The Sounds of Indigenismo

Chapter 3 discusses the problematic fictional indigenista film genre. Falling under the political ideology of indigenismo—discourses advocating for the social and economic integration of indigenous populations at the beginning of the twentieth century—the intended goal of the film genre was to introduce the “indigenous experience” to urban, mestizo audiences. Cinema held a unique position in this construction, but presented contradictory messages: it neither fully promoted nor totally negated integrationist procedures through the cinematic constructions of indigenous cultures. Within these representations, music played a crucial role in not just providing adequate changes in atmosphere but also in sonically depicting the indigenous experience. The chapter focuses on two films, Janitzio (1935) and María Candelaria (1944). These films both enforce exoticist representations that moved against integrationist discourses. While the cinematic interpretations indicate that modern society attempted to integrate these communities, the exoticist aural and visual representations of these communities amplified their Otherness.

The Salon, the Stage, and Porfirian Nostalgia

Chapter 2 discusses the nostalgic, cinematic depiction of upper-class society during the cosmopolitan Porfiriato. Although the era has been seen as an oppressive, corrupt, and violent period, this film genre portrays the Porfirian elite. The genre was particularly focused on portraying the female bourgeoisie, a reserved and restricted class preoccupied with marrying well and maintaining a high social status through strict and traditional (especially religious) social decorum and manners. The genre concentrated on women’s positions, the act of coupling, and conservative social mores, all of which were emphasized through musical traditions from the Porfirato. This chapter examines three hallmark films: En tiempos de don Porfirio (1939), ¡Ay, qué tiempos señor don Simón! (1941), and México de mis recuerdos (1944). The performed works in these films intertextually reference both the developing romantic narrative and the social contradictions of Porfirian culture, particularly concerning gender roles, social mores, and conceptions of decency.

Epilogue

This last chapter briefly discusses the period following the época de oro, focusing on the new genres that developed which recycled narrative and musical elements from the genres of the past. This includes the film comedy, cine de luchadores, and cine de ficheras, film genres popular from the 1960s to the 1990s. The chapter then explores how the época de oro and its musical conventions are remembered and recycled in Mexican cinema, from the end of the twentieth century into the beginnings of the twenty-first century. The chapter concludes with look at the present state of research on and the importance of studying film music in Mexican cinema.

Introduction

This chapter discusses the present state of research on music in Mexican cinema and why a study is so important. Building on frameworks of nationalism and cultural identity in Mexico the author utilizes the concept of “cultural synchresis,” which draws upon sound theorist Michel Chion’s model of synchresis—the combination of synchronism and synthesis that arises when an auditory phenomenon and a visual phenomenon occur at the same time. Using this model, the author investigates how repetitions of film—as bodies of music, the moving image, and narrative working in tandem—molded diverse codes of national identity construction aimed and recognized by urban audiences. This juxtaposition of the narrative, moving image (which encompasses the costuming, setting, lighting, etc.), and sound (which includes diegetic and non-diegetic music and sound design) produced encoded messages representing specific interpretations of Mexicanidad (the cultural identity of the Mexican people) that impacted collective memory.

The Strains of the Revolution

Chapter 5 focuses on the revolutionary melodrama and the malleable and contested role of the soldadera (female camp follower). Building from an extensive collection of photographs and newspapers, the revolutionary melodrama became a historically complicated film genre. While the films are dominated visually and narratively by men, the soldaderas are positioned in the background, yet music about them is foregrounded. One of the leading musical figures was “La Adelita,” a popular song that circulated during the Revolution. Culturally identified as a corrido, “La Adelita” became, for the film industry, the anthem of the Revolution, recycled in varying ways. Although the song is about a soldadera, a closer examination reveals its intimate tie to male revolutionaries rather than to women. This chapter analyzes the recycled use of songs referencing the soldaderas in three films: ¡Vámonos con Pancho Villa! (1935), La Adelita (1938), and Enamorada (1946).

The Singing Charro in the Comedia Ranchera

Chapter 4 explores the cultural construction of Mexico’s most visual and aural national signifier, the charro the horseman dressed in a short jacket and a wide-brimmed sombrero—in the popular musical genre, the comedia ranchera. While the figure of the charro became an important archetype in nationalist rhetoric, it was his musical repertoire that solidified his importance in film. The chapter examines the traditionalist depiction of the charro in the comedia ranchera in its discussion of his visual and aural constructions as an example of “cultural hybridity.” Beginning with Allá en el Rancho Grande (1936), the genre reimagined rural life in the hacienda system with the aid of specific musics performed by the charro protagonist. The comedia ranchera and its intricate depiction of the singing charro not only consolidated several cultural practices into one medium,but also revealed changing perceptions of Mexican masculinity.

The Prostitute and the Cinematic Cabaret

Chapter 1 focuses on the diegetic music performed in the prostitute melodrama and the cabaretera subgenre, concentrating on the genre’s associations with sexuality, modernity, and gender. Since the Porfiriato, the prostitute functioned as a deeply controversial figure and symbol of womanhood in popular culture, perceived at once as a social vice and as an exploited “necessary evil.” Santa (1931), the tragic story of a young country girl turned prostitute, became Mexico’s first sound film. Cinema presented her musically in two distinct ways: dance music exposed her as a sexual figure, while romantic and sentimental boleros painted her as a figure of tragedy. This chapter analyzes the function of music performances in two canonic prostitute melodramas, Santa and the 1950 cabaretera film Víctimas del pecado. Music signified the prostitute-protagonist’s split identity as a seductress and an empathetic figure, uncovering her problematic position that continued to be exploited on and off screen.