El Cine De Roman Chalbaud

The dissertation reevaluates the commonly held view that his films offer a transparent critique of Venezuelan urban society and establishes the narratives elements on which his movies rest upon. The films analysed are typically regarded as an insightful depiction of marginal subjects against the background of social conflicts in an oil-driven country. However, his extensive controls over the artistic process and his reliance on elements from popular culture, popular religion and melodrama have resulted in movies filtered through an idiosyncratic lens, often portraying a reductionist side of Caracas social settings. In order to contrast the directors ideology and narrative method, some of the main tenets of narratology are revisited in light of Bakhtins ideas of narrative discourse. This approach facilitates the analysis of the modes in which the cinematographic discourse, in technical, stylistic and content-related terms, creates several juxtaposed and often contradictory channels of communication. The investigation ultimately leads to a new and dynamic understanding of Chalbauds artistic procedures, obsessions and limitations.