The Rundown

During the colonial period, European explorers were convinced that the legendary gold city called El Dorado was real. Desires of finding that promising place full of gold inspired numerous movies such as “Aguirre, Wrath of God” (1972) and the animated movie “El Dorado” (2000), among others. These fantasy stories recounted adventures of imperialist explorers looking for hidden gold mines in the Amazon rainforest. But how would life look like if the legend of El Dorado was not a tale, but a reality? It is that possibility that Peter Berg presents in The Rundown (2003). Berg creates another treasure-hunting adventure in the dystopic reality of a village called “Hell Dorado” (indigenous from the Amazon replace El by Hell expressing their opposition to the gold mining companies looking for their village).

Beck (Dwayne Johnson) goes to the Brazilian Amazon looking for an American guy (Travis) that should take back to the United States. The huge Amazon rainforest is shown in a wide shot accompanied by the lyrics of a soundtrack shouting “don’t bring guns home”. This shot establishes a romantic view of nature, a beautiful place that has not been touched yet. However, on the way to El Dorado, there are a lot of contradictions that make the idealization of nature fall apart. Beck is warned to stay away from the jungle and from a group of rebels that will otherwise kill him. Once in El Dorado, Beck is introduced to the owner of the biggest gold mine in the area, which is also a source of political and economic power over all the Brazilian people, especially over the poor families living from their work in the mines. For foreign mining investors, the once celebrated source of gold is still a promising way to become rich, however, for the Amazon communities that gold was only the source of an eternal slavery and destruction of nature.

In the middle of the mission, Beck and Travis are caught in traps of the rebel group. After some time coexisting with the group, Beck realizes that the foreign company has influenced him and many visitors in the are with a wrong perception about the intentions of the so-called “rebels”. Indeed, they are rebelling but against oppression. This group of native Amazonians fight against the mining company that even though has provided with some infrastructure and “modern” lifestyle, it has also brought instability, poverty and ways to keep the village under dependency. Both the company personnel and the “rebel” group start a search for a golden statue shaped like a cat that is hidden in the Amazon. Such object will provide the local community with freedom from the monopoly of gold mines, and reform the economic system with practices such as agriculture, among other ones that would go in accordance with their ancestral traditions.

The movie ends with the successful searching of the golden item, and the expulsion of the mining company from the Amazon. The dystopia is eliminated from the plot and the Brazilian Amazon becomes a land ruled by Brazilians. Nevertheless, the fight was not to come back to the previous indigenous lifestyle but to improve the conditions in which modernity is imposed. Because of coloniality people's culture and beliefs are shaped and it is almost impossible to decolonize them. For example, the mine owner insults the natives for being unthankful since he gave shoes for the barefoot indigenous and hired them to buy things they want. Even though natives reject everything that comes from the mining business, they will not stop using clothes or shoes, instead, this is adapted to their own lifestyle.

The visual dichotomies proposed throughout the plot between the beauty of the jungle and the social injustices of people taking advantage of its resources are shocking. The ways in which Latin America, its people, and the people looking for its treasures (natural resources) are portrayed make a call to reflection, especially in the negative environmental and social impacts that resource-extraction monopolies could cause.=

The Forbidden Dance is Lambada

It appears as though the film-makers were confused when naming the The Forbidden Dance is Lambada (1990), as the movie should have been titled simply “So Bad, It Should Be Forbidden”, due to the appalling acting and B-movie storyline. The plot begins deep in the Amazon jungles of Brazil at the village of a small indigenous tribe where the Chief’s daughter Nisa (Laura Herring) is participating in an erotic ritualized dance with the rest of the village which captures the catch-phrase of the film: “If it were any hotter, it wouldn’t be dancing!” Suddenly, the festivities are cut short as a jeep roars into the clearing. A white man introduces himself as Benjamin Maxwell, representative of the Petramco Corporation which now apparently owns the land on which the tribe lives and has invested in burning through the Amazon for resources. The Chief spits on Benjamin, but conflict is prevented when Nisa yells, “Stop!” and tries to reason with the men that this is the tribe’s home. Benjamin is impressed with her English, but refuses to back down, while the jeeps continue to drive through several of the near-by huts, literally destroying the indigenous culture. After a small discussion, the Chief allows Nisa to go to America to facilitate an agreement with Petramco, under the protection and guidance of Joa (Sid Haig), the tribal shaman. The two bring their hope and foreign customs to Los Angeles and Joa is immediately arrested after an impressive pyrotechnics show in the Petramco lobby. Nisa escapes and is rescued in a park by a Mexican maid named Carmen (Ángela Moya) who immediately gets the penniless Nisa a job. Nisa’s employer is a stuck-up, racist snob who descibes her last maid as a “Mexican girl, thick as a brick”. As Nisa gets ready for bed that night, she sensually dances around in her nighty, using the dresser and lace curtains in her room as props, and is spotted by her employer’s son, Jason (Jeff James), who immediately invites her out to the club with him, as his girlfriend couldn’t make it.

At the club, Nisa feels uncomfortable with the foreign eighties, synthesized music, and not to mention the fact that Jason lies to his friends about her being a maid, when the DJ unexpectedly begins playing a Brazilian-esque beat. The dance floor immediately clears, but Nisa pleads with Jason to stay and dance with her as she shows him the sexy moves and gyrating hips of the Lambada. The dance is a hit as everyone joins in, much to the disappointment of Jason’s recently arrived girlfriend, Ashley (Barbra Brighton) who ‘accidentally’ rips the sleeve of Nisa’s dress, which Jason had borrowed from his mother. Upon arriving home, Nisa is immediately fired (much to Jason’s dismay), not only for the dress, but also for fraternizing with Jason. Nisa seeks refuge as a female dancer in the stripper joint The Exotica, where she naively believes she can dance for money, without men touching her. Ashley haughtily informs Jason of Nisa’s whereabouts after his friends mistreat her on The Exotica’s dance floor and he immediately goes to her rescue. At first Nisa is hardened to his assistance, but then begins to tell him the story of her tribe and their fight against Petramco. As Jason attempts to escort her away from The Exotica, the bodyguard jumps him. The fight does not go well for Jason until he is saved by Joa, who had stealthily escaped from police by using his skills as a ventriloquist to create tiger roars (of course). The three race to Jason’s home where they plead with his father to come to Nisa’s aid. His parents steadfastly refuse and disown Jason as he leaves the house. Now he is determined to help Nisa and they devise a plan to get national television via a dance competition for the Kid Creole Show so she can tell her story. Joa, Nisa, and Jason seek sanctuary at Carmen’s house, where the night turns to one of infatuation as Nisa and Jason finally give-in to their passions and Joa and Carmen also find companionship for the night. The next morning, they pool their funds and manage to send Joa home to speak with Nisa’s father about the situation, an act which Nisa fears because as of yet she has done nothing to further their cause.

Jason and Nisa relentlessly practice the Lambada to perfect it before the auditions. Meanwhile, Ashley has covertly contacted Benjamin of Petramco to tell him of Jason’s plan. As she is also trying out for the dance competition, it suits her own purposes to get Jason and Nisa out of the picture. At the auditions Ashley competes well, but the unanimous decision is for Nisa and Jason’s foreign spectacle of sexuality. Upon leaving the successful audition, the valet (and obvious flunky for Benjamin) hits Jason over the head with a champagne bottle and leaves him in his car in the dessert with Nisa nowhere to be found. Jason then tails Benjamin to an abandoned club where he has Nisa on stage. As Jason is breaking in through a side window, Benjamin asks Nisa to dance for him. When she refuses and he cites her family’s interests as collateral, Nisa becomes enraged and begins an exhilarating Lambada which enthralls Benjamin. At this point, Nisa spies Jason in the corner and continues to seduce Benjamin to dance with her so that Jason can come at him from behind. The two then flee, with their captors in hot pursuit. Before reaching the car, Jason falls and twists his ankle. They then arrive late to the national broadcast of the Kid Creole Show, but are unable to dance due to Jason’s ankle. Miraculously, Joa arrives backstage with the Chief and he immediately heals Jason’s ankle by using a live snake (the actual method we are not shown). Jason and Nisa perform perfectly and after the act Nisa tells the tribe’s story with the striking visual of her father beside her in indigenous clothing which sells her point even more. The charismatic Kid Creole immediately rallies the crowd in favor of the tribe and calls for a national boycott of all Petramco merchandise. The movie concludes with a relieved Jason and Nisa surrounded by a throng of crazed Lambada dancers.

Seeing as the film went from pitch to premiere in about three months, there’s a sneaking suspicion that The Forbidden Dance is Lambada was less a promotion of the environmental issues which surround the Brazilian rainforest, and more a movie that capitalizes on the so-called ‘Lambada dance craze’ of the 1980s. Although the plot is centered upon liberating Nisa’s tribe from international predators and is bookended at the beginning with shots of plumes of smoke rising from the Amazon and then ending with the caption: “This film is dedicated to the preservation of the rainforest”, the ignorance presented by the characters’ racist remarks, such as “wetback” and “Chiquita banana girl”, as well as the pigeonholing of Brazilian traits leaves much to be desired in terms of a film which truly supports the environmental and cultural issues which are presented. Brazil is displayed as a country buzzing with sexuality (where every citizen is born a dancer), but more importantly it is portrayed as a country with no political power whatsoever, seeing as Nisa needs to physically go to America in order to initiate any sentiment towards her cause. The white men are told not to fraternize with the Latin immigrants who are given the subordinate jobs of maids or concubines. In fact, the only true union is achieved when Jason and Nisa consummate their passions, but this is comically intertwined with Carmen making a grand show of slipping a condom under their door; a good deed to be sure, but also a symbol of an intolerance towards culture mixing. Above all, this film illustrates the “business is business” attitude which America displays towards the subordinate countries which supply the US with the resources it demands, no matter what the price.

Somewhere in Sonora

Somewhere in Sonora (1933) stars John Wayne who rescues a man caught in the clutches of the Brotherhood of Death, a band of American outlaws operating in Mexico. Wayne plays a cowboy named John Bishop who is framed during a carriage race at the start of the film. A couple of crooks sabotage the wheel of his opponent, so when the wheel flies off mid-race and leaves its drivers injured, Bishop is instantly blamed and tossed in jail. A kindly gentleman named Bob Leadly helps him to escape, and he tells Bishop that his son Burt was also wrongly accused, which forced him to flee to Mexico and join up with the deadly Monty Black and his gang. Even though Bishop’s name is cleared the following day when the real crooks are found, he resolves to test the adage that no one leaves the so-called Brotherhood of Death alive, and gallops southward with his two buffoon sidekicks to retrieve Burt Leadly.

In a Mexican cantina, Bishop encounters Mary Burton and Patsy Ellis, who having been onlookers at the carriage race vehemently reject his company and call him a murderous outlaw. This is significantly overheard by Monty Black. Shortly thereafter, Bishop rescues Burton and Ellis from their runaway carriage, and accompanies them to the town of Paloma, home of Burton’s father the silver miner Mexicali Burton. They clear up the misunderstanding that Bishop sabotaged his opponent, which removes the moral qualms that were keeping Burton from being smitten by the cowboy’s suave advances. Meanwhile, Bishop overhears her father and General Ramirez of the Mexican federal army preparing to vanquish the Monty Black gang which threatens to raid his silver stockpiles. Bishop knows that he has to act fast to save Leadly, otherwise the army will attack the gang while he is still among them.

Bishop rides into where the Brotherhood of Death are hiding out and is approached by Black himself, who thinking that Bishop is an escaped criminal, invites him to join his rag-tag band of American outlaws. Bishop proves himself to be flawless in knife throwing, quick drawing and knife fighting and they allow him to participate in the raid on Paloma. En route Bishop secretly explains to Leadly that he was found to be innocent and that Bishop is here to retrieve him, but the young man reaffirms that no one leaves the Brotherhood of Death alive. As the gang enters Paloma, the filmmakers set in motion the classic save-the-day formula that will be acceptable to John Wayne fans, but preposterous to everyone else. Bishop releases Duke, his highly intelligent white steed, who gallops to the warning bell installed by Mexicali Burton and rings it so that the town is alerted to the infiltrators. Monty Black realizes that he has been double crossed, so Bishop and Leadly flee on horseback with the gang in pursuit. The pair hides in a canyon and a shootout occurs, but they are outmanned and captured by the gang. Black is seconds away from shooting Bishop when Duke leads the sidekicks, Mary Burton and the Mexican federal army to that very spot. This leads into a feel-good ending of justice being served to Black and love triumphing as Bishop and Burton embrace.

Somewhere in Sonora is a true crowd pleaser; it has a dashing hero, comical buffoons, a delightful love sub-plot, exciting action scenes and a noble animal sidekick. However, the film is also an explicit exposé on the merits of Mexico as a place for American investors and holidaymakers. The exposé begins in the cantina. The sidekicks see that the Mexican bartender is too lazy to sell his own liquour, so one hops over the counter and pours outrageous quantities for the cantina’s occupants. Bishop tosses the panicking bartender five bucks, not knowing exactly how much the liquor is worth, which thrills him because he can afford a nice fat cow with the extra money. This scene shows how far the American dollar goes in Mexico; a mere five dollars can buy liquor and livestock. Soon Mexicali Burton is introduced, the poster boy of American investment in Mexico. Burton is profiting from Mexican mineral resources and the Mexican federal army is committed to protecting his investments, even if they need American help to do it. It is noteworthy that the threat in Somewhere in Sonora comes from American outlaws and not Mexican banditos. Mexico is so safe that Burton gets his daughter to drive her own horse-drawn cart down to meet him! As well as being profitable and secure for investment, Mexico is portrayed as pulse-quickening and romantic, with the girls swooning in the moonlight-bathed hacienda to the Spanish guitar. Made in 1933, this film markets Mexico as a place where Americans can do profitable business with a compliant government and have a cheap holiday with abundant liquor and romantic settings, much like how Mexico is marketed today.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

"I know what gold does to men’s souls," the old-timer ominously states to the eager young men before him. His comment foreshadows the subsequent action in the revered film noir gem The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), in which morals fall by the wayside and madness breaks out as the men venture through Mexico on a quest to claim material happiness.

The tale begins in Tampico, Mexico, in the year 1925, after the Mexican Revolution and during a time when banditos roam the desert and federales try to enforce justice. Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) is a down-on-his-luck American trying to scrape together a living in a town where a foreigner can’t even shine shoes to make a buck. And so he begs from his fellow Americans to get money for a decent meal. It seems as though Lady Luck smiles upon Dobbs when he manages to hook a hard-labour job, only to be duped out of his money by the sleazy manager. But not all is lost in his unprofitable venture as he befriends a fellow scrounger by the name of Bob Cortin (Tim Holt) who helps him bully the money out of their greedy ex-employer. Although they wreak havoc on the manager, the scene shows the honest nature of the two men, who only take what is owed them, throwing hundreds of pesos back in the man's bloodied face.

Dobbs and Cortin check in to an old dorm and encounter Howard (Walter Huston), a friendly old-timer who has seen the world and talks about the universal dangers that gold bestows upon a man, such as turning him against his friends or provoking an insatiable lust for that glittery rock. As Howard looks on knowingly, Dobbs vows that if he struck it rich he would only take what he needed. Later, Dobbs and Cortin start to consider what it would be like to have all that gold and they enlist the help of Howard to get them started. Pooling their money, they agree to be partners and set out for the Sierra Madre.

They hike through blazing sun, howling wind, overgrown jungle, thirst, and fatigue. But led by Howard’s know-how, the trio finally find the spot for the big pay-off and build a secluded gold mine in the mountains, careful to play the part of hunters to any outsider they meet by chance. One night when weighing the gold flakes, they start chatting about how the gold should be divided and who is the most trustworthy. Without reaching a consensus, it is decided that each man will take responsibility for his own share. When the men discuss their dreams of what they will do with their pay-out, Cortin and Howard express a desire to settle down while Dobbs reveals his short-term, greedy cravings. And thus the suspicions begin. Dobbs’s partners notice him acting strangely when he starts talking to himself, a characteristic which Howard finds unsurprising for a gold-miner. Trust issues emerge when Cortin accidentally discovers Dobbs’s hiding place for his stash.

Cortin then reluctantly heads to town for supplies and unwillingly brings back another eager American (Bruce Bennett) to their camp. The three men decide that it’s best to kill the stranger before he takes off with their gold or reports their illegal mining operation to the authorities. But the murder is stalled when a band of banditos come across the group. We are introduced to the only English-speaking outlaw of the group (Alfonso Bedoya) whom the Americans simply call "Gold Hat." He claims that they are Federales, but is unable to produce a “stinkin’ badge” to Dobbs and a gun fight ensues. The real Federales appear and chase off the bandits, but not before they manage to shoot and kill the American outsider. The partners come across a letter on the dead man from his wife and they realize from her words that this man had also come down with the fabled gold-lust and they decide that it’s best for them to pack up their operation before succumbing to the same fate.

On the long road back, Howard is enlisted by several harmless villagers to come and revive a young boy who has fallen in some water. Howard succeeds and is revered by the villagers, who will not let him go on his way until they have paid their debt to him. Cortin offers to take Howard’s things (including his gold) to Durango with them until he is able to join them. Later that night Dobbs gives into lunacy as he envisions Cortin plotting to take all of the money for himself. The soft-spoken Cortin denies such allegations, but Dobbs gives his word that he will not be the first to fall asleep. The next night, an exhausted Cortin collapses and Dobbs steals his gun away. Without a shred of remorse, Dobbs marches Cortin away from camp and shoots him twice. He leaves the body there, not knowing that the bullets only wounded Cortin and he was able to crawl to some villagers who in turn bring him to Howard to be patched up. Meanwhile, Dobbs attempts to out-talk his guilty conscience as the flames of the campfire appear to engulf him in their hell. The next day he discovers that Cortin is gone, but convinces himself that the animals got to him. He continues to Durango and practically falls into a stagnant waterhole when he is parched from thirst. He looks up to see Gold Hat standing above him. Gold Hat feigns friendliness and then he and two others kill Dobbs in order to sell his donkeys and animal hides. They see the sacks of gold on the donkeys and dump it out, thinking that it’s only sand to weigh the hides down for selling.

In town, Gold Hat and his bandit friends are caught and made to dig their own graves before standing in front of the firing squad. Cortin and Howard ride into town just as the shots are fired. They are tipped off that the bandits have left the bags of gold by some nearby ruins, but are left to utter disappointment when they realize that the gold flakes have blown away in the wind. Howard begins to laugh at the cruel joke that has been played on them until both he and Cortin are in stitches over the whole thing. They decide that “the worst isn’t bad when it finally happens” and decide to pursue, without the gold, the dreams they had talked about while searching for their treasure in the Sierra Madre.

The sense of authenticity of the Mexican characters in this film is notable: the casting included villagers, well-known figures, and possibly even a real bandit, all from the surrounding area of the movie’s on-location set in Mexico. Not only are the small talk, greetings, and the commerce spoken in Spanish, but so are many of the crucial scenes. Without subtitles, the audience is left to piece together the meaning from situational clues and Howard’s knowledge of Spanish. The effect is a mark of Mexican culture in a storyline dominated by American presence. It appears that the English language takes on a sinister character as it is only spoken by selfish Americans and the ruthless Gold Hat. This movie is part of a darker era of film, beginning at the end of World War II, where bandits are more interested in guns and ammo than gold and riches, and American greed takes the forefront as the elusive villain. Mexico is seen as a treasure chest of natural resources just waiting to be opened. The land has its own way of governing with its own inherent judgment. At the end of the film it’s as though the cacti are grabbing onto the cloth sacks that held the men’s gold, as if keeping what belongs to Mexico in Mexico. Coincidentally, "Sierra Madre" translates a "Mother of the Mountains"; the "mother" on whom the men bestowed thanks for their gold as they waved good-bye to their mine is also the mother who wouldn’t let her precious resources ride away into the sunset. The "cruel" joke played on the men almost personifies the Sierra Madre into an authority, one whose final decision always sides with her country. Perhaps in this film it is not the gold itself which is the treasure, but the lesson learned.

Mexicali Rose

The opening scene of this classic Western explodes with Gene Autry and his sidekick Frog (Smiley Burnette) racing their steeds through the desert landscape of old Mexico in order to be on time for the one thing all singers-turned-cowboys can’t miss: a live-radio broadcast of Gene Autry and his Caballeros. As you may have guessed, Mexicali Rose is neither your typical Western movie, nor your run-of-the-mill musical.

Originally released in 1939 on the brink of World War 2 spilling over the globe, the film capitalizes on America's need for a wholesome tale filled with kindhearted cowboys and a leading lady in need of assistance against a crooked corporation. The story jumps into action from the get-go in order to clock in just under an hour at 59 minutes. Within the first minute we encounter Anita Laredo (Luana Walters) who becomes tangled (literally) with Gene Autry when, in his haste to the radio station, his cufflink catches on the lace around her wrist, developing into a classic meet-cute situation when he rushes her up the stairs to stand embarrassingly next to him as he sings Mexicali Rose on live-radio. We realize that this is undoubtedly our leading lady when, after being released from her snare and casting a scowl at Gene, she walks hurriedly to the door, only to turn around with a sly smile.

Gene sings regularly on the radio program to promote the Alta Vista Oil Company managed by the dishonest Carruthers (William Royles), who has falsified his claim of striking oil and is earnestly cashing in on eager investors (a plot most likely brought about by the nationalization of Mexico’s oil a year before the film’s release in 1938). Anita is coincidentally at the radio station to represent the orphanage residing on Carruthers’ land and to confront him about not supplying her mission with the royalties promised in their lease agreement. Sent away like a minor annoyance, Anita runs into Gene whom she berates for supporting such a company in their greed and power. Immediately Gene becomes more cowboy than crooner and sets out to investigate.

Things go from bad to worse for Gene and Frog when after examining the oil well and feeling suspicious about the operation, they are set up by Alta Vista’s henchmen to encounter Mexican bandits on their road into town. They flee to the orphanage where Gene relates his suspicions of foul play to Anita, only to then be captured by the bandits when they ‘steal’ Autry’s horse from outside; and by ‘steal’ I mean ‘trade one of their own horses’, which one might say is a curious habit of Mexican bandits, only adding to the wholesomeness of the film. From here it seems as though Gene and Frog are lost for good, until it is discovered that the leader of the bandits, Valdes (Noah Beery, Sr.), is a die-hard Gene Autry fan, who turns over a new leaf when Gene begins to serenade the hardened Mexicans around the campfire and then compares Valdes to Robin Hood. Valdes agrees to help aid the orphanage against Carruthers, even to the point of bringing the orphans stolen food and bullying the rich to donate to their cause.

The story climaxes quickly with a few ruses on Gene’s part, including filling a hole with a barrel of oil to fake that the land is rich in the resource. Carruthers proceeds to set up a real oil drill, and then sells all of his stock after realizing that Autry planted the oil. The police then investigate the well only to find that there really are oil deposits; and who did Carruthers just sell all of his stock to? Gene Autry, of course. The film ends on an expected high note with Gene’s arm around Anita and happy orphans all around.

Apart from its predictable story-line, Mexicali Rose offers a deluge of ‘Mexico meets US’ play on culture, a fact not lost on the title itself. The two principal orphans just happen to be named Chalita and Tommy Romero, while the Mexican bandits are referenced to Robin Hood and his band of merry men. Valdes, through heavy character development, sheds his bandit ways and embodies his Robin Hood persona to save Tommy and Chalita from the clutches of Carruthers, only to die a cowboy death minutes later in the arms of Gene. Perhaps the most intriguing line of the movie, which deftly shows this tangle of cultures, is when Carruthers warns his henchman that he had "better make it to the states while there’s still time." Mexico, usually envisioned as a magical destination of escape for criminals, has now become the land of justice. Once again, this isn’t your typical western.

See Also: South of the Border, Down Mexico Way.