Analyse Claudia llosa's ''La teta asustada', focusing on her use of mise en scene of the feminist film theory.

Female directors are becoming more recognised and celebrated amongst the film industry and this has led to a feminist film movement. Originally the feminist film movement focussed on the way women were depicted amongst films and combatted the typical stereotype of women when directed by males, who tended to oversexualize women in their films. Men and women are viewed and portrayed much differently in the stereotypical films, Mulvey claimed that men are seen as subjects identifying with agents who drive the film's narrative forward and women as objects for masculine desire and fetishtic gazing (MULVEY, 1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975) - Laura Mulvey. The feminist film movement has now branched into looking and combatting the depiction of women from different cultures and sexualities. Latin American film directors have became more recongised amongst the international film community, thus providing Latin American female directors a platform to introduce their films on an international scale, challenging the stereotypical female portrayal within their culture. Peruvian Claudia Llossa has became a distinguised film director, with her debut film 'madeinusa' (2006) winning a number of awards including best Latin American film at the Malaga festival and her second film 'La teta asustada' (2009) becoming the first Peruvian film nominated for the golden bear award. Llosa much like other female film directors draws attention to feminist issues and portrays a much more realistic view of women in her films, which Claudia Llosa depicts through the lives of Peruvian women. Claudia Llosa has became well known for her exquiste use of mise en scene in her films and it is these techniques that reflect the feminist film movement. There are many different interpretations of Mise en scene , it is how everything is positioned and designed in a directors set, it focuses on what can be seen in the picture, consisting of the setting, lighting, costume, actors, camera placement and sound. All of these aspects of mise en scene are fundemental in determining how the audience interpret a film, as they impact the audiences perception of a character or scene. 'La Teta Asustada' is a prime example as to why Llosa's use of Mise en scene was held in such high esteem amongst film critics. The film opens with a pitch black screen and the sound of a melody sung by an old women, drawing the audience to focus on the brutal lyrics of the violence inflicted upon not only the woman but Peru during the shining path movement in the early eighties. Llosa holds the blackness of the opening scene for at least a minute, holding the audiences attention on the lyrics until she cuts to a close up of the very frail old woman still singing of the pain she endured and of her rape which led to the birth of her daughter Fausta. Llosa moves the camera to introduce Fausta, the main character of the film. Claudia Llosa frames Fausta

by window, which looks out onto the poverty stricken area of Lima where they reside. The film title "la teta asustada" or "The Milk of sorrow" derives from the myth that the children concieved by women as a product of rape would contract a disease that would rob them of a soul when they drunk the milk of their mother. When Fausta collapses at the beginning of the film after a nose bleed, we see the extent of the belief of this myth as her uncle genuinley believes that the fainting and nose bleed his niece suffers from are the result of the milk of sorrow.However the doctor reveals that it is infact due to a potatoe that Fausta inserted into her vagina as a preventative measure against rape, which was causing her to faint as it had begun to sprout roots and infect her uterus. Claudia Llosa uses the potatoe and the milk as symbolic devices to represent the pain suffered by Fausta and her mother. The potatoe especially becomes the focus on important scenes in La Teta asustada which I shall explain further into this essay. After her mothers death Fausta is determined to transport her mothers body from Lima to the village she was born in, to fund this Fausta takes a job as a maid for Ms.Aida, a wealthy woman who lives in a gated house in the suburbs of Lima. This gives Llosa the opportunity to play with the mise en scene, and depict the class divide of Lima from the working class to the upper class. On her first day of work Fausta has to make her way through a busy market which Llosa shows through a series of tracking shots, these fast tracking shots reflect the business of life for the working class, it is only when Fausta arrives at the gated house just outside of the market that the camera movement slows down, reflecting the calm of the lives of the upper class and giving a feeling of peace and serenity. In the next scene Llosa uses mise-enscene to show the contrast between Fausta and her employer Ms.Aida a wealthy pianist, she frames the shots to establish a relationship between the two, with Ms.Aida keeping her back to Fausta as she speaks to her, calling her by the wrong name and just generally belitelling her. This is where we see the importance of the potatoe, after Faustas awkward encounter with Ms.Aida the first slice of potatoe falls from inbetween Faustas legs and makes a loud thud on the floor. This symbolises her first step towards self progression, and becomes the basis for this film. One of Ms.Aidas pearl necklace breaks, Ms.Aida then uses these pearls as a bargaining tool to get Fausta to 'help' her with a new song. Ms.Aida tells fausta that with every song she sings for her she will give her a pearl, Llosa then intermitantly goes to shots of the pearls on a scale throughout the rest of the film, each pearl reflects another step towards Faustas progression. Ms.Aida does not however stick to her part of the deal leading to the final step of Faustas progression, she takes the matter and her own health into her own hands. With the help of the Indigenous gardener whom she befriended earlier in the film she got the

potatoe removed from her vagina, signalling her final step towards growth, change and a new beginning. Llosa focuses the shot on Faustas hands which are clasped tightly together, with the camera still focusing on her hands she releases her grip to reveal the pearls that were rightfully hers, that she had to steal from Ms Aida to pay for her mothers funeral. Throughout La Teta Asustada, Claudia Llosa displays her keen eye for mise en scene as a visual story teller. Her combination of long shots to reflect the reserved nature of Fausta, to the fast camera shots as Fausta travelled alone to reflect the level of fear and fast paced nature of the life of a working class citizen, the audience is also shown many static shots which could almost be said to show the immovable nature of life for an indigenous people residing in Lima. Due to the richness of culture in Peru, Llosa had a lot of aspects of mise en scene to play with, costume was one of them, allowing Llosa to portray the stark contrast in wealth between Ms.Aida and those who work for her. Sound is also another tool used by Claudia Llosa in La Teta asustada, the symphonic melodies sung by Fausta and her mother could almost fool the audience into thinking they were listening to songs of a joyful nature however the lyrics were always a lot more deep, the lyrics themselves telling a story of pain and suffering.