International Film Analysis "undertow"

The movie Undertow (Contracorriente) is set in a small Peruvian village in which many of the ideals that they value are influenced by the traditions that they have. The main character Miguel lives in this village, he is a fisherman and to others in the village he is the ideal civilian a well-respected man by others. He and his wife are expecting their first born and this fills Miguel with happiness, and the couple is very involved in the local church. Miguel also hides a secret that the town is not aware off; he is having an affair with another man named Santiago who has come to spend some time in the village to express his artistic abilities. Santiago and Miguel meet in secret and have a “forbidden” romantic relationship because Miguel does not have the courage to admit who he is to himself or others in the village that views him as the ideal man. Santiago is well known around town for being different than the other men and expressing his sexuality in a more explicit way, and the fishermen within the town take advantage of this and say foul things about him. In order to maintain his status in town Miguel goes along with the foul things these men say because he has an image that he must maintain in order to be accepted in this small village. In the village they act like total strangers that have never interacted, passing each other and not acknowledging one another. After an argument that they both have on coming forward with what they feel for each other Miguel tells Santiago that they are not similar people denying the love and feelings that he has towards Santiago. In the mist of this Santiago leaves and later on in the story we realize that Santiago had gone for a swim and an undertow dragged him and he died. Miguel unaware of the circumstances comes home and finds Santiago in his living space that he shares with his wife and becomes angry because he is not aware that Santiago has become a ghost. Santiago’s body has not been given a proper goodbye according to the village rituals therefore; Santiago is now caught between his lover’s private shame and a town’s public tradition, when Miguel refuses to send his spirit away. The town cannot see Santiago’s spirit and the only one that can see him is Miguel, and this favors him because he can be with his love in public and no one will be able to see him. When Miguel finds Santiago’s body he is faced with the decision to claim his body and perform the traditional ceremony of letting the spirit go, or he can decide to leave his body there and maintain this supernatural relationship in which he can make everyone happy. This film is more than just “coming out of the closet” because while in the story we see that Miguel is constantly struggling trying to find the person that he is. Miguel enjoys having Santiago around as a ghost because this way he can be with him and not be judged for the person he wants to openly admit but cannot. For Santiago things remain the same because once

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