La Ciénaga (The Swamp) is a 2001 Argentine, Spanish, and French film, written and directed by Lucrecia Martel in her feature directorial debut. Mecha, a woman in her 50s with several teenage children and a husband Gregorio, wants to remain looking young. In order to avoid the hot and humid weather of the city, the family spends the summers in their decaying country estate named La Mandrágora. After Mecha falls and injures herself, she is confined to her bed, and takes to drinking. She resents her gloomy Amerindian servants, whom she accuses of theft and laziness. Mecha’s cousin Tali, who lives in a modest house in town with her husband Rafael, makes repeated visits with her brood of young, noisy children to escape from her claustrophobic home. Before long, the crowded domestic situation in both homes strains the families’ nerves, exposing repressed family mysteries and tensions that threaten to erupt into violence.
If you encounter any bugs with the stream, please report them ASAP through our email, uclfilmsociety@gmail.com.
Welcome to the Film and TV Society’s regular Thursday screening for the 2020/21 academic year! Discussion will follow each film over zoom, a great space for discussing your ideas. Alternatively, treat the discussion like a podcast and just sit back to listen to other students’ thoughts.
The stream will begin a few minutes before the start of the screening.
