Viewing Guide for Real Women Have Curves: Film Analysis and Key Questions | Exams Contemporary Literature

LIT 80N, Fall 2008

Latino Expressions

VIEWING GUIDE: REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES

HBO Films, 2002; dir. Patricia Cardoso; screenwriters George LaVoo and

Josefina López; based on a play by Josefina López

Cast: America Ferrera as Ana; Lupe Ontiveros as her mother Carmen; Ingrid Oliu as her sister

Estela; Jorge Cervera as her father Raúl; George López as her teacher Mr. Guzmán

Filmed on location in East LA/Boyle Heights

Some important units of filmic analysis:

• shot [can have different camera angles; different distance--close-up, mid-, or long

establishing shot; often camera movement as well]

• scene [with shots carefully edited together to suggest consistency in one time-space

setting]

• narrative sequence [a series of scenes that work together to advance the narrative: could

be a combination of forward and backward action, flashing back to something that helps

explain the forward action]

Recurring techniques and visual motifs to watch for throughout the film:

• focus on Ana, the central character, as seen by someone else: many shots here feature

close-ups of Ana’s face, rather than shots of the surrounding scene from her point of

view. Think about what these close-ups convey, and how they work with other, longer

shots in which Ana is featured within a context

• framing devices: note the way in which characters often appear reflected in, or obscured

by, windows or mirrors. How does this suggest the transparency, or non-transparency, of

their thoughts? Also pay attention to gates, fences, cages, and architectural elements of

the García family home that often frame the characters in a particular shot.

• light: the dominant sense of light in this film is bright and unobtrusively lit from the side

or below, but there are some scenes in which shadows are prominent, and some scenes

where everything is aggressively backlit, as if the viewer is staring at the sun

• color: some scenes have a strong color motif: the rainbow wall of thread in the factory;

the yellow and red in the climactic scenes of the family’s final confrontation

And a couple of more “literary” questions to be asking:

• into what genre does this story seem to fit? in what ways does it follow the “rules” of this

genre or not?

• parallel plots: what are the separate threads of Ana’s struggles, as you understand them?

How are the struggles of the central character echoed, or not, in those of the secondary

characters?

• are there characters who seem archetypal or mythic—characters you feel you know at

once because you’ve seen them so mayn times before? If so, do these characters meet or

disappoint those expectations?

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LIT 80N, Fall 2008 Latino Expressions VIEWING GUIDE: REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES HBO Films, 2002; dir. Patricia Cardoso; screenwriters George LaVoo and Josefina López; based on a play by Josefina López Cast: America Ferrera as Ana; Lupe Ontiveros as her mother Carmen; Ingrid Oliu as her sister Estela; Jorge Cervera as her father Raúl; George López as her teacher Mr. Guzmán Filmed on location in East LA/Boyle Heights Some important units of filmic analysis:

shot [can have different camera angles; different distance--close-up, mid-, or long establishing shot; often camera movement as well]
scene [with shots carefully edited together to suggest consistency in one time-space setting]
narrative sequence [a series of scenes that work together to advance the narrative: could be a combination of forward and backward action, flashing back to something that helps explain the forward action] Recurring techniques and visual motifs to watch for throughout the film:
focus on Ana, the central character, as seen by someone else: many shots here feature close-ups of Ana’s face, rather than shots of the surrounding scene from her point of view. Think about what these close-ups convey, and how they work with other, longer shots in which Ana is featured within a context
framing devices : note the way in which characters often appear reflected in, or obscured by, windows or mirrors. How does this suggest the transparency, or non-transparency, of their thoughts? Also pay attention to gates, fences, cages, and architectural elements of the García family home that often frame the characters in a particular shot.
light : the dominant sense of light in this film is bright and unobtrusively lit from the side or below, but there are some scenes in which shadows are prominent, and some scenes where everything is aggressively backlit, as if the viewer is staring at the sun
color : some scenes have a strong color motif: the rainbow wall of thread in the factory; the yellow and red in the climactic scenes of the family’s final confrontation And a couple of more “literary” questions to be asking:
into what genre does this story seem to fit? in what ways does it follow the “rules” of this genre or not?
parallel plots: what are the separate threads of Ana’s struggles, as you understand them? How are the struggles of the central character echoed, or not, in those of the secondary characters?
are there characters who seem archetypal or mythic—characters you feel you know at once because you’ve seen them so mayn times before? If so, do these characters meet or disappoint those expectations?

LIT 80N, Fall 2008 Latino Expressions VIEWING GUIDE: REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES Specific notes on chapters, and descriptions of omitted chapters: [NOTE: “chapter” is not a legitimate category for a filmmaker, who thinks in terms of the whole storyboard, and shots/scenes/sequences. Rather, it is artificially imposed by the format of the DVD for the purposes of easier scene selection by the consumer. Since we will have to skip some parts to make this 90 minute film fit into our 70 minute class, I’ve given summaries of the omitted “chapters.”] Chapter 1: note establishing shots of LA and Ana’s neighborhood; lots of shots of her walking along the street that will be echoed throughout the film. Pay attention to language usage here: who speaks Spanish when, and why they might switch to English. Chapters 2-3: gender roles; leaving Dad’s truck and the world of men to go to the world of women; importance of chisme [gossip] to Carmen; characters accusing each other of being overly melodramatic: “estás exagerada” Chapter 4: SKIPPED —Carmen worries that Estela is already 29 and will never marry, so she sets her sights on Ana marrying instead, putting faith in a statue of San Antonio to help bring this about. Scene of Abuelo [grandfather] eating tuna [cactus fruit], telling a tall tale about hidden treasure back in Mexico, telling Ana she is his treasure. Cut to Ana riding bus to summer school again, looking unhappily at woman with screaming child on the bus. She tells Mr. Guzmán that she’s filled out college applications, but he notices she hasn’t written her personal statement and tells her she must do this. If she does, he says he is “friendly with the Dean at Columbia” who might be able to get her in. Jimmy, a boy in her class, writes his phone number on her hand. Chapter 5: all about the telenovela! notice cuts here between Ana, writing her personal statement, and the family in the other room Chapter 6: crisis at Estela’s factory—notice lighting and fences/chains Chapter 7: SKIPPED— Ana at computer, still trying to write her personal statement. Carmen wakes her up in the middle of the night to say she’s pregnant; Ana is skeptical. At the factory, Carmen gossips about Norma, saying her fiance had sex with her the night before the wedding, “had a taste,” and then left her. Ana is angry, saying women have value beyond their virginity. Estela agrees, saying she wants to be valued for having “a mind of her own.” Chapter 8: the only scene set outside the García family’s “comfort zone”; consider how it is portrayed Chapter 9: think about how this subplot with Jimmy ties into Ana’s relationship to the women at the factory

Viewing Guide for Real Women Have Curves: Film Analysis and Key Questions, Exams of Contemporary Literature

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