MOVIE Q
Questions to ask yourself about the movies seen in class: (or in some cases these are just some of my notes and scribblings.
(Audiovisual Library
495-4467)
The Tree of Life (Movie
9889 UGLAVC) *29*
(Bruce Lane, village
of Huehuetla in Puebla - the Fiesta of San Salvador)
"Los Voladores" (the Flyers) is a 1500
year-old rite sacred to Quetzalcoatl, the Morning Star. From its origins on the
Gulf coast of Mexico, the ritual spread throughout Mesoamerica: a special
square was reserved for it in Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, and a variant is
still known among the Quiche' Maya in Guatemala.
Today "Los
Voladores" is best known in its original home in the Huasteca region,
especially among the Totonac, who have lived in the area for millenia. The
version shown in the film is from Huehuetla, in the Sierra Norte de Puebla.
The film opens with images from the Nuttall,
Laud, and other Codices, and poetry from "Cantares Mexicanos", a
collection of pre-hispanic Nahuatl verse from Texcoco.
At the home of one of the Voladores, we watch the preparation of the
characteristic seven-branched wax candles, crowned with a representation of the
Volador pole (a mayordomia obligation, part of the cargo system). Intercut with
the candle-making, children learn the ritual of the Voladores by re-enacting it
from start to finish.
In the forest, the Voladores bless the tree chosen for the rite. The tree is
felled and dragged by 300 Totonacs along mule trails into the village, where it
is wrapped with vines and raised entirely by hand to its new place in the
churchyard. Preparations are completed as the Voladores bring the hub, the
sacred symbol of dynamic change (Olin), from its place at their home altar, set
it on the tip of the pole, and thread the ropes which will bear them on their
flight carefully through the hub and around the pole.
Dressed in costumes drawn from 18th-century European models, the Voladores join
the statue of San Salvador, the Risen Savior, in the fiesta procession. As the
capitan of the Voladores dances on the narrow bub, high above the flagstones,
other dance groups perform: Huehues, Quetzales, San Migueles, and Negritos.
Then the Voladores descend head down, arms spread, in a slow spiral, to the
sound of drum and flute...
Combining ritual, dance, music, poetry, and art, "THE TREE OF LIFE"
is a meditation on the mystery at the heart of human life. It calls us to keep
the world in balance with our lives.
1. Libations prior to cutting
down the tree
2. flute and drum
3. power of dance for making a place (and a ritual) sacred
4. live chicken under the tree when implanted into the center of the
plaza
5. church and candles
6. parade of saints, music, incense
7. skyrockets
8. saint & devil (good
& evil)
9. head down as they descend from tree - like birth
children playing at
being voladores
cutting down the
tree w/ dance and flute rituals for sacralizing the proceedings.
(they circle the tree--which is
up to 8O feet tall--once it has been selected in the forest)
burial of chicken ,
eggs, and alcohol under the pole/tree
6 flyers and the
central sun (eagle/dancer) seemingly recreate the world tree and then situate
it with
ritual, then recreate
the origins of the world. (n.b. the 6 at the top the world tree could be seen
as the
wak chan like atop the Hauberg serpent/world
tree. the "eagle dance" is
currently seen as a
ritual for ensuring
a successful harvest, a good rainfall and the harmonious succession of the four
seasons.
The tree is a huge
planting stick -- cf. the pole in the popol vuh that the 400 boys
(pleiades/sky) try to kill
Cipacna with
The voladores are
today a semi hereditary affair, often involving practice since childhood.
At El Tajin there
are 5 voladores. Four fly down, circling the tree thirteen times
while the fifth, representing
the sun, dances and plays and drum
on the tiny platform at the top. (each of the four circling the tree 13 times
give 52 revolutions (which is the number of
haabs for the haab and tzolk'in to
synchronize again.
Popol Vuh (Vidcass
1959 UGLAVC) *60*
A. Creation and Destruction of the World
1. Tree of skulls with
forbidden fruit, "picked" by maiden
Blood Woman
vs. garden of
Eden, tree of apples/knowledge, picked by Eve
2. hawk swallowed the snake, which swallowed the toad, which
swallowed the louse.
3 ANTS - ants are important in the Popol Vuh -
monkey twins put hero twins on ant mounds to
kill them
hero twins helped by ants in house of knives
– where ants cut the flowers for them
(Bob
Bye) ants seem to be important in plant
lore of the tarahumara, and particularly important
regarding Datura.
4. Where did Hunahpu lose his head
5. Who sacrificed
themselves into the fire and became the sun and the moon.
Shunka's Story (Vidcass
6294) *20*
What language does Shunka
speak?
The Lacandon Maya Balché
Ritual (Vidcass 6290) *40*
How do you make balché ?
What do they make it in?
Is it alcoholic?
Where do they keep the
"Godpots" / incense burners /
censers
Do the women join the men in
the Godhouse?
Daughters of Ixchel (Vidcass 7721
*29* THIS FILM NOT
APPLICABLE THIS SEMESTER
What is the theme of this film?
Todos Santos Cuchumatan (Vidcass
1269 UGLAVC) *41*
What is the theme of this
film?
What language do the
protagonists speak? Is it a Mayan
language?
What country is represented
in this film?
Todos Santos: the
Survivors (Vidcass 22O2 UGLAVC)
*58*
What language is spoken in
Todos Santos
Appeals to Santiago (Movie
10,273 UGLAVC [or Vidcass 6293]) *27*
What language is represented
in this film?
What is done with the Virgin
and the saints?
What is done with the
banners?
Who dances with bundles in
this film
This film is one of the few
in which alcohol is not indulged. T or
F ?
Sacred Games *75* (Vidcass 1812 UGLAVC)
What is the theme of this
film?
What language is spoken by
the protagonists in this film
The Tarahumaras (VIDCAS 4900 UGLAVC) *30*
%To Find Our Life (Movie
10,250) *57*
(Peter Furst, Barbara Meyerhoff)
holy water - the
blood of Christ
ingest peyote - take
the host (wafer) Life = Peyote
abstain from salt, food, washing (except w/
holy water), sex
perils of the
journey - 1) clashing rocks
burn offerings -
incense
talk backwards -
reversal / transformation/ metamorphosis (one transformation is from maize to
deer to peyote)
knotted string -
knot for the day
knot for sin
knot for person
giving and receiving
(sharing)
role entry - people
take on gods' identities
(people tend to be identified by things on or
near their heads
(e.g. you put on you "party hat",
"fishing hat", mask, face, etc.)
#5
5 sacred colors of
maize
5 petals of peyote
flower
5 journeys to become
full mara?akame
Music - Animal horn
- trumpet (but no flute)
bow instrument
song
dancing
red "kan"
crosses on Huichol hat brim (of Ramon, the shaman)
grey squirrel tail
on hat crown
hawk plumes on hat
portable
thrones (situating and centering
devices)
deer horn crown
with garland of peyote
as the group gets
smaller, does the religion become more personal and more intense? (Lacandones)
"baptismal"
holy water poured over the head.
1) watering corn (of which
people are made)
2) fixing the soul
3) cleansing and purification
Tepoztlan (Movie
9464 UGLAVC) *30*
30 minutes -- The
film records the traditional lifeways of Tepoztlan, a small mountain village
forty miles from Mexico, City. The
cultivation of maize provides a seasonal structure for village life--with the
planting of seed after the first rains, to harvest time, and through the long
dry season. Against the backdrop of
ancient pyramids, Tepoztlan's Aztec heritage is kept alive in many of the
villages' daily activities. Annual
fiestas, blending Christian and non-Christian customs, are depicted
Discussion
questions.
1. What kinds of
transportation are used in Tepoztlan?
Describe how the streets are paved.
2. Describe how the people in Tepoztlan carry
heavy loads. How are babies carried?
3. What are the
men's responsibilities in Tepoztlan?
the women's responsibilities?
4. Describe how the
women of Tepoztlan wash their families' clothes. In what different ways do the people make use of Tepoztlan'
mountain streams?
5. What kinds of
goods are sold in the market? How are
the different articles displayed? How
are they packaged for sale.
6. Identify the
different steps in the cultivation of maize, from planting to harvest. Describe the tools and machinery used. When is maize planted? When is it harvested? What limits the size
of the crop?
7. How do the people
make use of the different parts of the harvested maize?
8. Describe how tortillas
are made. What kind of stove is used
for cooking?
9. What work is done
after the harvest is over during late autumn?
1O. Describe the
"Day of the Dead." Describe
some of the other fiestas and celebrations.
11. Why do
violations of land rights often result in bloodshed?
12. Mexico's
Revolution of 1910 led to a more just distribution of land; it also resulted in
the growth of industrialization. In what ways do you think industrial
development might affect Tepoztlan? How
do you think the traditional life-styles might change?
pilgrimage
(3 days, to Señor de Chalma -
one of the Cristos)
compare to the 43 day Huichol
pilgrimage to Catorce.
pole of the castillo - the fireworks pole with all its spinning
parts and the shower of gifts
coming from it.
recalls the flying pole / eagle
dance of the Huastecs
To Make the Balance (Vidcass
6292) *33*
What state are the Zapotec
protagonists of this film in?
What is the theme of the
film?
Mayan Voices; American
Lives (Vidcass 4792)
*58*
Who directed this film?
The Tree of Knowledge (Vidcass
6990) *27*
What language is represented
in this film?