Film Compilation as Restoration?:  borders,  bricolage  and  La venganza de Pancho Villa

Kimberly V. Tomadjoglou

Film Compilation as Restoration?: borders, bricolage and La venganza de Pancho Villa

Kimberly V. Tomadjoglou

Resumen

This essay examines the “film compilation” framed within early Mexican itinerant exhibition practices using the specific case study of entrepreneurs Félix Padilla (1862-1937) and his son Edmundo Padilla (1903-1984) of the El Paso-Juárez border region. As I will show, the Padillas’ La venganza de Pancho Villa (Pancho Villa’s Revenge) is a borderless film of continually changing ideas and technical processes, one that destabilizes the notion of the original that is used to identify differences between national cinemas and as a standard for film preservation protocol that determines national heritage. In its place, I offer the notion of bricolage as a methodological concept for understanding the heterogeneous nature of cinema in general, and more specifically to describe the craft repurposing exemplified by the Padillas’ artisanal, bilingual and bicultural media practice.

Key words: bricolage, fronterizo, intermediality, hybridity, film preservation, heritage

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¿Compilación como restauración?: fronteras, bricolaje y La venganza de Pancho Villa

Resumen: En este ensayo se examina la “compilación fílmica” en relación con prácticas tempranas de la exhibición itinerante en México, utilizando el caso específico de los empresarios Félix Padilla (1862-1937) y su hijo Edmundo Padilla (1903-1984), de la región fronteriza de Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua-El Paso, Texas. Como se mostrará, la película de los Padilla La venganza de Pancho Villa es una cinta abierta en la que se da un continuo cambio de ideas y de procesos técnicos. Ese cambio desestabiliza la noción de original que se usa para identificar las diferencias entre cines nacionales y para servir de modelo en los protocolos de conservación cinematográfica que determinan el patrimonio nacional. En lugar de esa noción se propone la de bricolaje, concepto metodológico que permite comprender la naturaleza heterogénea del cine en general y más específicamente el oficio de reconversión ejemplificado por las prácticas mediáticas artesanales, bilingües y biculturales de los Padilla.

Palabras clave: bricolage, fronterizo, intermedialidad, preservación, patrimonio

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Compilação como restauração?: fronteiras, bricolagem e A vingança de Pancho Villa

Resumo: Neste ensaio se examina a “compilação fílmica” em relação com práticas precoces da exibição itinerante no México, utilizando o caso específico dos empresários Félix Padilla (1862-1937) e seu filho Edmundo Padilla (1903-1984), da região fronteiriça de Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua-O Passo, Texas. Como se mostrará, o filme dos Padilla La venganza de Pancho Villa (A vingança de Pancho Villa) é uma fita aberta na qual se dá uma mudança continua de ideias e de processos técnicos. Essa mudança desestabiliza a noção de original que determina o patrimônio nacional e sirve de modelo nos protocolos de conservação cinematográfica que determinam o patrimônio nacional. Em lugar dessa noção se propõe a de bricolagem, conceito metodológico que permite compreender a natureza heterogénea do cinema em geral e mais especificamente o oficio de reconversão exemplificado pelas práticas mediáticas artesanais, bilíngues e bi culturais dos Padilla.

Palavras chave: bricolagem, fronteiriço, intermedialidade, preservação, patrimônio

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Fecha de recepción: 26 de septiembre de 2016
Fecha de aceptación: 12 de noviembre de 2016

Texto completo:

PDF (English)

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