Life imitating art imitating life: The raging discontent of Chile

Alvaro Navarro / CC BY-SA. Concepcion, Chile protests 2019 via Wikipedia

Post submission by Dr. Joe Hardwick and Oscar Cárdenas (PhD Candidate)

Recently, popular Chilean magazine The Clinic conducted an interview with acclaimed filmmaker and PhD candidate at the University of Queensland, Oscar Cárdenas (also known as Oscar Cárdenas Navarro). The interview, which is available on The Clinic‘s website here, focused on Cárdenas’ ability to capture the discontent of Chileans which until recently, had quietly simmered under the surface of normalcy. However, recent events in Chile have brought that simmer to a raging boil, making international headlines.

Chile has experienced ongoing protests and a civil uprising which started on 18 October 2019. These are the largest protests Chile has experienced since the end of the Pinochet’s dictatorship. They began in response to a fare increase on the Santiago Metro’s subway line, emblematic of a much larger issue of disparity in living conditions in the country, with protestors citing factors such as the rising cost of living, income inequality, political corruption, and mass privatisation of services. The crisis has been heralded as yet another “brutal legacy” of the Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet neo-liberalism who ruled from 1979 – 1990. 

Revisiting Oscar Cárdenas’ 2006 film Rabia [Anger]

Still from Rabia – provided by the director Oscar Cárdenas

Submission by Oscar Cárdenas (PhD Candidate)

Rabia. Directed by Oscar Cárdenas Navarro, performances by Carola Carrasco, Constanza Aguirre and Camila Aguirre, CeroFilm, 2006.

Oscar Cárdenas is a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland who is exploring the works of Chilean director Raul Ruiz. His thesis is entitled: Raul Ruiz’s film making: An alternative to Central Conflict Theory. He is looking at four films including:

• L’hypothèse du tableau volé [The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting] (1979)
• Les destins de Manoel [Manoel’s Destinies/Manoel on the Island of Marvels] (1985)
• Le temps retrouvé [Time Regained] (1999)
• La noche de enfrente [Night Across the Street] (2012)

However, before his foray into the academic world and his move to Brisbane, Australia; Oscar Cárdenas (also known as Oscar Cárdenas Navarro) was a filmmaker in Chile and used this medium to explore and critique social issues. His 2006 film Rabia [translatable into English as Anger or Rage] is a wonderful example of his work.

The film Rabia explores the struggles of the female protagonist Camila Sepúlveda, who is emblematic of many women not only in Chile but throughout the world. Camila has been unemployed for over a year. Now, she is trying to get a job as a secretary. Through six episodes and brief interviews, we will find out what this long unemployment time has meant to her. Everywhere Camila goes for a job interview, she will listen to other unemployed women’s experiences. She knows that after this extended length of unemployment, she will never be the same person again.