El Cine Poético en Carlos Reygadas
Abstract
The cinematography of Mexican director Carlos Reygadas is the main focus of
this dissertation, which aims to validate the artistic quality of his four films: Japón,
Batalla en el Cielo, Luz Silenciosa and Post Tenebras Lux; define the creator’s creative
style; find references and key influences of his cinematographic approach; and recognize
his identification with the typology of poetic cinema, as a reactive model to narrative and
cultural cinematographic formulas.
To complete this present work, the conceptualizations of six emblematic figures
in cinema were chosen as the dissertation’s theoretical foundation: Luis Buñuel, Robert
Bresson, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Éric Rohmer, Andrei Tarkovsky and Abbas Kiarostami.
Based on their perceptions of film, resemblances are noted, whether consciously or
unconsciously referenced by Carlos Reygadas. Characteristics of poetic cinema are
analyzed, including how such creators interpreted the use of sounds, editing, scene
duration, space, dialogue of characters or models, importance of the creator’s ethical
values, methods of choosing and developing themes, and technical resources for
handling images, among others.
The poetic implications of Carlos Reygadas, a creator focused on stimulating an
individual’s sensory perception through the proper use of key cinematic tools –using
image and sound to create a sense of time– are confirmed through a series of interviews
done by the creator following his four films. In these interviews, reoccurring content in his speech is consistent: symbolism of titles, story ideas, use of non-actors, creative
methods, filming process, sound and music, sex and faith, nature, references to film and
literature, use of space and time, presence of death and the grotesque, and other technical
elements.
Finally, these and other cinematic elements and their variations in the four
feature films by this director are discussed, which together validate the affirmation that
Carlos Reygadas is one of the most representative creators of poetic cinema in the early
twenty-first century throughout the Americas and worldwide.
Citation
Marimon Miyares, Javier (2016). El Cine Poético en Carlos Reygadas. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A & M University. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /158664.