The Corporeal World in the Age of Capitalism: The Development of the Body in New Argentine Cinema

Introduction: The First Sights and Sounds of New Argentine Cinema Martín Rejtman’s Rapado (1992) opens with a shot of Lucio (Ezequiel Cavia) on his motorcycle driving towards the camera. Neither determined nor carefree, like the machine, and as part of the machine, he is simply moving forward. He does not seem to have a destination and if he does he will never reach it because the narration of his journey is interrupted by the credits and ultimately cut short by the theft of his motorcycle. Though Lucio demonstrates no emotional response to this event, there has been a physical repercussion as the machine that was part of him is now missing. The opening shots of Lucrecia Martel’s La ciénaga (2001) present a boldly different aesthetic of New Argentine Cinema. Martel begins her feature with a collage of juxtaposing sights and sounds: images of vivacious red peppers are followed by those of a sickeningly blood red wine and sounds of grumbling storm clouds are interrupted by screeching rusty chairs. In the first moments of the film, the vitality of nature triumphs in some unannounced competition against the sagging bodies sadly shuffling across the screen in a drunken stupor. Both directors prioritize visions over sound to introduce the themes of their first films, whereas in their following features sound takes precedence to convey similar topics. As the credits role in Rejtman’s third film, Los guantes mágicos (2003), the sound of a passing storm is heard, interrupted by that of somebody dialing a phone. This sound correlates with the appearance of an image on screen, however it is not one of a person