Screening Peru

While I was disappointed that the majority of Kristal's essay consisted of plot summaries of Lombardi's movies, I was interested by his conclusion that the modes of Peruvian storytelling (whether on film or in print) reflect the rapid, haphazard modernization of Peru and contradictions of its reality. That culture is reflected both formally and contextually in art is not a new idea, but Kristal provides a good case study in the works of Vargas Llosa and Lombardi and the relationship between them.

Kristal's negative review of Captain Pantoja is discouraging. Hopefully it turns out to be better than he thought. (Saying that "the portrayal of the hardboiled radio announcer... is one of the few redeeming aspects of the film" (6) does not sound good.)

What did sound interesting was Kristal's description of "the real-time disintegration of relationships... played out across the landscapes of different media" (7) in Lombardi's What the Eye Doesn't See:

A moody television anchorman storms out of the tv studio where is girlfriend is acting in a soap opera; later, he watches her in the programme on the television in his flat; later again, we see her on the small screen of the building's cctv security system, ringing for admittance at his front door. (7)

Now that I'd like to see.