From the Movies to Chicken Rice: Narration no Utopias
This article starts from social-symbolic anthropology, taking meals in Cuban cinema as a specific topic. The mention, elaboration, ingestion or simple presence of food in the film will serve as an indicator to diagnose the nature of that presence in the plot, in relation to its social context. Content analysis will be the applied technique. Since most Cuban fiction films contain elements alluding to food, the film Barrio Cuba (2005) will be taken as a particular case study, because it constitutes a masterpiece in the career of Humberto Solás. Brief notes will also be added in relation to the films Lejanía (1985), Hasta cierto punto (1983), Miel para Oshún (2001) y La última cena (1976). In general, the eating habits reflected in the confronted movies are representative of reality. On the other hand, food already appears as a sign of socio-class affiliation and indicates social inequalities and differences in the purchasing power of the population.
