An academic paper I wrote on Peruvian Cinema, by examining the recent film, Cielo Oscuro (debuted last August at the Lima International Film Festival), by Peruvian filmmaker Joel Calero. I hope it sheds some light on the state of Cinema in Latin America with all its difficulties and beauty, and manages to be interesting.
Cielo Oscuro or Dark Heaven(2012) is the first feature length film by Peruvian director, Joel Calero.[i] It’s a gritty, urban drama set in Lima, Peru about a love affair troubled by insecurities. IMDB describes it as, “The intense and unpredictable romance between a tailor and a young drama student, who commissions him to make the costumes for her graduation play, takes a dark turn when he meets her former lovers and opens up the relentless spiral of jealousy and distrust.”[ii]
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Cielo Oscuro or Dark Heaven(2012) is the first feature length film by Peruvian director, Joel Calero.[i] It’s a gritty, urban drama set in Lima, Peru about a love affair troubled by insecurities. IMDB describes it as, “The intense and unpredictable romance between a tailor and a young drama student, who commissions him to make the costumes for her graduation play, takes a dark turn when he meets her former lovers and opens up the relentless spiral of jealousy and distrust.”[ii]
By examining Cielo
Oscuro, I will show the importance of Third World national cinemas to their
people as well as the incredible odds they must surmount to get made or be
seen, coming up against the international film world, particularly
Hollywood. My original contribution to academia
will be showing what happens when a small time, unknown filmmaker consciously
goes against commonly accepted road to success for Latin American
filmmakers. I shall do this by quickly
putting Cielo Oscuro into the context
of contemporary Peruvian cinema. Then
analyze the daring route Calero took with Cielo
Oscuro, when he decided to market his movie towards a specifically Peruvian
audience, instead of an international (film festival/art house) one. Finally, I will address the critical and
financial reception thus far, in relationship to and as a direct result of his
rebellious approach.
After receiving a post-graduate
degree in Hispanic Literature and years as a cinephile, he began to teach film
and cinematography classes at several Lima universities. Between 1996 and 2004, Calero made two award
winning shorts (one fiction, one documentary) and an award winning full-length
documentary, while still teaching. This
fairly well established him in the small Peruvian film community. Fortunately for him, the few survivors of the
older generation like Alberto “Chicho” Durant and Francisco Lombardi have
embraced him and a couple other filmmakers like Alvaro Velarde(Destiny Has No Favorites, 2003) and
almost taken them under their wings, as evidenced by the public conferences and
appearances with the young filmmakers.[iii]
As
with most Latin American filmmakers, especially in Peru that has had almost no
government assistance beginning with the Fujimori regime in 1992,[iv]
winning awards and putting together some principal funding is integral to
securing more financing from other sources.[v] In 2005, he won his first award (and the
prize money) for the script for Cielo
Oscuro.[vi] Since then he’s been amassing national and
international awards and prizes to invest in making the movie.[vii] He collected $300,000 USD, no small amount to
a university professor, but still not enough.
“Half a million dollars, that is what I have invested in this film” says
Calero, “and that figure is the minimum to invest in (Peruvian) cinema”.[viii] Calero emphasizes that even that sum is low
when compared to what films cost to make in nearby Colombia or Argentina. So, he began to borrow, wherever he could,
until he had the $500, 000. “Peruvian
films almost always have to be multi-financed” says Calero, “First by the
Cinema Organization, and then with international funds. There just isn’t any other way, usually. That’s how it works in most of the world,
outside Hollywood”[ix]
He goes on to say that this system of “passing around the sombrero(hat)”
between various possible financiers applies to all of Latin America, “and this
can take, two, four, even eight years” as in his case, unless, as with
Columbia, the government has set aside a larger portion of money specifically
for film.[x]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peruvian
cinema has, since the 80’s, been largely focused around the struggle
between the government and the Maoist rebel group, El Sendero Luminoso, or the
Shining Path.[xi] This conflict, which has claimed the lives of
thousands of Peruvians (mostly innocent civilians caught in the crossfire), has
so scarred the Peruvian psyche that all aspects of life seem to have been
affected by it. Excellent examples of
these films are, Dias de Santiago(Josue
Mendez, 2004), Bajo la piel,
(Lombardi, 1996) and La Teta Asustada
(Claudia Llosa, 2009).
Calero
has taken a major step away from this successful theme by treating what he sees
as more immediate in the lives of todays Peruvians. He says the movie is about, “the intimate
things that happen between a couple, in the innermost folds of their
relationship. About how the jealous
protagonist is, above all, the victim of himself.”[xii] He has also stated that the movie is about
the crisis of violence against women in Peru,[xiii]
as well facing the fact that Peruvian society as a whole suffers because they
haven’t found a way to be introspective in a healthy way because of a deep
rooted tension and inability to trust, starting from the government all the way
down.[xiv]
Chavarry
says in his interview with Calero, which is also part review of Cielo and commentary about its place
within Peruvian cinema, that sometimes it seems that films in Peru are made not
for its own people, but for foreign markets.[xv] “Something in the symbols, the aesthetics,
the perspective and the scripts make them more attractive to a European
audience or North American or Asian that might have their curiosity piqued by
the formula of exoticism + Latin American + Third World: Its the key to success for certain filmmakers
and artists in Peru, some with talent, some without. A cinematic look where sometimes…an entire
population is reduced to the character of a colony of insects: laboratory
animals.”[xvi]
Calero says he knew he was giving up the opportunity to
ride the film festival circuit around the world, “harvesting accolades and
trophies” along the way, when he decided to open it directly to the Peruvian
public. He didn’t wait “in vain for the
last eight long years of the production of his film”, he knew exactly what he
was doing. An act, which he
acknowledges, many consider to be suicide.
He says that parading your film around other countries before you
release it in your own country is an attempt to gain some prestige among
viewers, but that the masses don’t care what people outside the country
think. “On the contrary, I think Cielo
Oscuro’s appeal lies more in its story and actors, and that doesn’t need
festivals (to validate it)”.[xvii]
So Calero focused the movie more towards the Peruvian
people with no apparent regard for the international audience, this is
evidenced in the story as well as in the way it was marketed. The two main characters, Toño and Natalia,
are both believable characters from different social classes and
generations. All the characters are so
Limeño(meaning a person from Lima, the capital) that they could have been
plucked off the street. All the
locations and sets are gritty and realistic, shooting taking place in some of
Lima’s most well known (yet underrepresented in film) markets, streets and
bars. The dialogue is thick with Lima
slang and lingo, using foul language and colloquialisms that are only heard
there. The relationships between all the
characters and their behavior is all spot on, so raw and realistic (if not
always flattering) it’s reminiscent of Italian Neo-Realism, showing the dreary,
everyday life of normal people. It does
for Lima, in a way, what Amores Perros (Iñarritu,
2000) did for Mexico City.
As
for the marketing, it has all been done in Spanish. The two promotional posters for the film[xviii]
are geared towards the Peruvian audience:
The three biggest Peruvian actors have their names prominently
displayed, Lucho Casares, Sofia Humala and Mariela Zanetti. They both have the tagline, “Passion knows no
limits” and are overtly sexual. One of
them shows the couple in bed, with Natalia’s breasts exposed, although her
nipples have been airbrushed invisible and both posters have an image of
actress Mariela Zanetti, who has made a career and her substantial fame from
being a burlesque dancer and posing almost nude in all sorts of risqué Peruvian
publications and programs over the years.[xix] This seems to be very consciously to attract
the Peruvian movie going audience who supposedly are accustomed to nudity and
sex , although Calero adamantly denies it.[xx]
The
trailer is even more overtly aimed at the average Peruvian (or Limeño, really). Again in all Spanish, it has a Salsa music
track laid over most of it (Peruvians, famously, love Salsa music)[xxi],
it shows some of the more famous Lima locations and highlights a couple of
conversations which are particularly laced with Lima colloquialisms.[xxii]
Calero
maintains faith in the average filmgoer to see themselves in the realistic
depictions of Peruvians, to come out to support Peruvian home grown art and to
make the movie a hit by spreading word of mouth, the only real marketing tool
available to the small budgeted Peruvian filmmaker,[xxiii]
and he publically encourages them to do so.[xxiv]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Even with all the years of preparation and conscious
decision making meant to ensure success in the Peruvian market and put the
Peruvian audience first, Cielo Oscuro
still seems to be suffering the same fate as the rest of Peruvian Cinema. Looking at the comments on the Chavarry
article and on Cielo’s Facebook page,
it has gotten mixed reviews.[xxv] While the majority of people who comment tend
to say they support Peruvian cinema, no matter what, most aren’t unbiased
reviews, more along the lines of cheerleading for Peru arts. While I am a huge advocate of promoting
sustainable National Cinemas, it is important to listen to what the people who
aren’t cheerleading say. Jose Mendoza,
commented after the Chavarry article, which was clearly a pro-Cielo piece. It’s quite long, but I think its worth
including for its poignancy. I will
paraphrase to economize:
“I
consider myself a cinephile and see as much film as possible and I can only
come to one conclusion: Peruvian films fail because they fail to
ENTERTAIN. Not in the Hollywood sense,
just in the most basic sense of the word.
In our country that has no film culture to speak of, it is absurd to
think you can grab the attention of the majority of people (who are paying 10
pounds to take their girl out and another 10 for popcorn) with a convoluted,
complicated storyline, straight from the Cinema Club. GENTLEMEN FILMMAKERS: We are not in France. We don’t have the Cinema Laws of
Argentina. We just have a mass of
spectators who want to have fun. If you
want to, at the very least, recoup the precious money you have worked so hard
to get, try thinking first about the audience you are going for. Examples abound in our region, not just
Argentina, but Chile, Brazil, Colombia…Okay, they don’t all win awards, but
they’ve found their audience and at least have the one thing we DO NOT
have: A cinema with a national
identity.”
Comments
on the Facebook page range from excitement and anticipation, “When is it
screening in Trujillo(Peru)?” (4 September 2012) and, “Long live Peruvian
Cinema, because there is so much to see and to give. A lot of people criticize and don’t even know
what they are criticizing.” (10 September 2012) to slightly reactionary and
aggressive, as in Enrique Octovo, “The fact that one is Peruvian, doesn’t mean one
has to accept the trash and stupidity of everyone else. There is a REASON the average Peruvian has
this mentality of accepting whatever they give us, like beggars! To this movie,
I say, NEXT!” (5 Sept 2012).
According to its Facebook page, Cielo Oscuro only lasted in theaters 3 weeks, better than most, but
not what they had hoped for. Whether the
old stand by of blaming Hollywood is a legitimate argument (and Cielo did have
the bad luck of opening a week after The Dark Knight Rises, in Peru)[xxvi]
or whether it’s because low budgets tend to foster movies deeper and more
complex in story and lighter in action and special effects, therefore putting
them into the “art house” category (one of my theories), the simple fact is
that Calero and company did the best they could within their means, trying
radical approaches and they still ended up suffering the fate of most Peruvian
flicks: Now Cielo Oscuro is embarking
upon Film Festival adventures. It was
nominated for Best Foreign Film In the Spanish Language in the Goya awards,
alongside fierce competition from Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, among others.[xxvii]
Regardless
of the major cause of Cielo Oscuro
not performing the way the filmmakers had hoped, one thing is for sure: The difficulty in securing financing for production
and the virtually non-existent funds for marketing, coupled with no guaranteed
screen time, means its going to be a fight to make the movie you want and reach
your desired audience. As Joel Calero
said in the conference on Peruvian cinema, “In the end, us filmmakers (in Peru)
don’t make the films we want, we make the films we can”, to which famed
Peruvian director, Chicho Durant, sitting at his side, replied, “Exactly”.[xxviii]
[i]
Calero mentions, almost annoyed, that yes, it is his first FEATURE length,
narrative film. From an interview for
the online version of La Republica
newspaper from Lima. A clip was found
at, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y78_DV5a0o&feature=endscreen.
[iii]
One example is “Peruvian Cinema in Debate”, a conference, of which a panel
titled, “Does Independent Cinema Exist in Peru” was organized by the Film
Magazine, Ventana Indiscreta, by the
University of Lima, with Alberto “Chicho” Durant among the Speakers, Joel
Calero among the panelists and Ricardo Bedoya, renowned film critic, as
moderator. Video of some of the panel
can be found here: http://lamula.pe/2010/03/08/existe-un-cine-independiente-en-el-peru/gabyyepes#reblog-form.
[iv]
Sarah Barrow, “Images of Peru: A National Cinema in Crisis”, in Stephanie
Dennison and Lisa Shaw (eds.), Latin
American Cinema: Modernity, Gender and Nationhood (Jefferson, North
Carolina, MacFarland and Company, Inc, 2005), 46-47.
[vi]
From a biography of Calero on the Foundation for New Latin American Cinema’s
website, at http://www.cinelatinoamericano.org/cineasta.aspx?cod=283.
[vii]
Carlos Chavarry, cinema blogger for the Peruvian periodical Peru 21.
From “Cielo Oscuro” on his blog, Cronicas
Marcianas, at http://blogs.peru21.pe/cronicasmarcianas/2012/08/cielo-oscuro.html.
[viii]
Ibid.
[ix]
Ibid.
[x]
Ibid.
[xi]
Keith Richards, Themes in Latin American
Cinema: A Critical Survey (Jefferson, North Carolina, Macfarland and
company, Inc, 2011), 141-142.
[xii]
Ibid.
[xiii]
Interview with Inzitu Prensa, www.inzituperu.com, 23 May 2012. Available
at http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=4zZ0Wb7O8rA. [Accessed 12 April 2013]
[xiv]
Chavarry.
[xv]
Ibid.
[xvi]
Ibid.
[xvii]
That entire paragraph, and all the quotes within came from the Chavarry
article.
[xviii]
Both posters can be found at this page, if you scroll down, http://www.cinencuentro.com/tag/cielo-oscuro/. I am going to try to attach them to the essay
though, for ease.
[xix]
“Mariela Zanetti: Fui Vedette Por Necesidad y llegue a ganar hasta 5 mil
dolares en un dia”[Online], Lima, El Comercio, Sonia Del Aguila. 1 December,
2010. Available from http://elcomercio.pe/espectaculos/677599/noticia-mariela-zanetti-fui-vedette-necesidad-llegue-ganar-hasta-mil-dolares-dia. [Accessed 12 April, 2013].
[xx]
Chavarry.
[xxi]
This knowledge of Peruvian’s love of Salsa music comes from personal and fairly
common knowledge growing up around Peruvian people, but also from having spent
the last summer in Lima. Salsa music can
be heard pumping out of apartments and taxis at all hours of the day or night.
[xxiii]
Chavarry.
[xxiv]
Joel Calero, before the premier gala of Cielo
Oscuro, at the Lima International Film Festival, the only Festival to have
access before the theatre run, spoke of the difficulties of even getting a
Peruvian film into Peruvian cineplexes and of the importance of coming out en
masse to keep it in theaters for more than a week, imploring all compatriots
and lovers of a national art scene. In
another interview he reminds people again of the crucial first week or two,
available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y78_DV5a0o&feature=endscreen.
[xxv]
Facebook page available at https://www.facebook.com/pelicula.cielo.oscuro?fref=ts. Such a small theatrical release and no DVD
release announced, there are very little reviews, mostly comments on the film
festival, so these were the only two I could find with any real debate and critique.
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