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This innovative study finds that, through his unique representation of violence, Argentine director Pablo Trapero has established himself as one of the 21st century's distinctly political filmmakers. By examining the broad concept of violence and how it is represented on-screen, Douglas Mulliken identifies and analyzes the ways in which Trapero utilizes violence, particularly Zizek's concept of objective violence, as a means through which to mediate the political
Through a focus on several previously under-studied elements of Trapero's films, Mulliken highlights the ways in which the director's work represents present-day concerns about social inequalities and injustice in neoliberal Argentina on-screen. Finally, he examines how Trapero combines aspects of Argentina's long tradition of political film with elements of Nuevo Cine Argentino to create a unique political voice.
List of contents
IntroductionA History of Violence
A Hauntology of Violence
The Changing Nature of Political Film
Neoliberalism and Ideology
A Cyclical Career
Part I: The Individual and the State
1. Neoliberalism, Violence, and the New Argentina
1.1 The Violence of NeoliberalismFrom Objective to Subjective Violence
Masculinity in Crisis
1.2 Mundo GrúaThe Precariat on Screen
Physical and Emotional Estrangement
1.3 CaranchoWhat is Shown, What is Not
Resistance and the Middle Class
Margani v. Darín
Response to Violence
2. Repression, Ideology, and the Manipulation of Power
2.1 Theories of Power
2.2 El BonaerenseEl Conurbano
"La Bonaerense"
Police Repressive State Apparatus
Zapa
2.3 Elefante BlancoCiudad Oculta and the Catholic Church
Authority and the Legacy of Mugica
State Violence and Death
Part II: Violence and the Family
3. The Violence of the Arborescent Family
3.1 Theories of the FamilyFamily and Control
Family as Source of Violence
3.2 Familia RodanteThe Potent Symbolism of the Family
The Family as a Locus of Retention
Discipline and Rebellion
3.3 El ClanAdult Paranoiacs, Child Neurotics
The Violence of the Family
4. The Rhizome as Alternative Family Model
4.1 Rhizomes and the becoming-familyPrison: Arborescent or Rhizomatic?
The State of Exception
4.2 Nacido y CriadoDesaparecidos
Homo Sacer and the State of Exception
Patagonia and Rhizomes
4.3 LeoneraPrison and Prison Films
Rhizomatic Families
Conclusion
Appendix: Interview with Pablo Trapero
About the author
Douglas Mulliken received his PhD from the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Glasgow, UK. He holds master’s degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Cape Town. In addition to his work on Argentina, he has published on Mozambican cinema.
Summary
This innovative study finds that, through his unique representation of violence, Argentine director Pablo Trapero has established himself as one of the 21st century’s distinctly political filmmakers. By examining the broad concept of violence and how it is represented on-screen, Douglas Mulliken identifies and analyzes the ways in which Trapero utilizes violence, particularly Žižek’s concept of objective violence, as a means through which to mediate the political
Through a focus on several previously under-studied elements of Trapero’s films, Mulliken highlights the ways in which the director’s work represents present-day concerns about social inequalities and injustice in neoliberal Argentina on-screen. Finally, he examines how Trapero combines aspects of Argentina’s long tradition of political film with elements of Nuevo Cine Argentino to create a unique political voice.
Foreword
A study of the representation and function of violence within the films of the Argentinian screenwriter-director Pablo Trapero.
Additional text
Pablo Trapero and the Politics of Violence is the first serious examination of the oeuvre of one of Argentina most important contemporary filmmakers. The author offers meticulous analyzes of Trapero’s films that cohere around the topic of violence, providing an exploration of Argentine culture that is both timely and well-conceived.
