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Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America, New Edition
Still the most comprehensive analysis of the subject to have appeared in English, Magical Reels charts the development of Latin American film industries in a world increasingly dominated by the advanced technology and massive distribution budgets of the North American mainstream.
John King sets up a historical framework to unfold the overlapping histories of cinema in the the itinerant film-makers of the silent era who projected their films in cafes and village halls, the inventive use of vernacular music and local comedy in early sound pictures, the “golden age” of 1940s Mexican cinema, and the “new cinema”—oppositional cinema made “with an idea in the head and a camera in the hand”—of the late 1950s and beyond. A country-by-country account of this new wave allows detailed discussion of, for instance, Peronist cinema in Argentina, 1960s’ revolutionary film-making in Cuba, state-sponsored cinema in 1970s’ Brazil and Venezuela, and the struggle for democratization in Chile in the 1980s. A new chapter written for this edition examines Latin American cinema of the 1990s, raising issues such as globalization, new cinema audiences, film funding and distribution.
John King sets up a historical framework to unfold the overlapping histories of cinema in the the itinerant film-makers of the silent era who projected their films in cafes and village halls, the inventive use of vernacular music and local comedy in early sound pictures, the “golden age” of 1940s Mexican cinema, and the “new cinema”—oppositional cinema made “with an idea in the head and a camera in the hand”—of the late 1950s and beyond. A country-by-country account of this new wave allows detailed discussion of, for instance, Peronist cinema in Argentina, 1960s’ revolutionary film-making in Cuba, state-sponsored cinema in 1970s’ Brazil and Venezuela, and the struggle for democratization in Chile in the 1980s. A new chapter written for this edition examines Latin American cinema of the 1990s, raising issues such as globalization, new cinema audiences, film funding and distribution.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1990
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About the author
John King
708 books151 followersJohn King is the author of eight novels – The Football Factory, Headhunters, England Away, Human Punk, White Trash, The Prison House, Skinheads and The Liberal Politics Of Adolf Hitler. The Football Factory was turned into a high-profile film. A new novel – Slaughterhouse Prayer – was published on 8 November 2018.
King has written short stories and non-fiction for a number of publications, with articles appearing in the likes of The New Statesman, Le Monde and La Repubblica. His books have been widely translated abroad. He edits the fiction fanzine Verbal and lives in London.
King has written short stories and non-fiction for a number of publications, with articles appearing in the likes of The New Statesman, Le Monde and La Repubblica. His books have been widely translated abroad. He edits the fiction fanzine Verbal and lives in London.
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January 3, 2013
good, varied text on Latin American Cinema. I especially liked the chapter on Peruvian film, which is extremely under discussed.
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