From Family Crimes to State Crimes

The Figure of the Mother in the Fight Against Gender Violence in The Crimes that Bind (2020) and The three deaths of Marisela Escobedo (2020)

Abstract

The pressing problem of gender violence in Latin America has recently been addressed in the cinema of Argentina and Mexico. In this article we analyze two representations of this important topic in the films The Three Deaths of Maricela Escobedo by Carlos Pérez Osorio, and The Crimes that Bind Us by Sebastián Schindel. Based on real life stories, the directors use different strategies to visibilize and encourage discussion about the violence against women and its consequences. In The Crimes that Bind Us, Schindel sets the story in the drama genre and engages the spectator by proposing a narrative puzzle in which he introduces the topic, little by little, through elements of suspense. In The Three Deaths of Marisela Escobedo Pérez Osorio exposes through the use of documentary, the ordeal of a mother in search of justice for her daughter, victim of femicide. Through the emotional and social justice documentary, Pérez Osorio invigorates the debate around justice and gender violence. Our article analyzes the narrative strategies chosen by the directors to make visible and sharpen the debate around complex issues such as sexual assault, homicide aggravated by familial relationship and femicide. Second, we will focus on the construction of the perspective of the mother who conveys crucial issues such as awareness of gender violence, lack of justice, sorority and activism. Finally, we analyze the choice of both films to be co-produced and distributed by Netflix.  We argue that the combinations of these three strategies contribute to form a “contra pedagogy of cruelty”, a term coined by Rita Segato.