Oscar Jubis

The Films of Lucrecia Martel: the Salta Trilogy Oscar Jubis

During the past decade, Lucrecia Martel has emerged as one of the most respected filmmakers from Latin America. Her films demand serious engagement and critical scrutiny. Martel describes her filmmaking as "cine de autor" (auteur cinema). This book defines and explores the characteristics and conditions of her authorship. It is an expression of the enduring usefulness of auteurist criticism. An introduction sets the stage for close readings of her three features to date: The Swamp, The Holy Girl and The Headless Woman. These textual analyses focus sharply on sequences crucial to the conveyance of characterization, meaning and ideology. They explore the themes and issues that arise within the narratives as well as the formal means by which they do. The films of Lucrecia Martel form a trilogy that distills her experience of growing up in a remote Argentine province and critiques the social and cultural forces at play in Latin America. They are grounded on subjective experience and convey a specific sense of place. However, these entertaining and edifying films illuminate universal aspects of being a person in the world.