ROOM: 9A1The Ibero-Latin American Society Inc
Invites you to a talk by Mr Gonzalo Santiago
The influence of coca leaves on
the contemporary history of
Friday 28 August 2009, 7pm
Hall of the
Coca plant has played a central role in the Andean culture throughout its history. Archaeological evidence for the chewing of coca leaves dates back to at least the sixth century AD. Gonzalo will put forward an interesting perspective on how this little plant has recently impacted on the financial, social and political life of
Short biography
Gonzalo is naturalised Australian born in
Entry fee: $5 members; $10 non-members (includes refreshments after the talk)
RSVP by Wed 27 August to: Iris Montero (6255 6709), Aida Carrasco (6254 6422), or Nancy Pritchard via email: jpritch@ozemail.com.au
Few adult fairy stories come our way at the movies, possibly the most memorable is the haunting Jean Cocteau version of Beauty and the Beast, to which this films pays some homage along with passing references to other well loved fairy stories like the Grimm Brothers, Alice and even The Wizard of Oz. There is something of both Alice and Dorothy in Ofelia as she too has to take a journey through frightening places to find her true self. Fairy tales and fables often have their origins in very human fears as this film cleverly illustrates.
Anchored in a brutal time the end of the Spanish Civil War and beginning of the Franco regime, young Ofelia is forced to live with her fascist step father Captain Vidal when her pregnant mother joins him in a remote outpost where he is fanatically hunting down a party of left wing guerrillas. Book loving Ofelia hates her new life living with the cold and strict Captain in an old mill on the edge of a forest, but wanders into a nearby ancient labyrinth chasing a large stick insect that turns out to be a fairy. Like Alice she is lead into an underground world and meets up with a towering playful but imperial Pan, a Faun right out of Lewis Carroll who informs her she is really a princess and to inherit her kingdom she has to carry out three tasks each terrifying in its own way.
Meanwhile in the real world of the Civil War, Captain Vidal soon shows his true form as a sadistic bully in a sequence where he brutally beats two suspects, making the Gestapo look like gentlemen. While Ofelia has her own share problems including creepy crawlies, an horrendous giant toad, and a terrifying monster with eyes in its hands. Her fantasy world and its creatures are superbly realized with Gothic designs influenced by Goya's paintings and illustrations by the British artist Arthur Rackham. But she also has to fight against the evils of the real world still in chaos, her dreaded step father determined that his baby son will survive even if his sick wife doesn't live through the birth.
So the film cleverly contrasts the Victorian fantasy underworld with the shocking violence and cruelty of the fighting in the real world above ground; finally fusing both worlds together in a dramatic conclusion. It is an amazing film to watch, the real horrors are the civil war scenes as opposed to the demoniac creatures down below, the director shows real life can be more horrific than ever imagined in fairy stories. Even Luis Bunuel would be impressed.
Ivana 
The exceptionally talented Guillermo del Toro has made a powerful allegory which will remain in the memory as one of the most visual films this year. His previous work "The Devil's Backbone" also dealt with the Civil War through the eyes of a child, but here he has gone even further with this dark fable that suggests man is more than capable of horrors far in excess of our most Gothic fantasies. This is a remarkable piece of cinema but be warned it is certainly not suitable for children.
By: John Bale
