Writing from the gut: Embodied spectatorship and violence in contemporary Mexican cinema

Abstract

A number of contemporary Mexican films have moved away from the direct portrayal of graphic violence on-screen, instead engaging with invisible, hard-to-represent aspects of systemic violence. This article brings together Deleuzian affect theory with cinematographic formalism to offer a new methodological approach to violence in cinema that draws from the critic’s own body and gut feelings. Through a case study of Tatiana non-fiction film Tempestad/Tempest, it suggests that the affective work of the film occurs not in the first moment of viewership, but rather after-the-fact by laying the groundwork for future resonances.