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• 1 2017-06-10T14:00:57-07:00 Song as Resistance 6 plain 2017-06-14T16:34:18-07:00

  It is necessary to distinguish that this use of song comes from the characters themselves and not just a decision made by a music director for the soundtrack of the film. The songs that each of the groups sing become a part of the plot and function as pivotal points of subversion and rebellion in these highly controlled prison spaces. Within a prison space your entire life becomes regulated and you are forced to function by an imposed set of rules. Freedom and self expression diminish as you are just ‘one more person’ in this confined space. However, the use of one’s voice becomes the only medium by which self-expression manifests itself in these spaces of confinement. In the case of these films, song becomes the ultimate manifestation of voice and singing as a group becomes a place to foster collectivity and resistance.

      In La voz dormida, the key moment of song is the scene at the very beginning of the film in which some of the women are taken away to be killed. This scene is filled with the meaning of sound. First, the filming focuses on the women of the cell and the main characters of the film but outside this cell you hear the gunshots of the firing squad; more importantly you hear the individual shots after the firing squad that each prisoner was given to ensure death. The inmates count the number of shots and then a chorus of slurs against the fascist government builds, yelling out “murderer,” pointing to the injustice of their deaths. Amongst the yelling from women in other cells you hear the start of “La Internacional,” originally written in french by Eugène Pottier. This song is considered the communist anthem and reflects the plight of workers worldwide, a musical embodiment of socialism. In the moment that the filming focuses on Tensi and Elvira singing the song they hold their fists up in the universal symbol of resistance (a closed fist in the air) and the lyrics of the song that are highlighted are: “Atruena la razón en marcha: /es el fin de la opresión” [Deafen the reason underway: it is the end to oppression]. In this moment, there could not have a been a more resistive gesture than the singing of this song and the collective form of resistance to the the injustices they experienced and the fascist government.

      In La noche de los lápices their song of choice is “Rasguña las piedras” by Sui Generis that plays as a part of the soundtrack, and is often found repeated throughout the film. The most poignant moment for this song is in the prison space, similar to that of “La Internacional” in La voz dormida. The students that are imprisoned and separated into individual cells sing the song as a means of building that collective, of connecting to the outside world, and of resisting their imprisonment. As was previously stated, the only means through which the students form that collective is through an auditory experience. In prison, Claudia leads the singing of the song and the others join in. This moment alludes to their experience in the outside world, when they would hang out, sing songs, and participate in those teenage rituals that in some ways marked their freedom. The song is a means of comfort in this prison, and most importantly a means of resistance. The lyrics of the song describe a star-crossed love separated by “paredes” [walls] and “piedras” [rocks] and culturally has been taken as metaphor for the limitation society has imposed on us. When the song describes the “rasguña las piedras” [scratch at the rocks] it emblematizes fighting for your dreams and what is beyond those walls. The song then transforms into a cry of hope that the prison will not limit them, that their singing will be their form of resistance until they are released.

      It is necessary to note that these films in their use of song create a highly performative  and dramatized form of resistance. The scenes with song are highly controlled in their presentation of the story and the expression of their emotions. The staging in the scenes is deliberate and this meticulousness points to the vehicle by which the story is communicated--film.