew Third Cinema O Said+s
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*He emplo$s two main strategies< the first is to locate what he sees as
damning logical contradictions or flaws which would undermine the
soundness of the argumentK the second is to deli#eratel$ misunderstand an
argument #$ construing it literall$ or ingenuousl$ in order to emphasi.e its
a#surdit$' This tone of pee&ish arrogance %uicl$ maes for tiresome reading'
An ine&ita#le draw#ac to this insistence on the lac of intellectual rigour
elsewhere is that it draws attention to the lac of sophistication of his own
engagement with other writersX wor+ /!!;
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struggle for wider recognition' As I will demonstrate #elow( this struggle does not
re%uire further assistance'
As the onl$ #ranch of film theor$ that did not originate within a specificall$ 5uropean
or American contet and one with an etremel$ precise historical and ideological
relationship with its indi&idual target audience( Third Cinema has endured difficult$ in
de&eloping itself through theoretical discourses' espite its full attention from
indigenous academics and intellectuals who are full$ nowledgea#le of its aims and
outloos( Third Cinema was su#se%uentl$ distant geographicall$ from the nucleus of
critical interacti&it$ in 5urope and the SA on emergence' It initiall$ too the form of
idealistic manifestos from a polemical collection of a&ant-garde artists each with
differing st$listic #acgrounds and ideological approaches on a local( national and
international scale' Ideall$( these polemical manifestos and the film groups who
wrote them would ha&e #een collecti&el$ positioning together a critical practice in
which differences of form and st$le are discussed secondar$ #ehind cinematic
utterance of ideolog$ within a socio-historic contet' Howe&er( Third Cinema in fact
irregularl$ emerged around the glo#e #$ different filmmaers with theories
unaccommodating and contradictor$ to each other+s ideals' Com#ined further with its
confrontational approach to all forms of 5urocentrism( Third Cinema apparentl$
>laced the coherence that would ha&e won it either the censures or *appro&al+ of
Fordwell or Carroll@the epistephilic and logocentric enterprise of ,estern theor$?
/uneratne 2993
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the epense of new de#ates within the #odies of wor that inform Third Cinema+s
de&elopment' In anal$sing recent articles and essa$s that discuss and reflect on
Third Cinema and its output( I am alarmed #$ the consistent relia#ilit$ man$ of its
theorists place on its o&er-used( dated and perhaps now restricti&e collection of
wor' The almost constant #analit$ of reproduced ,estern discussions of 7anon for
eample without a fresh insight into contemporar$ methodologies themsel&es
epitomi.es an academic complacenc$ of perspecti&e the majorit$ of academics ha&e
when dealing with *other+ histories from a predominantl$ 5uro-American position' The
fetishi.ed o#session with writers such as 7anon /who argua#l$ has contri#uted
enough to post-colonial cinema1 #$ writers such as 4igel C' i#son /2993 O 291
and Lewis 8' ordon /!!0 O !!;1 and the eclusion of other academics /such as
the pre&iousl$ stated tra&el writers of )ico I$er and er&la :urph$1 incorrectl$
suggests that Third Cinema presents a singular post-colonial &iew' Instead( it is a
rich and comple cinematic practice in which &arious di&erse signif$ing #odies of
wor can inform its st$le( ideological position and socio-historic contet' A
disinclination to discuss and champion these fresh academic forms of thining is
matched onl$ #$ a frustrating outrecuidance of ,estern intellects in their refusal to
reconsider an$thing other than contemporar$ 5uro-American models of thought'
Though these wors are not the most ph$sicall$ accessi#le pieces( the$ represent
perspecti&es awa$ from the #anal and constrained landmars of acclaimed post-
colonial literature' Instead the$ re%uire a grasp of specific socio-historic information
and critical notions of historiograph$( post-colonialism and the technicalities of
political science and sociolog$ in order to #rea down academic #arriers of *us+
against *other+' In understanding the technicalities of specific forms of the humanities
and drawing on eact socio-historic information regarding the e&ent in %uestion( the
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#arriers #etween ,estern thiners and the rest of the free-thining world can #e
o#literated' As post-colonial theorist :argarita Sanche. )rietoa writes in discussing
5uro-centric a#solutes of truth and post-colonial culture< >The *other+ has #een
defined( %ualified and represented( utilising ,estern parameters and terms@this
originates in the ignorance of an *other+ theor$ which would rescue us from the
monism of ,estern thought? /299
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thought' Howe&er(
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/!"collecti&e notion of *identif$ing+ >us? 5uropeans against all
those >non-5uropeans? /!"
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and intellectual communit$( 6rient nowledge is ultimatel$ moulded #$ the
ideological prejudices of specific authors which are then spread throughout 5urope'
This is hegemon$ according to ramsci< >the gaining of legitimate consent of 6rient
as *6therB within the functional uni&erse of ci&il societ$( as opposed to simpl$ holding
it together through a monopol$ on the means of &iolence? /Adamson !3that of the international
critic who nows little a#out Thai histor$ or localisms( as opposed to that of a
locali.ed spectator with a wider and more nuanced appreciation of Thai histor$ and
custom? /299
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socio-historic contet /one that could #e discussed through a historiographical
process of research1( Suter suggests that ?ncle Boonmee 'ho Can +ecall !is -ast
Li%es suffersthrough a process of misrepresentation in its ehi#ition that undermines
the wor as one >unmoored in deciphera#le meaning? /299unchallenged and un%uestioned in the film itself?
/!=
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emphasi.es the issues at hand #ut lea&es the &iewer to implement the solutions
re%uired' It is not a tet that reflecti&el$ de#ates the trou#les of !;9s Argentina #ut
one that emphasi.es them and eposes them within a specificall$ aggressi&e contet
for a specificall$ learned and passi&el$ aggressi&e spectator' This is a particular fine
eample of how Third Cinema functions and addresses its spectator' It is aggressi&e
in its articulation and #om#ards the aware and socio-historicall$ learned spectator
with the pro#lems of societ$ and dominant culture while satisf$ing their resistance to
#e manipulated #$ that dominant culture' Though the spectator is directl$ satisfied #$
their resistance to dominant culture &ia the ehi#ition process of Third Cinema( !o"r
of the #"rnaces reinforces further the spectator+s oppositional /Xcounter-hegemonicX1
reading of dominant culture /Hall !9
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#$ machine-gun fire sound ecerpts that #uild to the h$pnotic and rh$thmic nature of
the film and reinforce the direct negati&it$ of the situation that re%uires for direct
interference to le&el the corrupt finances of the countr$' Though we ha&e discussed
other eamples within !o"r of the #"rnaces, itsinsistence on the open nature of
interpretation of the final part of the film 7iolence ; Liberation/ and the contri#uti&e
nature of reports and testimonies it is comprised of further underlines the rejection of
dominant cultural codes within the indi&idual' Though Ste&en 4eale critici.es the tet
for its lac of &alidit$ or scope( to the trained and learned socio-historic spectator( it
isn+t re%uired' Instead( the$ are gi&en the information and tools to de#ate the
incidents depicted on screen and the moti&ation and inspiration the spectator needs
to continue with their rejection of eploitation( oppression and imperialism' !o"r of
the #"rnaces/jutaposing of the death and #urial of an indigenous local re&olutionar$
in northern Argentina with the fi&e minute image of a Christ-lie iconi.ed Che
ue&era as he lies dead following his eecution from the failed Foli&ian re&olution at
the conclusion of part one /Neocolonialism and 7iolence/1 emphasi.es further this
moti&ation'
Julianne Furton+s journal article *:arginal Cinemas O :ainstream Critical Theor$+
/!!31 is another eample of wor that eplicitl$ champions and prioriti.es ,estern
thining( one that is ultimatel$ arrogant in its writing and counter-producti&e to Third
Cinema+s growth' Furton+s main argument is the assertion that ,estern theor$ is
#lindl$ more criticall$ effecti&e and can #e com#ined with underde&eloped *Third
,orld+ theories in dealing with Third Cinema' Throughout her piece within $creen/s
*6ther Cinemas( 6ther Criticisms+ special issue( Furton champions a &ague form of
*ps$chod$namics+ to critici.e indigenous Third Cinema theoretical output' Her
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emphasis on the ps$chological forces that underlie human #eha&ior within film theor$
taes into account ps$choanal$tical considerations of Third Cinema filmmaers to
create >a less ,esterni.ed indi&iduall$-#ased notion of li&ing-in-the-world? /!!3
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undermines the efforts of Third Cinema filmmaers as #eing inherent with the
coloni.er *master+ who must guide the coloni.ed towards a pre-colonial ignorance of
histor$( progress and nowledge [12].
3' Furton assumes that ,estern semiotics and theories are applica#le to Third
Cinema tets' 8egardless of presumptions that these theories can ascend social-
historic contets and language #arriers( it also maes a damning &aluation of
spectatorship theories as #eing transparent and negotia#le' As Teshome writes once
more /who Furton consistentl$ mis%uotes1< >The issue of transparenc$ should #e
looed at within a specific cultural-historical contet' ,hat is not transparent for a
,estern &iewer is transparent enough in its own contet' 7or instance( Third ,orld
ethnographic films tend to #e &iewed as political in the countr$ of their origin( while
the$ are &iewed as eotica outside it'? /!;
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auteurDm$thical ps$choanal$tical approach to anal$sis' As a ,estern researcher who
wishes to assist in Third Cinema indigenous theorists o#ligation /and right1 to
enlighten( Furton+s notions pro&oes m$self /a film theorist seeing to champion a
Cultural Studies inspired historiographical approach to Third Cinema1 just as it
would the most dedicated post-colonial theorist /and the aim to challenge and
rein&ent cultural perception1'
8eturning to 5dward Said once more( his notion of 6rientalism within his post-
colonial piece are asserted eclusi&el$ /for the most part1 to late !thand earl$ 29th
scholarship' et its notions of septicism within academia #ased on assumptions
and ignorance of *other+ theories( practices( ideals( #eliefs and methods can #e ain
to the present struggles Third Cinema has toda$' This can #e eemplified #$ Third
Cinema+s su#se%uent malnourishment #$ ,estern academics( critics and
researchers such as Furton( 4eale( Fordwell or Carroll' Said+s #oo is illustrati&e in
this respect of a theoretical despondenc$ within Third Cinema writings /and
su#se%uentl$ a justification for fresh contemporar$ insights1' et it is also illustrati&e
of Third Cinema tets themsel&es and the reactionar$ measure the$ tae to the
eplicit traces of 6rientalism e&ident within Holl$wood and 7irst Cinemas' Though
the application of Said+s wor has #een positi&el$ em#raced for the most part #e$ond
post-colonial theor$( it has also #een eemplified further #$ Holl$wood cinema,estern narrati&e and ethnographic cinemas inherited the narrati&e and &isual
traditions( as well as the cultural assumptions to which 6rientalism was #ased
allowing filmmaers to disco&er how popular 6rientalism could #e? /Fernstein
!!"
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per&asi&e and consistent portra$al of *other+ stereot$pes( man$ theorists ha&e
argued that Holl$wood has continuousl$ and consistentl$ produced films that
preser&ed a#surd stereot$pical notions of the language( milieu( ideologies and
traditions of distant cultures' 4ajat ajani for eample #rands &arious tets such as
The $hei9 /!21 and La=erence of Arabia /!;21 amongst others as >reinforcing
the segregation policies adhered to #$ coloni.ing powers? /2999
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remains' 7irstl$ I will emphasi.e further the current incompati#ilit$ of ,estern
theories such as auteur studies as #eing completel$ counter-producti&e to Third
Cinema+s grow' I will then champion a fresh form of film theor$( a Cultural Studies-
inspired historiographical approach< at first detailing this approach and then appl$ing
it to potential 4ew Third Cinema tet Nostalgia for the Light, I will champion this form
of critical thining as the singular form of anal$sis researchers must implement when
anal$sing indi&idual Third Cinema tets outside the specific geographical( social(
political and ideological #oundaries that informed their production' In seeing to
specificall$ articulate the form re%uired within academia to discuss Third Cinema
eactl$ from its #irth( I will not onl$ contest Fritish filmmaer John Aomfrah+s !!;
statement at a conference for African cinema that *Third Cinema is dead+ #ut
propose that it is in fact &er$ much ali&e /although perhaps under the guises and
forms of new practices of filmmaing1 and therefore re%uires contemporar$ tools and
approaches to dri&e forward #oth facets that inform it as a cinematic practice' In
defining these tools( we can ultimatel$ define where it is now'
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Historiograph$( Nostalgia for the Light O 8esearching 4ew Third Cinema
5isting as a &ast and perhaps somewhat o&erwhelming film practice( Third
Cinema+s aforementioned re&olutionar$ categories in chapter one are all crucial in
com#ining together to create the eemplar$ antagonistic political and cultural cinema
demonstrated a#o&e' This essa$ has so far sought to reiterate the foundational
categories that encompass Third Cinema+s uni%ueness in its forms and operations
and emphasi.e an academic justification for 4ew Third Cinema anal$sis toda$' et it
now must turn to the methodolog$ itself and clarif$ how it is to #e researched and
eplored particularl$ for researchers and theorists eisting within ,estern circles of
thought' )re&iousl$( I ha&e critici.ed the apparent arrogance of some past ,estern
writers and their wors for seeing to adapt Third Cinema into an unmanagea#le
form of uni&ersal understanding or for #latantl$ ignoring it due to its ina#ilit$ to do so'
Howe&er( I ha&e remained slightl$ ha.$ on the re%uired methodolog$ that should #e
implemented in its place to counter-act against this' et now I would lie to present a
form of Cultural Studies inspired-historiographical approach in researching Third
Cinema tets' It is a method that not onl$ %uestions the limitations of past historical
approaches #ut also precisel$ contetuali.es the social( economic and cultural
consciousness of a nation within a certain time period that Third Cinema tets
themsel&es attempt to do' 8einforcing this method further through an anal$sis of
*4ew+ Third Cinema tet /apotentialform of new political cinema rather than a
certainone1 Nostalgia for the Light( I will champion this methodolog$ as the singular
form of research &alid for those looing to research Third Cinema outside the
national realms of their indi&idual production'
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the camera' Instead( it must see to ehausti&el$ contetuali.e e&er$ indi&idual tet(
in particular emphasi.ing how this contetuali.ation would contri#ute to the formation
of a singular re&olutionar$ consciousness' A historiographical approach is the
ultimate wa$ of achie&ing this'
In introducing historiograph$ I immediatel$ must defend it &ia a concise description(
eliminating an$ form of similarit$ with the *end of histor$+( which was declared #$
post-modern theorists such as L$otard' 8ather( the rise of the historiographical turn
in the !!9s saw the reemergence of historical research( this time stronger and more
self-aware than e&er #efore' 4ow( historians are currentl$ more interested in
%uestions of how histor$ is written' 8ather than just assuming that histor$ eists and
onl$ has to #e written( historians now %uestion themsel&es on the &er$ practice of
writing histor$' 5dward Hallett CarrXs #oo *'hat is !istory@/was one of the first
wors to acnowledge the limitations of traditional histor$' 6ne of the points that Carr
emphasi.es in his #oo is the selecti&e nature historians ha&e in their writingsThe facts spea onl$ when the historian calls on them< it is he who decides to
which fact to gi&e the floor( and in what order or contet'''The historian is
necessaril$selecti%e? /!;
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5urocentric and strangel$ o#sessed with this singular great man theor$ of histor$ is
the prominent reason for this'
ue to the selecti&e nature of the historian( the rise of historiograph$ has seen less
an emphasis on simple &ertical chronological narrati&es of histor$ #ut in fact a
hori.ontal approach which contetuali.es each era #$ anal$.ing wider practices as a
whole' Clarif$ing further( in the >post-postmodern? period( it is now agreed upon that
the past is not just a more >primiti&e? step towards the present' 8ather( periods in the
past are studied on their own terms' 7or instance( film historians looing at the #irth
of cinema circa !0K do not onl$ loo at the earl$ LumiYre #rothers+ cinmatographe
as a primiti&e step towards more >e&ol&ed? film technologies' 8ather the$ stud$ what
else was going on in !0K in terms of earl$ film technolog$ of course( #ut also in
terms of other technological de&elopments( as well as in terms of cultural and social
practices to get a contet of !0 and how cinema graduall$ came to the foreground
of the entertainment industr$' :ichel 7oucault was the most influential proponent of
this hori.ontal approach to histor$( what he called the >Archeolog$ of nowledge?'
7oucault argued that historical research should loo at historical documents not in
order to esta#lish chronologies of e&ents or to eplain those e&ents( #ut rather to
identif$ the discourses that led to and resulted from those e&ents' In his !"2 #oo(
The Archeology of Kno=ledge( 7oucault eplains how documents from the past were
once seen as a unified o#ject that could #e used to re-construct the past' 4ow
howe&er( documents from the past are no longer seen as accurate records( #ut
rather as a group of elements in comple relations with other documents that are in
constant interaction with one another
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*Histor$ now organi.es the document( di&ides it up( distri#utes it( orders it(
arranges it in le&els( esta#lishes series ''' The document( then( is no longer for
histor$ an inert material through which it tries to reconstitute what men ha&e
said and done ''' Histor$ is now tr$ing to define within the documentar$
material itself( unities( totalities( series( relations'+ /!"2
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Cinema tets1 in that time and place' oing so will result in comprehending the
eperiences of the indi&idual spectator that each Third Cinema attempts to resonate
with' Certainl$( such a comprehension would assist in enlightening us further to
discussions of spectatorship and *the filmic e&ent+' et( the$ would ultimatel$ grant
e&en the most ,esterni.ed of researchers( the full perception of the Third Cinema
tet in relation to the categories mentioned in the first chapter and how the film as a
whole contri#uted /or perhaps failed to contri#ute1 to the formation of a re&olutionar$
consciousness for a specific aim' 8egardless( this historiographical approach for
researching and anal$.ing is certainl$ suita#le for Third Cinema precisel$ #ecause
these film tets see to articulate an unspoen and undocumented form of *histor$+
themsel&es< the eploitation and injustices against its people( while in turn critici.ing
the limitations of past *official+ documentations of histor$'
et( in seeing to eplain eactl$ how a historiographical approach to Third Cinema
and its contetuali.ation of an era can relate specificall$ to a re&olutionar$ wa$ of
thining( I would lie to cite 7oucauldian film historian :ichYle Lagn$' ,ithin his
essa$s( Lagn$ articulates a historiographical approach of *hori.ontal+ film research
which emphasi.es in turn the relationship of the film tet to other human actionsfleeting moments? caught
#$ the light from the camera taes tin$ millions of second to #e processed through
the lens' ala. later continues #$ theori.ing that human #ones are made up of
calcium that is constantl$ #eing processed and rec$cled from energ$ from the stars
and the #ig #ang' His comments are then jutaposed with slide images of asteroid
#elts passing high a#o&e the Atacama esert with the indistinguisha#le images of
fossili.ed #ones within the soil #eing eca&ated #$ the female relati&es of the dead'
ala.+s comments certainl$ emphasi.e the indistinguisha#le nature of past to
present #$ underlining the two seemingl$ unrelated searches in histor$ *hori.ontall$+
com#ined through the materialit$ of what all human action is literall$ achie&ed #$' His
notions of the ne&er-ending search within histor$ further counter-act the illusion of
*a#solute truth+ that has #een championed #$ the selecti&e nature of the Fordwell
and Carroll historians we ha&e eamined' et furthermore( ala. is also a#le to
position cinema within this ne&er ending temporalit$ #$ reflecting on a
historiographical approach to cinema' The process of filming is understood #$ ala.
as a historical document that does not present a window into a current moment
fro.en in time #ut rather it represents a millionth of a second of the past' Such an
understanding of cinema as less of a time-capsule of the present #ut rather a form of
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Nostalgia in fact underlines conceptions of remem#rance and nostalgia aimed at the
Chilean population through a su#jecti&e eploration into some of its most affected
people toda$' Though the tet certainl$ emphasi.es the process of disco&er$ and the
act of understanding the pasts of cosmological astronom$ and ancient ci&ili.ations( it
also underlines the specific reactions and catal$sts man$ Chileans ha&e undergone
due to recent histor$' Nostalgia highlights this reaction #$ connecting original
Chilean Third Cinema tets directl$ to Lagn$+s notions of *social ha#its+ that were
informed #$ them through the inter&iew with astronomer Galentina 8odrWgue.'
Though Galentina initiall$ appears to #e included within the tet to offer scientific
contetuali.ation similar to ala.( she in fact has a much more poignant relationship
to )inochet+s regime and Third Cinema tet themsel&es' 7eatured as a child in
newsreel footage of u.man+s epositor$ documentar$ $al%ador Allende /299=1(
Galentina sadl$ lost her parents to )inochet+s regime of the *disappeared+ due to the
manipulation of her grandparents at the hands of the Chilean police' Such a tragic
loss at the hands of a repressi&e go&ernment and her famil$+s o&erall interaction with
the re&olutionar$ form of cultural and social #eha&ior is seen to directl$ inspire her
em#racing of astronom$ as a personal and professional output' Galentina
understands her wor into the origin of life as a therapeutic resolution of the acts that
ha&e oppressed her own through her reciting of the theor$ of that which maes up
humans is eactl$ the same to particles within the cosmos' As she states( >we are all
part of a current[of energ$[of rec$cla#le matter'''it frees me a little from this great
suffering as I feel that nothing reall$ comes to an end?' Her em#racing of her wor
can #e understood as a form of ultimate remem#rance of her famil$( the loss of
others within )inochet+s regime and most poeticall$ of all( an$ human #eing dealing
with grief and loss #$ understanding humanit$+s position in the constant rec$cling
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process of planets and stars' et rather than emphasi.e this loss as through the
militant antagonism of his past tets( u.man instead reflects on it #ut also offers
hope that this c$cle of *rec$cla#le matter+ will fore&er continue' This is most
satisf$ingl$ portra$ed through the image of Galentina holding her new #orn child
within her arms and silentl$ rocing him to sleep /7ilm Image !1' As someone directl$
informed #$ /and in&ol&ed in1 the cultural mo&ement that Chilean Third Cinema
eists as a *hori.ontal+ document within( Galencia represents an indi&idual whom has
undertaen a reactionar$ cultural #eha&ior of remem#rance in order to
therapeuticall$ deal with the grief su#jected to her #$ )inochet+s regime'
Though such an act of historical remem#rance and the informing of cultural #eha&ior
of a re&olutionar$ era /that Third Cinema contri#utes to1 within Chilean histor$
resonate with earlier discussions of Lagn$+s idealistic historiographical approach(
u.man also discusses the rejection of remem#rance and accounta#ilit$ through
further su#jecti&e interactions with other Chileans' In seeing to anal$.e something
much wider and on a planetar$ scale( the tet articulates a distinct pride and dignit$
to reminiscing and rearticulating a#out the specificit$ of )inochet+s regime toda$ at
the epense of an arrogance to its past' u.man himself opens the tet with a
discussion a#out his lo&e of astronom$ as a child as we eplore a series of ordinar$
house-hold o#jects that eorci.e the mundane #ut also the tran%uil and peaceful era
of his Chilean childhood( >where nothing e&er happened@onl$ the present eisted?'
Though the Chilean re&olution destro$ed such peace( u.man continuall$
emphasi.es throughout the tet the lac of historical accounta#ilit$ within the
population when it comes to eorcising the political demons of )inochet+s era'
Though the interactions with the relati&es of the *disappeared+ are composed with the
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dignit$ and fragilit$ the$ deser&e( it is the stor$ of LuWs Henri%ue.( a sur&i&or of
)inochet+s Chaca#uco concentration camp( whom represents #oth the power of
nostalgia connecti&it$ for the #enefits of histor$ and wh$ contemporar$ Chile must
come to terms with the atrocities of )inochet+s regime' nlie past inter&iews of
simple face to face interactions( Henri%ue. is not properl$ introduced in order to
simpl$ spea in front of the camera( rather in this instance there is more of an
emphasis on the #urned out ruins of the camp itself and his own contri#uti&e memor$
of it' In reminiscing of his time within the concentration camp and particularl$ the
e&enings he and his fellow prisoners would spend star-ga.ing at the constellations(
Henri%ue.+s *personal histor$ is lined with facts' 7acts that are almost as o#jecti&e
as the scientific ones@ LuWs is the representati&e of the power of the memor$+
/2931' Henri%ue.+s a#ilit$ to recite the names from memor$ of his *disappeared+
comrades from a list imprinted onto a faded and ruined wall of the camp is a
testament to this power' ,e are also introduced to :iguel Lawner( a fellow camp
prisoner #etween !"3 and !"=' nown as the *architect of memories+( Lawner has
the uni%ue a#ilit$ to recreate to the precise dimensions the #lueprints of the camp
itself and implements a disciplined methodolog$ in order to #ecome reac%uainted
with the surrounding /#ut now non-eistent1 guard towers and #arracs' et( as
much as Lawner and Henri%ue. em#od$ willingness for remem#rance and reflection
of recent histor$( Lawner+s wife Anita /whom was also su#jected to go&ernmental
repression1 represents forgetfulness and the loss of the connection with the past
s$mptomatic of the Chilean people' iagnosed with a late stage of Al.heimer+s
disease and ultimatel$ unresponsi&e to the atrocities of the !"9s( Anita em#odies a
rejection /al#eit an in&oluntar$ one1 that seems to ha&e #ecome the norm for the
general population'
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Nostalgia for the Lighto&erall represents itself as a form of cinema championing a
historiographical approach to documents' It is a tet that &oices a personal $et still
nationalist truthfulness towards the political Chilean reconfigurations of the !"9s
while paradoicall$ articulating it on a wider scale that encompasses all life on 5arth
and what all human #eings comprise of' Articulating cinema itself as less of a fro.en
window of time #ut as a representation of the past( it positions Third Cinema
*hori.ontall$+( eisting as a cultural output that contri#utes to a wider
contetuali.ation of a specific period in time' et Nostalgialie the pre&iousl$
stated methodolog$ also goes e&en further' Though it offers a contet for this period
in time( it also eplicitl$ reflects on the cultural #eha&iors that are directl$ responsi#le
#$ it and how their populari.ation amongst some of the Chilean people came to
pass' 7urthermore( it also /lie original Third Cinema output1 criticall$ argues for an
idealistic change in popular ideological and societal thining( in this case( the
remem#rance and reconsideration of the atrocities committed #$ the go&ernmental
authorities that directl$ informs the content of the film' 6ffering a contetuali.ation of
modern da$ Chile through the #eha&iors of some of its people while also informing
the !"9+s re&olutionar$ era and the original Chilean Third Cinema tets that
*hori.ontall$+ inform that period( Nostalgia can also contri#ute much more' 4otions
of memor$( the past and the present are perfectl$ suited for eleu.ian philosophical
discussions of *the cr$stal image+ /:artin-Jones( 291' 7urthermore( the tet could
also offer #oth personali.ed and theoretical insights into the championing of
anarchist pro-feminist mo&ements within Chile in the !"9+s /7ra.ier 299"
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form of re&olutionar$ thining to its people' F$ anal$.ing the period *hori.ontall$+
through related documents and then anal$.ing the successful /or unsuccessful1
reactionar$ #eha&iors that arose from that era that Third Cinema contri#uted to( e&en
the most ,esterni.ed research has the opportunit$ to understand the socio-historic
specificities that inform the uni%ue re&olutionar$ categories of each Third Cinema
tet' et( when anal$.ing the tet as a form ofpotentialThird Cinema rather than a
ne= one( it resem#les a certain swan-song for u.man+s film group' It seems almost
a channeling form of acceptance towards the demons of political repression that the$
ha&e spent their whole li&es challenging' It certainl$ can #e reinforced in comparison
to the antagonistic aesthetic implemented within their past militant tets' Such
differences /and argua#l$ the o&erall sacrificing1 of some aforementioned
re&olutionar$ categories that are the foundation to original Third Cinema tets are
certainl$ distressing towards articulating how 4ew Third Cinema tets eist toda$' As
we will now in&estigate( does it e&en eist an$more under its original forms and
guises or does it eist now as something %uite difference and perhaps
unrecogni.a#le to the original idealistic &isions of the pastM
4ew Third Cinema O $ecret City
So far throughout this essa$ I ha&e attempted to outline as precisel$ as possi#le the
re&olutionar$ categories that comprise the uni%ue foundations for Third Cinema
output from its prominentl$ Latin American origins' I ha&e then interrogated the
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e%uall$-informed theoretical facet of Third Cinema( justif$ing the re%uirement of
future theoretical de&elopments /this essa$ included1 into Third Cinema #$
emphasi.ing its current lac of critical articulation and its less than etensi&e
histories in wider and suita#le forms of ,estern academia' 7urthermore( this
justification has #een further emphasi.ed through the application of a compati#le and
idealistic methodological anal$sis( a Cultural-studies historiographical
contetuali.ation of Third Cinema inspired #$ :ichel 7oucault and :ichYle Lagn$'
et now I would lie to spea with a certain degree of specificit$ regarding 4ew Third
Cinema itself' Initiall$ interrogating the current suita#ilit$ of the categories which
made it originall$ re&olutionar$ in the present da$( I will then appl$ these categories
to critical and marginali.ed Fritish documentar$ $ecret City in order to understand
full$ if the original and idealistic &ision of Third Cinema can eist toda$ and if not(
what does it eist asM
7irstl$( I feel I must #riefl$ justif$ the self-informed title I ha&e granted this
contemporar$ form of political output< 4e