Fernando Purcell’s ¡De película! is a unique and focused transnational study of the reception of Hollywood film in Chile’s major cities and interior. Taking its lead from the work of historians of cultural imperialism in Latin America, the book explores the question, first raised by Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart, of the extent to which Chilean society played an active or a passive role in creating a market for US film in the Southern Cone. What makes this work exceptional within the field of Latin American film history is its careful attention to the question of reception and its rich illustration of Chilean creativity in interacting with and engaging transnational actors in the film industry.
The work begins by underscoring the economic and political factors that influenced Chile’s turn away from European cinema and toward North American fare, signaling the importance of the world wars and the allure of Californian...
