SYNOPSICS
Madeinusa (2006) is a Spanish,Quechua movie. Claudia Llosa has directed this movie. Magaly Solier,Carlos J. de la Torre,Yiliana Chong,Juan Ubaldo Huamán are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2006. Madeinusa (2006) is considered one of the best Drama movie in India and around the world.
Madeinusa is a 14-year-old girl with a sweet Indian face. She lives in an isolated village in Peru's Cordillera Blanca Mountain range, a strange place characterized by its religious fervor. From Good Friday at three o'clock in the afternoon (the time of day when Christ died on the cross) to Easter Sunday, everyone in the village can do whatever they want. During the two holy days sin does not exist: God is dead and can't see what is happening. Everything is accepted and allowed, without remorse. Year after year, Madeinusa, her sister Chale, and their father Don Cayo, the Mayor and local big shot, maintain this tradition without questioning it. However, everything changes with the arrival in the village of Salvador, a young geologist from Lima who will unknowingly change the girl's destiny.
Madeinusa (2006) Trailers
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Madeinusa (2006) Reviews
Stepping into another world . . .
A corpse being offered another drink, the bloodstained thighs of a maidenhead lost, dead rats (for luck), three days of religious celebration when God is dead, and a ritual for the whole village so secret that a visiting stranger is locked up: these are just some of the strange, wonderful images that remind us more of the Wicker Man than modern day Peru. But in a country where many rural areas are still isolated and barely accessible, where Christianity made its mark more in name than in spirit, and where the outback life is rarely depicted in Western cinemas, Madeinusa comes as a shock, a spellbinding insight, and a refreshingly different fable. The nearest telephone is a three mile walk to the next village and the daily grind consists mostly of cultivating enough food to subsist. It comes as no surprise when Madeinusa, a pretty adolescent, is enamoured by the suave young man (Salvador) from Lima. He only stops in the remote Manayaycuna (the town no-one can enter) when the bus refuses to go any further due to floods. He symbolises everything she dreams the big city to be - and everything her present life is not. In Manayaycuna her life is mapped out for her, including arguments with her sister and the ever-present prospect of institutionalised incest with her father, the corrupt Mayor. The distant world outside includes things like pretty shoes and make-up - according to a magazine she once saw - but no-one would deliver such things as far away as Manayaycuna. Shortly after Salvador arrives, Madeinusa wins the pageant held to choose the most Immaculate Virgin. Her heart is warmed by a Polaroid picture he takes of her. The Rituals that follow are a paganised version of the days leading up to Easter. An image of Christ is un-nailed and taken down before the beautifully bedecked virgin kisses him on the lips. The three days of celebration are marked by fireworks and festivities. They are the Holy Time, when God is dead, and as Madeinusa points out to Salvador (while taking some of her clothes off), this means He can't see any sins. Madeinusa is a remarkably crafted work from first time filmmaker Claudia Llosa. Superb camera-work and vibrant colours let her linger on details without ever boring us. The roughly cobbled streets; the vegetables and pulses in worn peasant hands preparing them; the bright, highly intricate costumes; the wide open plains, and the snow capped mountains: Llosa takes us on a journey into the interior of a country that few of us will know well, and capitalises on our sense of awe to weave her fantastic tale. Like Salvador, we are almost voyeurs in a forbidden world: "The town doesn't want a gringo in Holy Time." The twists towards the end suggest that when fate hands out justice it may not be to everyone's liking (it may irritate some who long for traditional happy resolutions - at least until you think it through), but Madeinusa is more fable than fairy-tale. If it is too measured for viewers who prefer a fast paced drama, for those with the patience to listen it is a rare and slightly unsettling work. Madeinusa has a feeling of authenticity and dedication to the craft, as well as heralding a remarkable new talent in Director Claudia Llosa.
The most underestimated independent movie theme/idea of all time!
This movie's truly original pitch/premise has so much potential, and I can't stress enough the words SO MUCH POTENTIAL, that the story Claudia Llosa chose in the end, although interesting and beautiful in it's own way, falls short compared to the expectation THAT pitch creates. In other words, there are so many possibilities regarding human sinful behavior and how to approach it given this 'sin doesn't exist for like 3 days for some "faithful believers"' idea that one is left wanting to see the movie from the point of view of 5 or 6 totally different characters instead. The movie won like 5 or 6 Best Screenplay awards in different film festivals besides winning an award at the Mar del Plata film festival AND being nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, which says a lot. However, the screenplay is not perfect. There are scenes which are dull and to be honest, plain dumb; a couple of others could've been left out without causing a negative effect. But talking about Madeinusa's positive aspects and artistic value, the movie's defining moment (and the most memorable one in "first-time-acting/first-time-directing" independent film making history, I must say) has got to be Magaly Solier's interpretation of the song (created by herself, by the way) she sings to Salvador. The most humble, truly innocent, naive and authentic performance you'll ever see this side of the world. That scene alone is worth watching a couple of times and help diminish all those little plot holes/errors/contradictions that could've been polished to perfection in Llosa's script.
Welcome to the Twilight Zone
When this movie was premiered in Lima, there was an outrage in the media. Polls were run and showed a deep and neat divide among public. Almost half of moviegoers would call it shameful, pitiful, racist trash,etc. The other half would congratulate the production, the effort, etc. Very little in between. There is an obvious theme of Magical Realism trough the movie. And with a good knowledge of the true people of the Andean country towns it is mighty obvious that the whole tale is a fantasy, that could be based on urban legends and cultural misunderstandings. But nothing else. It's just that many Peruvians resent the thought that anybody outside would think that all Peruvians are like those in the movie. The foreigner to Perú must understand that there is a whole parallel culture alive in the Andes, that has survived the westernization of the capital and most of the coast region. But its not what we see in this movie. Not at all. This is a fantastic tale. A grim fable. And it is very Peruvian. Full of details, that are easy to spot for the local, but obscure and weird for the foreigner. And that is right on the spot for the story. Because the male lead, being "limeño", belongs to the "other culture" and doesn't know better. This movie does not pretend to be pedagogic, nor documentary material. And it touches very sensitive matters in very weird ways. It's wicked. But the exotic town is out of this world. The male lead in the movie walks the town like a stumbling Alice in Wickedland. And it is what it is. If they ever do the Hollywood remake, it can be made with a town that looks like an Amish camp, or something out of the Little House in the Praire, with a catholic touch, and tell this very same story with little changes. That would look like one of those Twilight Zone movies. And be enjoyed by the fans of such kind of movies. In my humble opinion, this movie is far better than The Milk of Sorrow, by the same director and with the same main female protagonist. I just think that it was ignored in its moment, but deserves a look. Not for the religious sensitive anyway. Catholics beware, ye have been warned. But if you want to know how the real Perú is, come and visit. :)
A few words to save Claudia
Claudia Llosa explained many times why she made this film (It doesn't matter if she IS Peruvian or not... anyway, she IS. It's not a documentary. It's not a mockumentary. It's not a portrayal of reality. It's not a film to raise racial prejudices. It's not a film abusive of the people portrayed on it. It's this crazy idea (a script idea that came out of a "dream") of what would it be like if a town (BTW: Manayaycuna actually means the place no-one-can-enter and is non-existent) believed that during three days there's no sin, since "God is dead". Better approach it with the motto of "it's just a film, it's just a film" It's a difficult film to watch, but, nonetheless, a work of fiction, so don't take it so personal. Some filmmakers in the world, and some writers -as I do, have found this film remarkable in many aspects. When I read a comment calling names to whoever chooses to watch this film just for that decision... well, that person shouldn't be allowed to post here!
The Folk-art children are going to folk you up
"Madeinusa" is the "...Spinal Tap" of ethnographic movies. With its tongue firmly entrenched in cheek, this Peruvian film may have you defending incest for an embarrassingly long time. Writer/director Claudia Llosa knows her audience are culturally-sensitive, global citizens who wouldn't dream of insisting that a non-western settlement adopt our own Christian-sanctioned assortment of ideals and mores. When Cayo(Juan Ubaldo Huaman) jumps in bed with his two daughters(Madeinusa and Chale), we consider the social context and rationalize this deviant behavior as being the practices of a society that doesn't place a taboo on inter-family relationships. Funny thing, though; this Peruvian backwater IS a god-fearing community. Every year, they pretend he's dead for three days, literally dead, which means Jesus isn't just magic for the remaining three-hundred-sixty odd days to these country-folk, Jesus is alive. The town holds an annual pageant to crown this year's virgin, and this year, Madeinusa(Magaly Solier), is it. She's quite literally, a quasi-Christian beauty queen: Miss Dead Jesus. There's floats. There's fireworks. And most importantly, the people are granted a weekend-long get-out-of-hell card; without repercussions, debauchery(wife-swapping, the aforementioned incest) is practiced without the confinements of moral legislation. Now, at long last, incest can safely be called perverted, because Cayo does indeed know that having relations with your own flesh and blood is perverted. When the wayfaring gringo says that the town is crazy, it gives the audience permission to throw caution out the window and openly criticize their primitive inclinations. Salvador(Carlos J. de la Torre) is a white man from Lima. He's our repository for western ideas(e.g. incest: a bad idea), the guy who is willing to call a spade a spade(he thinks the people are crazy; we concur), which is why his vertical quickie with Madeinusa in the midst of the communal grab-ass festival, startles us, because the film knows how men are. Fear of incarceration, sadly, may be the sole reason why the moral divide between camaraderie and intimacy isn't crossed. With no stronghold of the law to keep Salvador's libido in check, our "civilized" man pins Madeinusa to the wall and makes like a piston. "Madeinusa" is a stinging indictment against organized religion. Think about Father Oliver O'Grady in "Deliver us from Evil" who violated all those little boys and girls. These Peruvians(fictionalized Peruvians, let me make that clear) are honest about the darker side of human nature. "Madeinusa", cobbled from Stephen King's "Children of the Corn"(short story, film; either/or) and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery", forces us to ask about the state of God each time we sin. We're all assassins, right? It doesn't take a village.