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Ciro guerra, writer and director. 2009. Los viajes del viento. Ciudad Lunar Producciones.
Ruíz Navia, Oscar, writer and director. 2009. El vuelco del cangrejo. Contravía Films and Arizona Films.
Natural and aural beauty are probably not the first things that come to a foreigner's mind when thinking of Colombia. In two recent Colombian films, however, music and nature play central roles. These films will be of interest to anyone looking at popular representations of Latin American music, and they could also be useful for initiating classroom dialogue on musical interactions with ethnicity, tradition, senses of place, or conflict.
In El Vuelco del Cangrejo (The Crab Trap), life as they know it in the Colombian Pacific village of La Barra is beset on all sides: by over-fishing, by trash, and by city folk looking to make money off its scenery. The conflict between insiders and outsiders is symbolized through the clash of two musics, which we experience through the ears of Daniel, a visitor running away from an unknown fear. As Cerebro (The Brain)-an actual village resident-says to Daniel, "This place isn't what it used to be."
Early in the film, we are introduced to the character known only as Paisa, a common nickname for an urban white guy in this part of Colombia. Busy building away on his dream hotel, oblivious to villagers' warnings that concrete buildings only get washed away, Paisa disturbs the villagers not only with his outsiders' view of property rights but with the enormous speakers he has installed, blasting popular reggaetón music day and night.
No one likes Paisa, so it is no surprise that he is not invited to a village fete, a beach bonfire with singing and dancing held in order to bring the fishermen-who have been out for days-back home safely. There, the villagers...