SPAN 47: In-depth Analysis of Hispanic Cinema - Spring 2019 Exam

This document presents a student's solutions to a SPAN 47 midterm exam focusing on Hispanic cinema. The analysis covers films like 'Que horas ela volta?', 'Casa grande', and 'Surcos', exploring themes of social class, family dynamics, and narrative techniques. The solutions delve into character relationships, the use of space, and the impact of specific scenes on conveying social commentary. The student examines the role of characters like Jéssica in 'Que horas ela volta?' and the significance of centering the narrative on a male teenager in 'Casa grande'. The analysis also includes interpretations of visual elements and their connection to the films' overall messages. Desklib offers students access to a wealth of study resources, including past papers and solved assignments.

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Spanish

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Answer 1
c. Que horas ela volta? Explain how the relationship between Val and the two children/young
characters (Fabinho and Jéssica) works to convey a social critic in the movie.
Ans: The relationship that is shown in Que horas ela volta, between Val with her own
daughter Jessica and the son of her master, the young boy, Fabinho, is a clear reflection of the
social pressure which people face. The society in which one lives and the occupations that
people choose as their means of livelihood and survival affect their interpersonal
relationships (Berger, 2017). In this movie it is shown that the housekeeper Val has a very
good relationship with the young boy Fabinho. He gets Val’s love, care and caresses. The
care he gets is of course influenced by the occupation of Val. She is paid as the housekeeper
and is expected to take care of the child. On the other hand, if one closely looks at the
relationship which Val had with her daughter Jessica is not very pleasant. Jessica does not
appreciate the love, kiss or caressing from her mother. They do not share a good mother
daughter relationship. Jessica complains to her mother about the fact that she has missed the
love of her mother all her life. She was left alone with her care giver Sandra. Val was
deprived from loving her daughter as she had to earn for her daughter’s education and other
expenses. Sandra gave the love to Jessica which Val is giving to Fabinho. This shows that
people often have to choose such professions which deprive them from enjoying or having a
good share of their own life and happiness. They are under the pressure of earning for
survival and often lose precious people and relationships with them (Fiske, 2018).
d. Que horas ela volta? Explain the narrative productivity of Jéssica as a character,
considering she is a young woman (and not a young male).

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Ans: Jessica plays a very important role in the movie, Que horas ela volta. The introduction
of the character Jessica gives the audience a reality strike. The movie brings before us the
hard reality of social life. While Val is a failure as a mother as she could not get time to spend
with her daughter Jessica. Jessica in the argument with her mother says that she missed her
mother during her childhood days. Sandra, who was Jessica’s care giver gave her all the love
and care she needed while Val was never there. Jessica takes the narration of the story in a
way which is a social critic in itself. Val is doing the same job of taking care of a house, a
family and a child but none of which is her own. Fabinho is getting Val’s affection and care
while her own daughter Jessica is deprived from the same love. The female teenager is shown
as a complete contrast to the male teenager. Fabinho gets the comforts of life as well as the
love of his housekeeper, Val. On the other hand, Jessica is deprived from the love of her
mother. Her father too does not want to see her. She lost her lover with whom she had a son.
Now she had to even leave her son to study at college. But she is a strong young lady. She
grew up without the care and love of her mother. She was a single mother but still she left her
child at home to complete her education. She had the courage to do something better in life.
The productivity of Jessica’s role is in the fact that she brings out the affection between a
mother and daughter at the end of the movie when Val is addressed as mother by Jessica.
e. Casa grande. Explain the function of centering the point of view of the whole story on a
male teenager (and not on a female or on an adult).
Ans: The movie Casa grande is centered upon the character of a male teenager named Jean
Cavalcanti. The boy mainly comes from an upper middle class family. He is however
neglected by his parents. He is seventeen year old teenager and is attending a private school
which is a good school for the Caucasians. The parents of the teenager, Hugo and Sonia, are
trying hard to maintain their social class. They are also over protective about their son Jean.
They want him go to a good institute for doing his post-secondary studies. They are

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concerned about their child and his education. His overprotective parents want the best for
him so that he can maintain a good social role after completing his education. Jean is
however not interested in what his parents want him to do. They are imposing their
expectations on him. Jean gives least effort towards what his parents expect out of him. He is
closer to his household staff than his own parents. The main reason behind this is that he does
not get the company of his parents. Instead he is always with the household staff like his
chauffeurs, maids and others. Jean is friendly with these people and is attached quite closely
to them. This is a contrast to the social status of the family of Jean and the household staff.
The story also shows that usually the female child is protected and dominated by her parents.
But in this case the male teenager is overprotected and shackled by the aspirations of his
parents (Regehr, Regehr and Glancy, 2019). The story is of the boy who is trying to escape
from his over protective parents.
Answer 2
c. Que horas ela volta? Analyze the use of the space to narrate the movie. Explain how the
character of Jessica works to put the social division of space into question. For a better
understanding of the movie, have in mind the whole plot and its final moral.
In the movie, Que horas ela volta, the narration is done wonderfully well. The director has
gone into the depth of story and used enough spaces for better story telling. The
cinematography has been done in such a way so that the audience is able to go into the depth
of the story rather than just watching a movie. The character of Jessica who is the daughter of
Val, the housekeeper at the house of Carlos and Barbara enters the story to mock at the social
barriers. The narration henceforth is a social critic in itself. The family of Carlos and Barbara
along with their son have kept Val as their housekeeper. Val is at a social class which is much
below her master and mistress. However, when Jessica comes to the house of Carlos and
Barbara, the social divisions are questioned (Wright, 2018). Carlos himself was so

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passionately attracted to Jessica that he asked her to get married to him. On the other hand,
Fabinho and Jessica share the same ice cream breaking the social barriers. The housekeeper’s
daughter is also welcomed into the house so warmly by Carlos that she is allowed to stay in
the special guests’ room. This again shows that the girl was able to reach beyond the social
boundaries which were otherwise imposed on Val as a housekeepers and a member of the
lower social class. In fact it is also seen that Jessica and Fabinho both appear for the same
entrance exam. Fabinho fails by 2 points although he has got all the comforts in his life and
belongs to a higher social class. On the other hand, contrasting to Fabinho’s failure, Jessica
appears to be successful. She passes the entrance exam with flying colours. She is a person
who belongs to the lower social strata and has been deprived from financial comforts to her
mother’s love, yet she succeeds despite her shortcomings. The final moral that the story
brings before the audience is also very significant. The social barriers which we see in the
society at large are also seen in every household. The social barrier is between the master and
the servant. The master Carlos and his wife Barbara represent the social elites. On the
contrasting side we have the character of Val the housekeeper or the nanny of Fabinho, the
son of Carlos and Barbara and also the character of Jessica who is the daughter of Val whom
she had left during her childhood days so that she could do her job. Val is never accepted as a
family member and she has to stay in her own limits as a housekeeper and as a person
belonging to the lower social class than her masters’. On the other hand when Jessica the
daughter of Val comes into the house the whole family is more accepting towards her, except
Barbara. She is more wanted in the family than Barbara as Carlos and Fabinho both are fond
of Jessica. She gets an access to their guest room and their lives. The social divisions are all
disturbed and thrown out. The two social classes interact and intermingle. The personality of
Jessica attracts everyone irrespective of her lower social class. She even qualifies at the
entrance examination on the basis of her own merit rather than the social strata to which she

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belongs. Merit is not based on social class but on the talents one is bestowed with (Carson,
2018). Jessica not only breaks the social boundaries that were prevailing inside the house at
Sao Paulo but also disturbs the relationships among the people. Val is in the middle of the
tormented situation created by the entry of her daughter Jessica into the house of Carlos and
Barbara. Barbara is realising the fact that she is losing her place in the house and also in the
heart of her husband. Carlos was getting attracted to the personality of Jessica and was also
willing to marry her if she agreed. Fabinho was also friendly with Jessica and shared his food
with her showing a sense of affection and friendship between the two. Thus at the end of the
movie we see that all the social barriers and class divisions are shattered and removed by the
introduction of the character of Jessica into the movie, the house and the family (Friedman,
Laurison and Miles, 2015)
Answer 3
The shot from Casa grande show the wonderful placement of the two characters: Jean on the
window edge and Luiza on the bed. The distance between the two characters in the picture
denotes the social difference between a Causcasian boy and a non-Caucasian girl. The latter
is less privileged and faces many inequalities. This picture is quite significant. The smile on
Luiza’s face is symbolic of her achievement to break the social barriers. She got the love
from a Caucasian boy, someone more privileged in the society. .
The second image from Babas is a photo collage with great depth in the photography. There
are various characters captured in the collage. There are people representing different racial
backgrounds. There are mothers with their children in the images. This photo shot from
Babas depicts love beyond all races and other differences.
The third picture from Surcos is a reflection of the memories from the past. As the Spanish
family comes to Mardid Circa they struggle for existence and survival. The girl is still
thinking of her old days at her village where she was happy and used to sing at the church.

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The happiness on her face shows the love or the attachment which one has with their past
memories.

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Reference
Berger, A.A., 2017. Political parties: A sociological study of the oligarchical tendencies of
modern democracy. Abingdon: Routledge.
Carson, J., 2018. The measure of merit: Talents, intelligence, and inequality in the French
and American republics, 1750-1940. London: Princeton University Press.
Fiske, S.T., 2018. Social beings: Core motives in social psychology. New Jersey: John Wiley
& Sons Incorporated.
Friedman, S., Laurison, D. and Miles, A., 2015. Breaking the ‘class’ ceiling? Social mobility
into Britain's elite occupations. The Sociological Review, 63(2), pp.259-289.
Regehr, K., Regehr, C. and Glancy, G., 2019. Murder at the Dinner Table: Family Narratives
of Forensic Mental Health Professionals. Journal of Loss and Trauma, pp.1-19.
Wright, E.O., 2018. Class counts. Abingdon: Routledge.