Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Paisajes, territorios y lugares: La imaginación de las fronteras en El baño del Papa

2016; University of Texas Press; Volume: 34; Linguagem: Inglês

10.7560/slapc3408

2157-2941

Marina Moguillansky,

Advertising and Communication Studies

In this article we analyze the film The Pope’s Toilet (El baño del Papa, Enrique Fernández and César Charlone, 2007) to explore the construction of an imaginary representation of material and symbolic frontiers between Brazil and Uruguay. We perform a cultural analysis of the film, based on its textual and visual structures, particularly the mise-en-scène and treatment of space. Following our analysis, we argue that the film constructs the representation of the frontiers using various semiotic strategies, among which the use of off-screen space becomes central. Brazilian space is almost not visible in the film, although it is central to the story, and the film takes advantage of this asymmetry to build suspense.