20
DISPERSING KNOWLEDGE WITH
FILMS IN NORTH AMERICA

Joseph E. Champoux

 

 

Introduction

Since the beginning of cinema, film has been a source of experience for moviegoers. The Lumière brothers' 1895 film, L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de la Ciotat (Arrival of a Train at the Ciotat Station), which showed a locomotive pulling a train into a station, was unedited and ran for less than one minute. However, the looming image of the locomotive on the large screen gave viewers an enchanting experience that moved some to near panic (Dancyger, 1997: 3; Gunning, 1999; Pearson, 1996: 17;Vincendeau, 1995: 269).

Strong viewer experiences, normally only available in reality at high cost, can be created by such unique film qualities as complex editing, special effects and integrated music which typify longer modern films (Stadler, 1990).

According to Summerfield (1993); Summerfield and Lee (2001), it is possible, through the use of film, to provide students and trainees with cross-cultural experiences without the necessity of spending time and money on visits to other countries. Furthermore, it is likely that utilizing film as experience should work well in international management courses, cross-cultural human resource management courses, international or cross-cultural sections of management and organizational behaviour courses (Champoux, 1999). The following are some institutions where faculty use film in their courses:

• Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

• Howard University, Washington DC

• The University of New Mexico

• Milliken University, Decatur, Illinois.

It has been suggested that film from different countries could also be successfully employed in connection with pre-departure orientation for people taking foreign assignments and could consequently lead to a reduction in culture shock for those visiting a foreign country for the first time (Furnham and Bochner, 1986; Oberg, 1960; Pedersen, 1995).

This chapter, which excludes short films, animated films, most documentaries and television series or movies, will discuss feature films from North American countries provided that the country in question has had available at least three films on Area 1 DVD and has English subtitles when the spoken language was not English.

Using film scenes in a teaching environment¹

Film is often viewed by theorists as a different way of seeing and experiencing the world; close-up shots, long shots and various focusing techniques can create a unique viewer experience. In terms of a teaching role, film can effectively act as a case or the target of an experiential exercise or can illustrate or show abstract theories and concepts, bringing them to life for the viewer; for example, the opening scenes of Top Gun (1986) show US naval aviation culture artefacts (people, aircraft, hand signals) so clearly that a viewer cannot fail to see them.

That contemporary students see film as a comfortable and familiar experience highlights the advantages of using film which, under the careful guidance of instructors, can help connect students to the theories and concepts under discussion and the cinematic examples on the screen. In addition, further benefit may be derived from the substitution of film for a field trip and the honing of students' analytical skills through cinema analysis. The response of the viewer can also play a key role in student reactions to film scenes. For example, film editing techniques such as the shot/reverse-shot that is used to convey conversation between two or more people can help a director to create a unique cinematic experience. For example, in the editing booth scene in Broadcast News (1987) stress responses produced by the use of this technique are vividly demonstrated.

However, the existence of certain disadvantages must also be taken into consideration; in particular, showing film scenes during class can take up time, although the careful selection of film scenes that best show the theories and concepts under discussion will make good use ofthat time. Furthermore, the legal situation in most countries, due to copyright law, prevents the copying of selected scenes to a single source, so that a certain amount of time may have to be expended in the positioning of a DVD at the desired scene. Notwithstanding, the advantages of using film in one's teaching program greatly outweigh the disadvantages.

The use of film scenes in the lecture theatre is always guided by applicable copyright laws; for example, under US copyright law an educator can use no more than 10 per cent of the running time of a film from a legal copy ofthat film in a non-profit educational environment. ‘Legal copy’ refers to a DVD that the educator owns, rents or borrows from a library of films at his or her institution. Therefore, the appropriate copyright law applicable to the country where the film is to be viewed should be checked to determine fair and legal use of the particular film in a teaching environment.

Where film scenes are used in a teaching programme there is some unavoidable set-up time involving, for example, positioning the DVD at the desired scene either on a classroom DVD player or a laptop computer. However, the set-up time is not necessarily a burden and can become easier with practice. It is not difficult to fit two film scenes into a three-hour class meeting or, with classes that meet for one and a half hours twice a week, one scene each session can work effectively.

Recommended procedure would involve starting with a brief introduction of the film followed by a description of the selected scene including what has happened in the film before the scene in question. Also, discussion questions, possibly provided by means of a handout, should be given to students to consider while viewing the scene. Other useful teaching resources include Our Feature Presentation film work books from South-Western & Cengage Learning (Champoux, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) and BizFlix, another resource from this publisher which appears in many of their organizational behaviour and principles of management textbooks.

Film can be employed in a class in several ways including showing film scenes after presenting theories or concepts, in which case one can also show the scenes before that presentation and link to the film scenes during a discussion. The repetition of a film scene can reinforce some points, especially subtle or difficult ones, thereby giving students the information described in the previous paragraph.

Entire films can be assigned to student groups or teams for their viewing, analysis and discussion outside the lecture theatre, with each team receiving a DVD of the assigned film. After working on this assignment over a specified time as part of the course requirements each team would be required to make an in-class presentation of their project, accompanied by showing the class about 10 per cent of the film's running time. In addition, the teams would be expected to prepare and submit a written report as part of the class requirements.

Countries and their cinema

In this section, twenty-four films from the following eight North American countries will be discussed.

• Canada

• The United States

• Mexico

• The Bahamas

• Cuba

• Dominican Republic

• Jamaica

• Puerto Rico.

The discussions focus on the cultural characteristics of the country shown in the film and include physical characteristics and inferences of cultural values presented in the film.

Canada

The Canadian cinema industry began over 100 years ago but had a shaky start. Federal legislation formed the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1939 with the goal of developing the Canadian cinema to interpret Canada both domestically and worldwide. This resulted in a strong emphasis on documentary films and, in fact, Canada has produced the largest number of documentary films of any country in the world.

Although Canadian films were originally produced in the English language, early in the 1960s Québec pressed for the independent production of French language films. The process was initiated in 1957 with the appointment of the Québécois Film Commission (Clandfield, 1987, 2004; Elder, 1989; Gazetas, 2008: ch. 27; Morris, 1978; Pallister, 1995; White, 2009).

This section discusses the following Canadian films, listed by their release date:

• Pour la suite du monde (1963, Pierre Perrault)^2,3

• The Barbarian Invasions (2003, Denys Arcand)

• A Simple Curve (2005, Aubrey Nealon)

Pour la suite du monde

Director Pierre Perrault's highly regarded first documentary film presents wonderful observations on a group of people on the Saint Lawrence River island, l'Île-aux-Coudres (Hazelnut Island), seventy miles downstream of Québec (Clandfield, 1987: 47–49; Clandfield, 2004: ch. 2; Pallister, 1995: 40–44). Although the film shows the activities of many residents, it focuses on four people:

• Alexis Tremblay, a man in his seventies and Léopold Tremblay's father

• Léopold Tremblay

• Louis Harvey

• Abel Harvey.

These four people form a nucleus that wants to resurrect an island tradition of trapping beluga whales which ended in the early 1920s when market demand dropped. As the only living former beluga trapper, Abel Harvey well remembers how they built the traps by setting wooden polls at three-foot intervals in the shallow waters of the St Lawrence River and the more elderly Alexis Tremblay and Louis Harvey provide the knowledge about the trapping process. The New Beluga Fishing Company organized by Léopold Tremblay leads the trapping process that has not occurred for about forty years. They eventually succeed in trapping a single beluga which they then transport to a New York City aquarium.

Although showing many aspects of the island's culture, the film cannot be said to represent the culture of all of French Canada. The film shows primarily male activities, although there are interspersed children's activities such as model boat building, rolling truck tyres through a field, and running through flowers. Women play mainly domestic roles, tend to children and do the cooking. People attend Roman Catholic mass regularly and the residents hold an auction sale whose proceeds will benefit souls in purgatory.

Several Lenten traditions appear throughout the film. Of particular note to the outsider is the masquerade ritual in which young people dress in wild costumes and go house-to-house playing music. The disguises do not hide all identity as noted by one woman who says, ‘Look, it's him!’ They enter one house and perform outrageous songs with music dating to the early days of the discovery of Canada that delight the residents and their guests.

Other aspects of the island's culture stand out sharply, including the spring ritual of gathering Easter water from a stream at 4:30 a.m., a tradition that probably does not appear in many other cultures. Louis Harvey gathers the water as he has always done, returns to the village and shares the water with the children whom he insists must drink some for their health, noting that the Baby Jesus is in the water and that it will make them big and strong.

The Barbarian Invasions

Rémy (Rémy Girard) is hospitalized with terminal cancer but his care and related matters exceed his ex-wife Louise's (Dorothée Berryman) ability to care for him, leading to her calling on their son Sébastien (Stéphane Rousseau) in London to come to Montréal to help with his father's care. He reluctantly agrees to travel to Montréal with his fiancée Gaëlle (Marina Hands), although he and his father have had little interaction over the years. After arriving, he engages in an endless series of creative and marginally legal solutions to his father's care whereby, with the addition of many close friends, the interactions take on a comic twist despite the seriousness of Rémy's situation.

This film comes as two different versions on DVD: the 112-minute version having fifteen chapters and the ninety-nine-minute version, which omits Chapter 2, ‘The Lovers’, with fourteen chapters. All other chapters remain and carry the same chapter names. Any chapter references in the following discussion cite both sets of chapters.

The film has some early scenes which show the operation of the hospital in which Rémy resides, with, for example, Sister Constance Lazure (Johanne-Marie Tremblay) walking the crowded hallways on her way to serving the Eucharist to various patients. Such crowded conditions result in patients receiving treatment from their beds in the hallways. The early scenes also show the presence of violence and theft in the hospital, the strong union role and inefficient patient care, suggesting that Director Denys Arcand is making satirical observations on French Canadian hospitals.

Three sequential chapters later in the film reunite Rémy with Louise and their friends. The first chapter (Chapter 9, ‘Marxists—Leninists’)⁴ has Rémy reciting the varied political orientations of the group over time while everyone is drinking and adding her or his recollection, underscoring the wide variability in their orientation over time. The next chapter (Chapter 10, ‘The Last Supper’) shows the group preparing to share a fine meal, with Pierre (Pierre Curzi) serving wine to everyone. Claude asks Rémy to try the wine and food, but he cannot do it now. The final chapter (Chapter 11, ‘Smoking aJoint’) shows everyone smoking marijuana and enjoying each other's company. These three chapters taken together show the importance in French Canadian culture of food, wine (or drinking) and good friends interacting with each other. It appears as a comment on what Arcand perceives as the good part of French Canada compared with the hospital management described earlier. These scenes also show extensive interaction among men and women in contrast to Pour la suite du monde, which shows gender separation.

A Simple Curve

Director Aubrey Nealon's directorial debut focuses on four primary characters:

• Caleb (Kris Lemche): twenty-seven-year-old skilled wood craftsman who works with his father Jim in their workshop. Caleb, who has never lived independently outside the family home, wants success for their business and is willing to seek work that his father would otherwise not accept.

• Jim (Michael Hogan): a widower and an American draft-dodger during the Vietnam War era has a marginally successful woodworking shop in the beautiful Slocan Valley area of British Columbia but only undertakes work that he considers aesthetically appealing. As a result, a degree of conflict emerges between Jim and his son about accepting certain jobs.

• Matthew (Matt Craven): Matthew, an American Army deserter during the Vietnam War era who befriended Jim during their hippy days, arrives in his personal seaplane with the intention of building a lodge in the Kootenay's mountains of the Slocan Valley. Caleb and Matthew enter into a secret agreement to build chairs for the lodge.

• Lee (Pascale Hutton): a beautiful single mother who enters Caleb's life. Although they try to build a relationship, it does not come to fruition as Lee has a deep attachment to the area's natural beauty and does not mind living in a small town.

These four characters form the body of the film which flows smoothly to the somewhat unexpected ending where Caleb leaves his father to seek his independence and identity.

A Simple Curve offers an inexpensive visit to the stunning beauty of the Slocan Valley area of British Columbia, the geography of which sharply contrasts with that shown in the two Québec films: the steep mountains of the Kootenay range can sweep a person away. Director of photography David Geddes composes amazing aerial shots to show the rugged beauty of the area such that one can focus entirely on the exterior shots to experience this part of Canada. This is especially true of the ‘Sureness and Awe’ DVD chapter with Caleb and Lee going through a beautiful forest and sitting by the lake to view the valley and mountains.

United States

Filmmaking and distribution in the United States dates from the end of the nineteenth century with the earliest silent films moving to synchronized sound by the late 1920s. Hollywood emerged as the most dominant cinema source in the world. US filmmaking ranges from animation through drama to documentary films (Belton, 2009; Quart and Auster, 2011; Sklar, 1994).

The following films, listed by release date, are discussed in this section:

• The Godfather (1972, Francis Ford Coppola)

• Baby Mama (2008, Michael McCullers)

• The Help (2011, Tate Taylor).

The Godfather

This film, based on Mario Puzo's mediocre novel, is a powerful look at a Mafia family led by Don Corleone (Marlon Brando). It is an intense film that roams through the personal lives of its characters, showing the violent side of organized crime and suggesting stunning parallels between managing a gangster organization and managing an organization of any other type. An irresistible work, filled with memorable scenes and memorable performances, The Godfather was ranked by the American Film Institute in 1998 in the top 100 American films (Craddock, 2012:403).With a length of almost three hours, the film offers in-depth observations on the Italian sub-culture that exists in many large American cities. The behaviour and oral comments of Don Corleone in the film's opening scene say much about cultural values which he implies in his statements about offering respect, friendship, and inviting him to the undertaker's house for a cup of coffee. The Don outlined more values in the dialogue that began, ‘We've known each other many years, but this is the first time you ever came to me for counsel or for help.’ Some key phrases include, ‘But you don't ask for respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me “Godfather”.’ It is evident that the values of respect, loyalty and friendship are key parts of this culture.

Later in the film Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) faces an ethical dilemma in that he participates in his nephew's baptism where he renounces Satan and accepts Roman Catholic teachings and values while knowing that he has ordered his opponents to be murdered. In his uncanny way, Michael appears to comfortably resolve this ethical dilemma perhaps by believing that a greater good comes from the killings.

Baby Mama

In this film, Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey), single, late thirties, is successful in her career but childless although she loves children and wants a child, but she does not want to take chances with a pregnancy at her age. Kate enlists the help of Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) from south Philadelphia to act as her surrogate mother, but former attorney, now Super Fruity Fruit Smoothies owner Rob Ackerman (Greg Kinnear) enters the scene and begins dating Kate. When Angie becomes pregnant it is not clear whether the child is Kate's or Angie's, thus leading to complex, intertwined relationships and social interactions which create an enjoyable comedy experience (Nelson and Quick, 2013: 662).

With limited exterior images, the film has an opening wide shot of the Philadelphia skyline showing its tall buildings and bridges while other shots show business buildings and typical residences of different social classes.

Conflict between Kate and Angie appears at several places in the film and conflict also occurs between Angie and her husband Carl (Dax Shepherd). A comical moment of conflict appears when Kate observes Angie sticking her used gum under her ‘reclaimed BarnWood coffee table’ with Angie promptly denying that it is her gum as well as the hundred other pieces that Kate observes. The conflicts between Carl and Kate are equally vigorous. Writer/Director Michael McCullers possibly chose the conflict episodes to represent normal behaviour in an individualistic country such as the United States, but this frequency of conflict would probably not appear in the collectivistic countries of Asia or Latin America (Hofstede, 2001: chs 4 and 5).

The Help

Having recently graduated, Eugenia ‘Skeeter’ Phelan (Emma Stone) aspires to be a writer. Raised in Jackson, Mississippi by Constantine (Cicely Tyson), her beloved family maid, she returns to Jackson with the goal of writing a book about the maid's experiences, a controversial project that could easily result in her arrest because of the segregation policies in Mississippi during the 1960s. She initially focuses on Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and then moves to Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) with many other maids joining the project, resulting in an almost 300-page best-selling book.

The viewer's attention is quickly captured by several physical characteristics at different places in the film:

• Separate ‘coloured’ entrances for black people.

• A large selection of 1960s automobiles appears in the film. The most notable is Skeeter's Cadillac convertible.

• Huge difference in houses and neighbourhoods of black and white people. The latter are often large, well kept, and in one instance a plantation manor. The former are smaller and less well kept.

• The film leaves the impression that almost all black women in Jackson work as maids.

• Black people have their own church, which does not have any white members.

• The countryside ranges from flat, verdant fields to heavily wooded areas.

• Black maids are not supposed to use their employer's regular bathroom.

A clear separation between black and white people is strongly suggested and, as noted above, a building has a separate ‘coloured’ entrance, and Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O'Reilly) builds a separate bathroom for Aibileen's use. Conflict subsequently arises between Minny and her employer Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) over the use of the residence's bathroom as Hilly wants Minny to go outside, even in the rain. As a result of Minny using the inside bathroom, Hilly fires her.

Her dismissal angers her husband Leroy (un-credited), who beats her and asks his oldest daughter Sugar (Kelsey Scot) to quit school and work as a maid. Her mother gives her the following advice while taking her to the bus on her first day:

You cooking white food, you taste it with a different spoon. If they see you put the tasting spoon back in the pot, might as well throw it all out. Spoon, too. And you use the same cup, same fork, same plate every day. And you put it up in the cabinet. You tell that white woman that's where you're gonna keep it from now on out. Don't do it and see what happens….When you're serving white folks coffee, set it down in front of them. Don't hand it to them, 'cause your hands can't touch. And don't hit on they children. White folks like to do they own spanking. And last thing. Come here. Look at me. No sass-mouthing. No sass-mouthing. I mean it. Give your mama a kiss.

Minny's description clearly lays out Jackson, Mississippi's values of separation of the two races.

Mexico

Mexico's cinema dates from the late nineteenth century and has focused on gender roles, Mexico's culture, politics and many other topics. Mexican cinema is characterized by the following three types of production:

• Private sector production accounts for about 90 per cent of the films produced, typically using a standard story line laced with violence and sex.

• State co-productions feature high-quality artistic cinema and also vary in their level of state support because of changes in the presidency every six years.

• Independent productions have no support from the state or commercial sponsors, being produced by Mexico's leading film schools and typically having high artistic quality.

Mexican cinema declined in the late 1970s but rebounded in the mid-1980s and thereafter. The younger film directors tended to come from Mexico's film schools, having developed good working relationships with older film directors who had usually trained abroad (Berg, 1992; King, 2000:14–30, 41–54, 129–44, 261–7;Maciel, 1997;Mora, 1982, 2005; Noble, 2005; Standish and Bell, 2004).

This section discusses the following Mexican films, listed by their year of release:

• Like Water for Chocolate (1992, Alfonso Arau)

• Midag Alley (1995, Jorge Fons)

• Todo el poder (2000, Fernando Sariňana).

Like Water for Chocolate

Mamá Elena (Regina Torné) is a domineering mother who insists that her youngest daughter Tita (Lumi Cavazos) should stay with her until she dies, a tradition that characterized 1900s Mexico. However, Tita has fallen in love with Pedro (Marco Leonardi), who wants to marry her but Mamá Elena does not approve and prefers that he marries her sister Rosaura (Yareli Arizmendi). He does, but only to stay close to Tita. Everyone lives on the family ranch where Tita is the chef.

The film has two distinguishing features: (1) domineering Mamá Elena, and (2) many extensive food sequences. Mamá Elena preserves a late nineteenth-century Mexican cultural tradition of the youngest daughter staying with her mother until the mother dies with the result that strong conflict eventually develops between Tita and her mother, so that Tita has to leave the ranch. She returns at a later time and continues the conflict with her mother's ghost.

The food sequences show the importance of collective meals in Mexican culture. Guests include family members (extended) and the village priest with various panning shots revealing the diversity of Mexican cuisine.

Midag Alley (Callejon de los Milagros⁵)

This engaging film from the mid-1990s depicts a neighbourhood's inhabitants in many ways, sharply outlining many personalities, three of which are the principal focus of the film. It also shows important aspects of the culture of a lower middle-class section of Mexico City.

Don Ru (Ernesto Gomez Cruz) operates a bar in the alley which is frequented by a group of men who play dominoes, and many other local personalities. Don Ru is married to Eusebia (Delia Casonova) but does not find his marriage satisfying. He develops homosexual leanings which he focuses on Jimmy (Esteban Soberanes) in a spa. Chava (Juan Manuel Benal) intervenes and almost kills Jimmy while Chava escapes from the spa. Don Ru takes out his frustrations in a violent encounter with Eusebia. These interactions emphasize the male dominance in this aspect of Mexican culture with Don Ru's interactions with Chava's new wife later in the film continuing to emphasize his male dominance. He also treats Guicho (Luis Felipe Tovar), his only employee, with distrust and contempt. Don Ru's directive management style comes through clearly as a form of machismo (male chauvinism).

Alma (Salma Hayek), a beautiful young woman who lives with her mother Doňa Cata (Maria Rojo), the neighbourhood Tarot reader, aspires to have some sexual experience with Abel (Bruno Bichir) but he must go to the United States with Chava, who is trying to escape his father's violent actions. Abel promises to return within a year so that they can marry.

Susanita (Margarita Sanz) is the single landlady who owns the building where Alma and her mother live and who desperately wants to find love. Doňa Cata tries to help with multiple Tarot readings. Susanita marries Guicho who steals money from her because his mother needs an operation, an action which causes her to lose interest in continuing the relationship. She tells Guicho to leave, symbolizing female dominance over a man. The film, however, is not clear on whether he leaves her.

Todo el poder

This is an outstanding contemporary film which shows filmmaker Gabriel Castro's (Damián Bichir) reaction to the theft of his ex-wife's car. Armed with his camera, he tracks the car through the Mexico City police system and, along the way, discovers extensive corruption from the bottom to the top of the department. It includes the operation of a group of robbers who target wealthy sectors of the city.

The film opens with Gabriel filming interviews of robbery victims describing their experiences and then cuts to Gabriel explaining how he has been mugged five times. Behind him are a young woman and young man who appear to innocently observe his filming, but they then pull out their guns and attack him.Welcome to Mexico City, circa 2000.

Film director Fernando Sariňana offers his view of crime and police corruption in modern Mexico City showing only the culture of Mexico City and not all of Mexico. Compelling aerial videography shows the city's expansiveness, its many plazas, extensive public transit system, and nearly endless smog. Street shots show the theft of a woman's handbag and a woman in a car threatened by a gun-wielding thug. She, however, shoots him.

Gabriel lives in a simple apartment while his girlfriend Sofía (Cecilia Suarez) lives in a more elaborate apartment. Martín (Rodrigo Murray) and his wife have a lovely, expensive home and others such as Lawyer Julián Luna (Juan Carlos Colombo) enjoy mansion-like living. The director underscores these cultural differences with simple shots of the simple life and more elaborate shots of exceptionally clean upper-class life. Mexico City's cultural contrasts clearly come through.

Gabriel, who wants to find the thieves who stole his car, gets his car back but relentlessly pursues his prey. This action takes him deep inside the Mexico City police department where he discovers its corruption and documents it with his ever-present camera.

The Bahamas

Almost no systematic published information exists about Bahamian cinema. The Bahamas International Film Festival, which began in 2003, reviews and presents films from around the world, including some from the Bahamas. The 2011 Festival was the largest in its history showcasing sixty-nine films from thirty-three countries. More information about the Festival appears on its website: http://www.bintlfilmfest.com.

The following section presents films from the Bahamas, listed by their year of release:

• Rain (2008, Maria Govan)

• Children of God (2010, Kareem Mortimer)

• WindJammers (2011, Richard von Maur, Kareem Mortimer)

Rain

Abandoned by her mother, Rain (Renel Brown) lives with her grandmother Rosalie (Irma P. Hall) on Ragged Island in the Bahamas. After her grandmother's death, she leaves Ragged Island and goes to Nassau to search for her mother Glory (Nicki Micheaux), whom she finds in the worst part of the city working as a prostitute. Rain's salvation is her passion for running. She joins her school's track team under the watchful eye of Coach Adams (CCH Pounder) whose guidance helps make Rain into a strong track competitor.

The film shows many physical characteristics of Bahamian culture:

• colourful buildings;

• unusual word phrasing for those unaccustomed to Bahamian culture; for example, early in the film, Rain says to her grandmother: ‘You know he ain't gonna eat till I reach.’ Rain is referring to taking food to a neighbour;

• prominence of the sea in many parts of the film;

• reggae-style music;

• interior of Rain's dwelling compared to Coach Adams' more upscale house;

• women in church all wearing hats;

• driving on the left as in Great Britain.

Some values portrayed in the film include the rejection of homosexuality and abstaining from sex before marriage. The latter appears in a prominent sign in Ms Dean's (Moya Thompson) classroom. The school requires students to wear a uniform which creates problems for Rain on her first day but Coach Adams helps Rain with the uniform and then sends her to Ms Wells' (Marion Bethel) classroom. She notes that Bahamians love their track, underscoring another value of Bahamian culture. Coach Adams expresses her personal value to the track team by saying, ‘Hard work and a good attitude mean more to me than how fast you can run.’

Children of God

Johnny Ferro (Johnny Roberts), who is gay, is having some difficulties with his artwork in school and the strong anti-gay sentiment in Nassau culture. His teacher (un-credited) advises him to go to her other home on the island of Eleuthera with the task of painting the lighthouse at Lighthouse Point, a hard-to-reach but beautiful section of the island. Along the way he meets the bisexual Romeo Fernander (Stephen Tyrone Williams) with whom he eventually develops an enduring relationship.

The film, which opens with protests against possible legislation that legalizes homosexuality, underscores the strong negative feelings in Bahamian culture in relation to homosexuality. Johnny encounters those negative feelings on his way to his art school when he is beaten by some men who call him ‘batty boy’ and ‘batty man’, slang for a homosexual male (Craton, 2007: 220). A powerful debate on the subject of homosexuality occurs in a family discussion where Romeo's mother (Adela Osterloh) condemns it whereas his Grammy Rose (Sylvia Adams) accepts it. Homosexual relationships are a major thematic element of the film and act as social commentary from the film's director, Kareem Mortimer.

Other parts of the film show the following physical aspects of Bahamian culture:

• cooling fans appear in many inside areas;

• colourful clothing and head coverings, especially of older people such as Grammy Rose;

• the birthday wishes song uses the phrase ‘It's a happy birthday’;

• constant breezes from the Caribbean;

• beautiful palm trees and other vegetation;

• the use of ‘bro’ at the end of sentences in informal speech.

The film succeeds as an introduction to contrasting aspects of Bahamian culture.

Wind Jammers

Sixteen-year-old Justice Wilson (Justice von Maur) reluctantly goes to the Bahamas with her father George Wilson (BradThomason), although Chicago is her idea of modern civilization, not the Bahamian culture of sailing and fishing. She meets Christopher Lightbourne (Nicholas di Michele), a young and experienced yachtsman who teaches her how to sail. Justice subsequently enters the annual yacht race that is restricted to members of the Imperial Yacht Club. Although her father is a member, some members object to her mixed-race background.

The Imperial Yacht Club introduces Justice and her father to some aspects of Bahamian culture. There is a clear division between white members and the black staff, a division that is a club value not a national value. Justice sends the Club President Richard Whitehead (Craig Pinder) into a fit of anger about her presence in the club and later competing in the Youth Yacht Regatta. Other club members react against Whitehead with no effect while the black staff recall the earlier days of the Regatta when it was open to all Bahamians. The spoken language in the film demonstrates many accents and slang terms. Justice, for example, thinks that ‘Conchy Joe’ refers to something to eat whereas it, in fact, refers to a white Bahamian (Craton,2007:99).

Cuba

Cuban filmmaking began in the early 1900s with the production of primarily documentary film. Feature films emerged during the same period with filmmakers completing about eighty fulllength feature films before the revolution of 1959.

After the revolution, the state took control of film production and distribution. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 created economic turmoil for Cuba because of its dependence on the Soviet Union, especially for oil imports. Film production slowed but restarted with a strong emphasis on documentaries filmed in the streets (Burton, 1985; Chanan, 2003; Garcia Osuna, 2003; Gazetas, 2008: ch. 25; Heuman, 2006: ch. 15; King, 2000: ch. 7; Luis, 2001; Stock, 2009).

This section discusses the following Cuban films, listed by their year of release:

• Death of a Bureaucrat (1966, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)

• Viva Cuba (2005, Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, Iraida Malberti Cabrera)

• Personal Belongings (2006, Alejandro Brugués).

Death of a Bureaucrat

This film, a satirical and comical look at Cuban bureaucracy, deals with the accidental death of Nephew's (Salvador Wood) uncle Paco (un-credited) in his statue-manufacturing machine. His comrades wanted him buried with his highly valued work card but unfortunately his widow (Silvia Planas) needs the card to get her pension funds. The solution is to exhume the body, retrieve the card and rebury the body. Nephew starts the process at the cemetery but meets almost endless bureaucratic resistance.

The film's director and co-writer Tomás Gutiérrez Alea presents an especially biting commentary on Cuban bureaucracy in the ‘exhumation order’ sequence about halfway through the film. Nephew starts with the bureaucrat at Table 12, proceeding in the following sequence:

• Table 20

• Table 46

• Table 12

The bureaucrat at Table 12 tells Nephew that he needs to go to the Department of Expediting which happens to be in a different building somewhere in Havana. He immediately tries to talk to the bureaucrat but is told to go to the end of an extremely long line. Nephew eventually gets to the clerk with his exhumation order but the lunch bell rings and the clerk goes to lunch while Nephew and others protest about the small amount of time needed to sign documents.

Viva Cuba

In this film Malú (Malú Tarrau Broche) and Jorge (Jorgito Miló Ávila) are close, young friends who learn that Malú's mother has married a foreigner and wants to leave Cuba with Malú. She does not want to leave Havana, where her beloved grandmother is buried, so Malú proposes that she and Jorge travel to Point Maisi and convince her father (Abel Rodriguez Ramirez) not to sign the document for her departure. It is a long trip to the southern tip of Cuba opposite Havana, necessitating the use of every mode of transportation available to them, including a horse-drawn cart and a motorcycle with a sidecar.

The film presents some striking physical characteristics of Havana's culture:

• architecture

• Caribbean sea shore

• distinctive hills in various parts of the city

• view of Havana skyline

• children's school uniforms

• gesturing while speaking energetically

• cemetery for grandmother's burial

• Che Guvera's image on the side of a building.

Cultural values are also clearly manifested, at least as portrayed by Malú and Jorge, whose families play important roles in their children's lives. The early part of the film shows strong differences between the two mothers who both want to keep their children separated from each other. The mothers later come together after Malú and Jorge leave to see Malú's father in Point Maisi. Some explicit communist values appear in the words spoken by the school children during their morning gathering:

To hear the call of the clarinet and bravely run to pick up your arms. Pioneers for Communism.We'll be like Che.

Personal Belongings

This film depicts a group of young people carefully planning to leave Cuba without having to use a rickety raft. Ernesto (Caleb Casas) stands out as the most dedicated with carefully laid plans to approach various embassies. He gives remarkably detailed explanations of why he wants to go to a specific country but along the way he learns that he needs a physical examination. He goes to a medical clinic where he meets Ana (Heidi Garcia), a medical technician whose entire family has left Cuba while she has chosen to stay. After many failed attempts, Ernesto successfully acquires a visa leading to his sad departure and the end of their relationship.

The film opens with continuously running Havana street scenes that show various parts of the city during the day and night. This part of the film shows the architectural contrasts between older, run-down buildings and newer, modern buildings. The tour passes lovely parks and prominent roundabouts (rotaries) while modern well-paved streets contrast with broken pavement in other parts of the city. The Havana skyline stands out amidst low-hanging clouds and the Gulf of Mexico to the north (screen left). These three minutes of the film give a quick tour of many parts of the city.

Although the film focuses on Ernesto and Ana's developing relationship, it shows some typical aspects of modern-day Havana:

• regular electrical outages which residents take for granted;

• television news distortion: Ernesto comments about good news about Cuba and bad news about the rest of the world;

• older automobiles;

• lines of people at the embassies in their quest to leave Cuba.

Dominican Republic

Filmmaking in the Dominican Republic is a modern phenomenon beginning in the 1990s. The Dominican government does not sponsor movie production though some Dominican and foreign investors provide funds. Film production appears to have a promising future as shown by the films discussed in this section (Brown, 1999).

The following Dominican Republic films, listed by their year of release, are discussed in this section:

• Negocios son negocios (2004, Joppe De Bernardi)

• The Feast of the Goat (2005, Luis Llosa)

• The Rope (2009, Josh Crook).

Negocios son negocios

In Negocios son negocios, Ramon ‘Monchy’ Ventura (Irvin Alberti) has rarely, if ever, held a fulltime job. However, a series of accidental events places him in the position as Vice President of Banco Reforma. Unfortunately, he has neither the knowledge nor skill to successfully hold the position. His specialty is fishing which he uses creatively to offset his lack of banking knowledge. Dr Jacinto Montes de Oca (Cuquin Victoria), his predecessor, succeeds in stealing US$100 million but everyone believes Monchy did it. Monchy's mother (Nurin Sanlley), best friend Joaquin (Luis José Germán) and girlfriend Luz (Karina Larrauri) work frantically to retrieve the money.

The film starts with about three minutes of continual footage showing many parts of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic's largest city, whereas most of the rest of the film occurs inside buildings and does not show many physical aspects of Dominican Republic culture. An enjoyable short sequence shows miscommunication between Monchy and Joaquin, suggesting that communication failures can occur in almost any culture.

The Feast of the Goat

This film focuses on Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo (Tomas Milian) who ruthlessly ruled for thirty-nine years until his death in 1961 (Brown, 1999:30–7). It characterizes his focused, highly controlling personality and extraordinary popularity among Dominican Republic citizens of that period. Conflict, however, arises between Trujillo and an emerging group of Communist party members. The film also focuses on Urania Cabral (Isabella Rosselini), who returns to Santo Domingo after spending thirty years working as an attorney in New York City. Young Uranita (Stephanie Leonidas) had a violent sexual interaction with Trujillo which forever changed her life.

The film has exceptional exterior scenes that show the physical aspects of Dominican Republic culture. Several scenes show the architecture of the Presidential Palace, churches, and other parts of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The central role of the Roman Catholic Church in the country's culture emerges strongly at several points in the film.

The film highlights Trujillo's egocentric, highly controlling personality so that those subordinate to him react with fear for their lives due to his well-known ruthless killing of opponents. After his death, one of his subordinates appears to enjoy sitting in Trujillo's single chair at the head of the conference table. The film strongly emphasizes the value of subordination to authority figures.

The Rope

In The Rope, Young Luisito (Fantino Fernandez) watches as his father (Miguel Ángel Martinez) is killed by a drug gang member and never forgets his death nor who was responsible for it. Much later, as an adult, Luisito (Manny Perez) becomes a national police officer. He works for corrupt General Colon (Juan Fernandez), who assigns Luisito to kill designated people, usually those who fall out of favour with the General. Luisito's passion is to avenge his father's death. This film, which ranges from comedy to violence, features wonderful Dominican Republic music.

The film starts with a series of outside shots that show the people of all ages in Baitoa, Dominican Republic. Adult Luisito and his police colleagues chase a drug dealer whom Luisito kills. This type of violence appears many times in the film and apparently characterized the Dominican Republic at that time.

Several interspersed scenes in other parts of the film show cockfighting, which appears as a centrepiece of lower class Dominican Republic culture. Other scenes show the beautiful countryside, contrasts between lower and upper social class, night-clubs, casinos, unique music, and the need to dance the ‘Bachata’.

Jamaica

The Harder They Come (1972), reviewed below, was Jamaica's first feature-length film. Until that time, Jamaica served mainly as a desirable filming location for films such as the two versions of Lord of the Flies. Typical Jamaican films feature reggae music, picturesque settings, violence and corruption (Mordecai and Mordecai, 2001: 111–12). Each film described below displays those features.

This section presents the following Jamaican films, listed by year of release:

• The Harder They Come (1972, Perry Henzell)

• Countryman (1982, Dickie Jobson)

• Dancehall Queen (1997, Don Letts, Rick Elgood).

The Harder They Come

Famed reggae musician Jimmy Cliff stars as Ivan Martin, an aspiring musician, who moves from the countryside to Kingston, Jamaica. Cliff quickly learns of dishonest behaviour when a street vendor steals his belongings shortly after his arrival. He eventually works for a dishonest record producer and then turns to selling marijuana. Crooked police do not help his situation as it leads to its sad and violent ending.

The film's opening scenes show many physical aspects of Jamaican culture including right-hand-drive vehicles, and buses and trucks approaching a narrow bridge and signalling their presence by repeatedly honking their horns.Women are shown to wear colourful head coverings and colourful clothing; the popular game of dominoes is shown being played by people of all ages (Craton, 2007: 121–2); and manner of speaking and local accents are hard for outsiders to understand. An example of crooked police appears early in the film with Detective Ray Jones (Winston Stona) coordinating drug sales.

Countryman

Countryman (himself), who leads a simple life as a fisherman in a coastal area of Jamaica, has his simple, peaceful life greatly disrupted when he observes an aeroplane crash. Countryman rescues the pilot Bobby Lloyd (Hiram Keller) and his passenger Beau Porter (Kristina St Clair). Corrupt Colonel Sinclair (Basil Keane) and his assistant Captain Benchley (Carl Bradshaw) try to find the pilot on the premise that the flight is part of a CIA mission to disrupt the upcoming election. Countryman successfully gets Beau and Bobby to Beau's father's (Dee Anthony) yacht, but not before many altercations with the military and police.

Many aspects of Jamaican culture appear throughout the film:

• countryman skilfully uses a large knife to carve food early in the film;

• military uniforms;

• widespread smoking;

• radios playing outside in the coastal village;

• games of dominoes;

• cockfighting with gambling;

• right-hand-drive vehicles; traffic moves on the left side of the road;

• contrast between the coastal village and the nearby city.

Certain Jamaican values that can be inferred from the film include the value placed on children and support for each other with the latter strongly in evidence in Countryman's relationship with Jahman (himself), especially after Jahman has been jailed. This film also features reggae music and is dedicated to reggae musician Bob Marley.

Dancehall Queen

In Dancehall Queen, Marcia (Audrey Reid) scrapes together a marginal living as a street vendor for herself and her two daughters. They live in Larry's (Carl Davis) house, who provides them with some support but lusts after Tanya (Cherine Anderson), the oldest daughter. Marcia's life changes dramatically when she begins performing at the dancehall behind her vendor cart. Marcia enters a musical contest, with top performer Olivine (Patrice Harrison) as her opponent. Jamaican reggae music carries a person through the culture of Kingston, Jamaica.

The viewer is immediately thrown into the culture of Jamaica. People in the film wear colourful clothing and often have head coverings; a wall behind the vendors features portraits of presumably important people, and singers perform traditional reggae music.Traffic moves on the left side of the road, vehicles have right-hand drive and Marcia's colourful pushcart proudly displays ‘M's One Stop’. Strong accents make the spoken English difficult to understand and Jamaican patois even more difficult. Dancehall scenes later in the film re-emphasize the colourful clothing and musical underpinnings of Jamaican culture.

Puerto Rico

When the United States began the Spanish—American war in 1898 by invading Guánica Bay, Puerto Rico, the American forces brought film cameras in order to record the military activities. The result was an extensive series of documentaries. Spanish military officer Rafael Colorado D'Assoy produced Puerto Rico's first feature film in 1912: Un drama en Puerto Rico, which established the beginning of Puerto Rican cinema. The development of Puerto Rican cinema continued, although slowly, to the end of the Second World War, with production beginning to experience high quality and innovation during the 1950s.

From 1960 through 1980, Puerto Rico was a filming location for films produced by Mexico, many South American and European countries, and the United States. However, Puerto Rican films showed a sharp decline in quality, with films focusing on delinquents, prostitutes and criminals, though this gave way in 1980 to a new optimism about film production. Puerto Rican films also began to receive international recognition and awards, and the formation of the Puerto Rican Film Commission on 17 August 2001 further helped to push the film industry onward (Galván, 2009: ch. 6).

This section discusses the following films from Puerto Rico, listed by the year of their release:

• Casi casi (2006, Jaime Valles, Tony Valles)

• Thieves and Liars (2006, Ricardo Mendez Marta)

• Maldeamores (2007, Carlitos Ruiz Ruiz, Mariem Pérez Riera).

Casi casi

Emilio (Mario Pabón) is a junior in high school, hopelessly in love with Jacklynne (Maite Cantó). Having decided to run for class president, he then discovers that Jacklynne is also a candidate. Emilio and his friends try desperately to let her win, including falsifying election results.

This San Juan, Puerto Rico, high school culture features tyrannical Principal Richardson (Maria Pabón) and equally tyrannical head hall monitor Manolete (Manuel Benítez). Principal Richardson's forceful behaviour is made evident in a scene where she is disciplining Emilio and three of his friends; however, it is not certain from the film whether this behaviour is, or is not, typical of Puerto Rican school principals.

A lovely sequence in the first quarter of the film takes place in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, with Emilio and five of his closest friends touring several parts of San Juan to prepare photographs for his school presidential campaign.They move through colourful neighbourhoods, feed pigeons, and photograph each other at an old fort. Emilio and Maria Eugenía (Irene Lucio) pose by unidentified religious statues and five of them appear in front of a building whose façade presents several apparently religious heads. These moments could be interpreted as implying a strong religious basis to Puerto Rican culture.

Thieves and Liars

Thieves and Liars focuses on Oscar (Steven Bauer), who runs a highly successful drug-smuggling operation for his boss Cotto (Gilberto Concepción Suárez) but, as the operation evolves into one where Oscar reaps big rewards, he eventually ends up in jail.Wanda (Magda Rivéra) heads an air freight company housed at San Juan International Airport and is faced with corrupt behaviour from Augusto Carmona (Daniel Lugo), the director of the Airport Authority. Divorced newspaper reporter Isabel (Elpidia Carrillo) tries to raise her teenage son Luisito (Carlos Paniagua), who experiments with drugs. When she turns to her ex-husband Luijan (Dennis Mario) for help it does not work well because Luisito faces drug possession charges towards the end of the film. Thieves and Liars paints a grim picture of the culture of Puerto Rico.

The film emphasizes two major aspects ofthat culture: drugs and bribery. Early in the film a newscaster notes that ‘bribes, blackmail, political favours, drug smuggling and arms trafficking are part of the daily operation’. Oscar and his gang represent the drug-smuggling part ofthat culture, a culture filled with violence and far-reaching illegal behaviour.

Though Wanda owns an air freight company, she is unable to operate profitably because she must pay full rent for her space while her competitor Acostas pays much less. Carmona the airport manager is responsible for the discrimination, but is well protected by corrupt administrators including the Controller of Puerto Rico, José Prado Durán (un-credited). Wanda pursues legal action against Carmona, but again faces corruption that derails her efforts, although the airport does finally file a civil lawsuit against Carmona.

Maldemores

This film differs sharply from Thieves and Liars in terms of its portrayal of the cultural aspects of Puerto Rico. It has three distinct parts that focus on different aspects of love and relationships. Part I: Young Ismaelito (Fernando Tarrazo) discovers romance at his grandmother's funeral. His romantic feelings are directed towards his cousin Margarita (Laura Andújar). His mother Lourdes (Teresa Hernandez) discovers that her husband Ismael (Luis Guzmán) is having an affair with her cousin Tati (Ednali Figueroa). Part II: Miguel (Luis Gonzaga) often takes a bus driven by Marta (Delores Pedro) and develops such a passion for her that he violently tries to get her to marry him. Part III: this section focuses on Cirilo (José Luis ‘Chavito’ Marrero) and Flora (Silvia Brito) who, though long divorced, still live together by choice, albeit in separate bedrooms. Her first husband, Pellin (Miguel Ángel Álvarez), returns unexpectedly which adds humorous conflicts to the relationships.

Lourdes and Ismaelito arrive at her mother's wake. She has learned of Ismael's affair from his brother Macho (Norman Santiago) but would now like to destroy Tati. The scene during the wake and the hostility towards Tati show some aspects of Puerto Rican family culture. Many people come and go and pray by her late mother's bedside and in other rooms. The number of people involved, and the effort to remove the conflict between Lourdes and Tati, suggest strong cultural values of family commitment.

A portion of Part II shows Miguel's interaction within his home. A corner of his room has many religious objects along with a photograph of Marta. Each morning he lights the candles in honour of her. Perhaps Miguel wishes for Divine intervention in a marriage to Marta.

Part III, which takes place entirely in or near Flora's house and yard, shows typical Puerto Rican middle-class life. The outside shower stands out as an unusual feature, Pellin's first meal with Cirilo and Flora features Cirilo's typically noisy soup eating, although Pellin and Flora are much quieter.

Conclusion

This chapter discussed twenty-four feature films from the following North American countries: Canada, the United States, Mexico, The Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. Most documentaries, short films, animated films and television series or movies were excluded with the discussion focusing on the cultural characteristics of the country shown in the film, including physical characteristics and inferences of cultural values.

The cinema highlights for each North American country are summarized below.

Canada

The Québec scenes from Pour la suite du monde show various aspects of the island's culture including the mainly domestic role of women, families regularly attending Roman Catholic mass, and the depiction of Lenten traditions such as the masquerade ritual and the gathering of Easter water. Men are primarily involved in trapping beluga whales. The Barbarian Invasions begins with a satirical view of French Canadian hospitals and patient care with opening scenes that suggest a strong union role, inefficient patient care, violence and theft. The three sequential chapters discussed earlier show the importance of food and good friends interacting with each other. A Simple Curve shows the English-speaking province of British Columbia, especially the Slocan Valley s rugged beauty and small-town life.

United States

The Italian subculture shown in The Godfather emphasizes the importance of respect, loyalty and friendship. Baby Mama's writer/director Michael McCullers possibly chose the conflict episodes as representing normal behaviour in an individualistic country such as the United States, although this frequency of conflict would probably not appear in the collectivistic countries of Asia or Latin America. Scenes from The Help show black and white subcultures of 1960s Jackson, Mississippi, while extensive physical characteristics are manifested in the architecture and automobiles of the period. Blacks are depicted working primarily as maids, whereas whites are seen to enjoy a wider range of occupations which serves to emphasize the racial separation.

Mexico

Like Water for Chocolate shows the pre-revolutionary Mexican culture of the early 1900s. In this film, Tita, the youngest daughter, must stay with her mother until her mother dies. The film highlights the cultural importance of collective meals with a wide range of people. Midag Alley highlights the role of male dominance over women in lower middle-class Mexican culture. The regulars who come to Don Ru's bar play dominoes, suggesting the cultural importance of this game. Todo el poder focuses on Mexico City, especially the extensive corruption in the city police system. Extensive aerial videography shows the city's diverse physical characteristics such as its expansiveness, plazas, nearly endless smog, and an extensive public transit system. The film also shows the wide social class differences in living styles.

The Bahamas

Rain introduces the viewer to many physical characteristics of Bahamas culture: colourful buildings, word phrasing and accents, Reggae-style music, colourful clothing and head coverings. It also underscores values that include rejection of homosexuality and abstaining from sex before marriage. The homosexual theme continues strongly in Children of God which is a major thematic element of the film and acts as social commentary of the film's director, Kareem Mortimer. Physical characteristics of Bahamian culture are made apparent in the colourful clothing and head coverings, the phrasing of the birthday wishes song, and the use of ‘bro’ at the end of sentences in informal speech. Wind Jammers primarily shows a Bahamian subculture —The Imperial Yacht Club which features the separation of white members and black staff. Spoken language is filled with slang terms and many accents; ‘Conchy Joe’, for example, refers to a white Bahamian, not something to eat.

Cuba

Death of a Bureaucrat, a satirical commentary on Cuban communist bureaucracy, shows bureaucratic dysfunctions in a humorous stream of observations. Viva Cuba and Personal Belongings offer observations on the physical characteristics and values of Cuban culture. For example, children's school uniforms, gesturing energetically while speaking, Che Guvera's image on a building, varying Havana street views, and regular electrical outages are some of the physical characteristics depicted in the film. Cuban cultural values are portrayed in the importance of family in children's lives, communist values, and strong desires to leave Cuba.Cuba

Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto Rico

Dominican Republic: The three films show a variety of physical characteristics of Dominican Republic culture: views of Santo Domingo, architecture, violence, corruption and cockfighting. Values appear as the key role of the Roman Catholic Church, subordination to authority figures, and the need to dance the ‘Bachata’.

Jamaica: The Harder They Come emphasizes the physical characteristics of Jamaican culture: dishonesty, corruption, playing dominoes, manner of speaking, accents and Reggae music. Countryman shows both physical characteristics and values. Some physical characteristics include widespread smoking, cockfighting with gambling, and radios playing outside the coastal village. Values include the importance of children and support for each other. Dancehall Queen especially emphasizes physical characteristics. Marcia 's ‘M's One Stop’ colourful pushcart stands out, as do strong spoken accents that make it difficult to understand Jamaican patois.

Puerto Rico: Casi casi introduces the viewer to some of Puerto Rico's physical characteristics such as colourful neighbourhoods, the old fort and religious statues. The latter imply strong religious values in Puerto Rican culture. Thieves and Liars offers a grim picture of Puerto Rican culture with its emphasis on drugs, bribery, violence and illegal behaviour at almost all levels. Maldemores shows such physical characteristics as the outside shower and noisy soup eating in Part III. Values, which appear in all three parts, include religion and family commitment.

Film offers a different way of seeing and experiencing the world with close-up shots, long shots and various focusing techniques creating a unique viewer experience. Film serves many functions in teaching and works well as a case or the target of an experiential exercise. It can also vividly show abstract theories and concepts, bringing them to life for the viewer. For example, the three sequential chapters from The Barbarian Invasions clearly show social interaction that might otherwise have an abstract theoretical explanation.

The films reviewed earlier offer views of the cultures of various countries. The Barbarian Invasions, a Canadian film, peers into some aspects of Canadian culture, especially the almost ritualistic behaviour of a close group of friends, while Rain, a Bahaman film, presents the country's diverse physical characteristics and spoken language. This film acts as a vicarious visit to the Bahamas, an important feature of using film in a teaching programme. The Cuban satire on communist bureaucracy, Death of a Bureaucrat, presents a comical and engaging view of 1960s Cuba and, furthermore, works well as a visit to a culture that is not easily accessible.

The diverse worldwide international cinema is a rich resource for international management education. An especially effective approach using cinema is the assignment of films from different countries to student groups that work together to understand the cultural differences shown in the films. Student groups can then present their findings during class sessions.

This chapter examined only North American film. There are rich film resources available such as Gazetas' An Introduction to World Cinema (Gazetas, 2008) or focused sources such as Vincendeau's Encyclopedia of European Cinema (Vincendeau, 1995). Cinema resources for teaching are limited only by one's imagination and time commitment.

Notes

1 This section originally appeared in Billsberry, J., Charlesworth, J. and Leonard, P. 2013. Moving Images: Effective Teaching with Film and Television in Higher Education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc., pp. 3–5. Used with the permission of Information Age Publishing Inc.

2 The name of the film's director follows the film's release year.

3 The first two Canadian films have their original French titles. They are better known by those titles than by their English translations.

4 These chapters are 10, 11 and 12 in the 112-minute version of the film. The chapter names are the same in both versions.

5 Literal English translation of the film title is The Alley of Miracles.

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