Cinema of Argentina
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The Cinema of Argentina has a long tradition dating back to the late nineteenth century, and has played an important role in the Culture of Argentina for more than a century.
Throughout the 20th century the industry had numerous actors and directors that made the Argentine cinema one of the most important in the Spanish-speaking world.
The films were often financed by the state.
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[edit] The Beginning
In 1896 French photographer Eugene Py was working for the Belgian Henri Lepage and the Austrian Max Glücksmann at the 'Casa Lepage', a photographic supplies business in Buenos Aires. The three all saw the debut of the Lumière Cinématographe in Argentina, in Buenos Aires on 28 July 1896, at the Odeón Theater Teatro Odéon, only a year after its debut in Paris.
Lepage then imported the first French cinematographic equipment into the country. In 1897, using a Gaumont camera, Py (known as Eugenio Py in South America) subsequently shot the first Argentine film, of the Flag of Argentina, La Bandera Argentina which consisted of a flag of Argentina blazing on the wind at the Plaza de Mayo . Py continued to produce films for exhibition at the Casa Lepage for several years, following up with Viaje a Buenos Aires (1900) and La revista de la escuadra Argentina (1901). By that time, the first projection halls were opened working as part of the cross-national film production, distribution and exhibition system developed by Glücksmann in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.
[edit] Early developments
Several Argentine artists continued experimenting the possibilities of the new invention, making news shorts and documentaries. Eduardo Cardini filmed Escenas Callejeras (1901) and Mario Gallo made the first Argentine film with a point-of-view: El fusilamiento de Dorrego, "Dorrego's execution", 1908.
Other directors such as Ernesto Gunche directed a number of successful early documentaries.
The Argentine history and literature provided the themes of the first years of film-making. One of the first successes of the national cinema was Nobleza Gaucha of 1915, inspired in Martín Fierro, gaucho poems by José Hernández. Based on José Mármol's novel, Amalia (1914 film) was the first full-length movie of national production, and in 1917 El apóstol, a satiric short on president Hipólito Yrigoyen, became the first animated feature film in world cinema.
Also in 1917 Carlos Gardel in Flor de durazno, directed by Francisco Defilippis Novoa, made its debut.
[edit] 1920s
Directors such as José A. Ferreyra began to work producing films in Argentine cinema releasing films such as Palomas rubias (1920), La Gaucha (1921) and Buenos Aires, ciudad de ensueño in 1922. Films that followed included La Maleva, Corazón de criolla, Melenita de oro, Leyenda del puente inca (1923), Odio serrano, Mientras Buenos Aires duerme, Arriero de Yacanto (1924) and El Organito de la tarde and Mi último tango (1925).
In 1926 Ferreyra released La Vuelta al Bulín, La Costurerita que dio aquel mal paso and Muchachita de Chiclana followed by Perdón, viejita (1927).
Actors of the period include Alvaro Escobar and Elena Guido .
Towards the end of the decade directors such as Julio Irigoyen began to release films such as Alma en pena in 1928. Films such as these began to feature the Argentine culture of tango dancing into films, something which rocketed later in the 1930s after the advent of sound.
[edit] 1930s: The beginning of sound
The incorporation of sound had a great impact. In 1930 Adiós Argentina became the first Argentine film to have a soundtrack. The film spawned star actresses such as Libertad Lamarque and Ada Cornaro who both debuted in the film.
In 1931 Agustín Ferreyra directed Muñequitas porteñas, and was the first Argentine spoken film, with Vitaphone synchronisation. That year El Cantar de mi ciudad was directed by José A. Ferreyra as early directors made the transition to sound.
Around 1933 the Movietone arrived and it allowed both voice and music in motion pictures. Also, the first two Argentine cinematographic studios were created: Argentina Sono Film was founded by Angel Mentasti, and Lumitón was created by Enrique Telémaco Susini, César José Guerrico and Luis Romero Carranza.
The first disc-less sound film was Tango (1931), directed by Luis Maglia Barth and a key film of the period was the tango film Dancing (1933 film) which saw the birth of a number of Argentine stars such as Amelia Bence and Tito Lusiardo and other actors such as Tita Merello, Floren Delbene, Aida Alberti and Armando Bo began to gain popularity.
Successful films were: El alma del bandoneón, Mario Soffici, 1935; La muchacha de a bordo, Manuel Romero, 1936; Ayúdame a vivir, 1936; Besus brujos (1937) and La vuelta al nido (Leopoldo Torres Rios, 1938 and Asi es la vida (1939) directed by Francisco Mugica.
Manuel Romero in particular was one of the most prominent directors of the mid to late 1930s and consisently worked in comedy based films often with rising Argentine star Luis Sandrini in films such as Don Quijote del altillo.
[edit] "Classic" cinema
The film industry in Argentina reached its pinnacle in the late 1930s and 1940s when five-thousand artisans produced an average of forty-two films annually, each of them honouring popular and political themes primarily interested in social criticism.
However the prohibitive censorship of the first Peron presidency in 1943, however, precipitated the decline of the Argentine movie industry by forcing native films to turn their backs on the homegrown issues that spoke to the common audience. As Argentine cinema steadily lost viewership, foreign product from the United States gained a large foothold in the Argentine market. The problem eventually became so bad that Argentina tried to curb the influx with the Cinema Law of 1957, establishing the "Instituto Nacional de Cinematografía" to provide education and funding.
However films such as these had success: Historia de una noche, Luis Saslavsky, 1941; La dama duende, Luis Saslavsky, 1945; Malambro Lucas Demare and Hugo Fregonese, 1945); Albeniz (Luis César Amadori) starring Pedro López Lagar (1947), Pelota de trapo, Torres Ríos, 1948; Crimen de Oribe, Torres Ríos, 1950, and Las aguas bajan turbias, and Hugo del Carril, 1952.
[edit] First "New Cinema"
Since the late 1950s a new generation of film directors succeeded in joining the technical ability with aesthetic refinement that finally took Argentine films to international film festivals. The first wave of such directors are Leopoldo Torre-Nilsson, Fernando Ayala, David Jose Kohon, Simon Feldman, and Fernando Solanas.
Directors such as Tulio Demicheli and Carlos Schlieper began to emerge who often both wrote and directed them. A second generation that achieved a cinematographic style were José Martínez Suárez, Manuel Antin, and Leonardo Favio.
[edit] 1960s
Kurt Land directed El Asalto in 1960 starring Alberto de Mendoza, a crime drama shot in black and white. In 1961 Lautaro Murua, a Chilean working in the cinema of Argentina directed Alias Gardelito. The film showed strong political and social undertones and is about the difficulty of living an honest life in the face of an unrelenting poverty. The title of this story is taken from the name of the great Argentine singer Carlos Gardel, the idol of the antihero Toribio portrayed by Alberto Argibay. Toribio's goal in life is to emulate the famous singer and making his own way successfully in the music business. Yet at the same time, he does not stop his illegal means of making ends meet, stealing and petty thievery. Films such as A hierro muere starring Alberto de Mendoza and Olga Zubarry and Accidente 703 in 1962 were often co-produced with Spain and often featured both Argentine and Spanish born actors.
In 1963 comedy films became to feature prominently in Argentine cinema, and films such as Alias Flequillo in 1963 directed by Julio Saraceni starred comedians such as José Marrone. Likewise Las Aventuras del Capitán Piluso en el Castillo del Terror starred comedians such as Alberto Olmedo who consistently appeared in the genre thorughout the 1960s and 1970s appearing in 1967's El Andador and countless other slap-stick comedies.
[edit] 1970s
[edit] Post junta films
A new era in Argentine cinema started after the downfall of the last dictator, General Galtieri, and his autocratic regime in 1982. The era saw an abrupt end to the popularity of slapstick comedies towards films with more serious undertones and subject matter.
The first group deals frankly with the repression, the tortures, and the disappearances during the Dirty War in the 1970s and early 1980s. They include: Funny Little Dirty War (1983), The Official Story (1985), Night of the Pencils (1986), and others.
A second group of films includes Veronico Cruz (1988) which uses metaphor and hints at wider socio-political issues.[1][2]
[edit] Contemporary cinema
[edit] 1990s
The 1990s brought another New Argentine Cinema wave, marked by independent productions and a twist from the classical Argentine cinema.
In 1991 Alambrado was released.
Films such as Nueve Reinas and El Hijo de la Novia received praise and various awards around the world.
[edit] 2000s
Since the beginning of Argentine cinema, almost 2,500 films have been produced, with 2004 and 2005 being the most prolific years with 66 and 63 films respectively.
[edit] Argentine films
- For an A-Z list of Argentine films currently on wikipedia see Category:Argentine films.
- For a timeline of Argentine films see List of Argentine films
[edit] Argentine film companies
- Aleph Producciones
- Aqua Films
- Argentina Sono Film S.A.C.I.
- BD Cine
- INCAA
- Patagonik Film Group
- Pol-Ka
[edit] See also
- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Argentina Awards
- Argentine Film Critics Association Awards
- Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival
- Cinenacional.com
- Clarin Awards
- Mar del Plata International Film Festival
- World cinema
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Cinergía movie file by Cristina Molano-Wendt, Amy Bianchi, Shannon Tierny, and Brian Sabella. For educational purposes.
- ^ New Internationalist. Issue 192, February 1989.
[edit] External links
- History of the cinema in Argentina at INCAA. (In Spanish)
- National Cinematographic Industry Union.
- SoloCortos.com.
 Cinema of Argentina |
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Film Chronology • Pre-1910 • 1910s • 1920s • 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s |
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