Yesterday evening I attended a "Cine y Literatura" class. This was my first experience in a class in the Departamento de Letras Hispánicas, and I loved it. The course focuses on Mexican film. Twenty students are in the class; half are Mexican students from Guanjuato and the surrounding area, half are international students, ranging from Norway to Wisconsin to Alaska. I was impressed by the professor, Luis Palacios, and by the students (I envy their great bilingual skills), and by the room itself - this high-ceilinged alcove with a weary wooden door in the old convent building, but with a great multimedia set-up - such a juxtaposition of antiquity and modernity.
For the first class, the professor showed a film based on a famous Mexican novela by Jorge Ibarguengoitia that is set in Guanajuato: "Estas ruinas que ves" ("These Ruins That You See"). It was perfect as a fun introduction not just to Mexican cinema but also to the city of Guanajuato itself and to university life. The film is a silly and sexy comedy from 1978 in which Guanajuato features prominently (though it is called "Cuévano" in the film). Watch it, and you will get a great look at Guanajuato: its streets, buildings, tunnels, and hills. It's in Spanish with English subtitles - and you can get it through Netflix!
No comments:
Post a Comment