LETTERS FROM MARUSIA
Chile, 1976, 110 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Miguel Littin.
Letters From Marusia is a very strong Chilean film from the mid-70s. It was in competition in Cannes in 1976 and was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film.
The film is the work of director Miguel Littin, who has worked continuously in the Chilean film industry from the mid-60s to 2005. His Alsino and the Condor from 1982 was widely released internationally.
The film goes back to the late 19th century-early 20th century to the mines for saltpetre in Chile. It takes up the cause of the miners and their attempts to form unions against the strong opposition of the mine owners. The film shows the grim struggle, the hardships in the mines and the effect for the lives as well as the deaths of the miners.
1. The dramatic impact of the film? Its production qualities? Latin American audience? Universal audience? Social criticism of the '70s?
2. Mexican production: big budget, lavish? Oscar nomination? A film for Chile in the '70s - and for the world to understand the situation in Chile?
3. The atmosphere of Marusia: the mines, the mountains and the barrenness, the dust, the town, the trains, the buildings? Poverty? The contrast with the towns by the sea? The colour photography, the spectacle, crowd sequences, special effects? The atmosphere of Mikis Theodorakis' score?
4. The editing and structure - the focus on Marusia, the people, the crises? The human interest and feeling of the flashbacks? The cumulative effect of the drama and the confrontation?
5. The situation in Chile in 1907? Images of Chile: government, military, the schools, the companies, the workers, the camps, the strikes, the oppression, resistance, massacres? The '70s and the continuous struggle as illustrated by the early 20th. century?
6. Gregorio: his presence, the mystery, the monologue, as a character, his mission, achievement? The flashbacks: the death of his wife, torture, death? As a man in Marusia? The massacres, feeling? His authority, plans, strategies? Skill? Relationships? His talk to the people? Louisa? The opposition? His being taken, torture? Death? His character? Human dignity?
7. Solo and the others: work, the slums, experience, attack, dynamite, the shooting, the suffering? Portrait of Individuals?
8. The men and the massacres - so many? The picture of the men gone mad with sulphate poisoning? Their stalking the military? Their participation in the disaster? Madness, the train, the battles? The visuals of violence and death?
9. The women: Louisa and the children, the memories of Iquique, support, the whispering sequences, the women lying down on the railway track, their being killed? The applause and the hissing?
10. The children in such a town, L6uisals care, their being used?
11. The portrait of the military: the ordinary soldiers, obedience, shooting the miners? The military chiefs - and the mistake in the killing? The cover-up? The retreat? The train and the massacres of the women?
12. The continued theme of violence, torture? The strong visual impact for the emotional response to the themes?
13. The strength of the individual stories - but subordinate to the social themes?
14. The issues of the Third World: poverty, oppression, violence, revolution?
