In 1948, the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito (May 7, 1892 - May 4, 1980) broke up with the Soviet leader Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin (Dec. 21, 1879 - March 5, 1953). Yugoslavia was suddenly between the two blocks (in the making). Tito's regime imprisoned many Soviet sympathizers (real or just suspected). Russian films were not so popular anymore.
Yugoslav authorities had to look somewhere else for film entertainment. They found a suitable country in Mexico: it was far away, the chances of Mexican tanks appearing on Yugoslav borders were slight and, best of all, in Mexican films they always talked about revolution in the highest terms. How could an average moviegoer know that it was not the Yugoslav revolution?
Emilio Fernández's Un Día de vida (1950) became so immensely popular that the old people in the former republics of Yugoslavia even today regard it as surely one of the most well known films in the world ever made although in truth it is probably unknown in every other country, even Mexican web pages don't mention it much.
Miroslava - Si!
The Mexican influence spread to all of the popular culture: fake Mexican bands were forming and their records still can be found at the flea markets nowadays.\
Take a stroll through the gallery of record covers; if you have time just for one of them, try this one. For those in a hurry: Mama Huanita was a song every mother loved to hear on the radio for her birthday. Ay .... Chabela the dance bands still sing in the hotels all over former YU countries. The most charming Mexicans were Nikola Karović and Slavko Perović; while the most determined was Ljubomir Milić (with his whole family). Ana Milosavljevićwas the queen and the dark voice of Nevenka Arsova her first companion.
This is a small sample of Yugoslavian performers who covered themselves with sombreros to become Slavic Mexicans.
Aye - Yiii!!
I had no idea that occurred - fascinating. People must get confused when they see pictures of Charros dressed up in clothing pictured like that (how do you walk around a crowded sidewalk with those sombreros - Perdoneme !! :^) Facial recognition in public must be a beoitch !!
ReplyDeleteIts funny the jackets and hats are what they are, but the pants look like they were taken from the Salvation Army dumpster ...
WOW. who knew. that is amazing information.
ReplyDeleteI worked for Telemundo in the 90's. We had horrible movies, as Univision owned rights to all the good ones. Ours were bad. One summer day, our Mid Day Movie, had full frontal during a beach scene. We were waiting for the calls to come in to complain. Not one. Either no one was watching, or they didn't mind. Cultural differences.
During our state of the station meetings, the question always came up, "when will we run movies we can let our kids watch?"
The Iron Curtain came down in large part because Eastern Europeans were trading
ReplyDeletebooleg copies of Frank Zappa's album Joe's garage. The Czhec Republic
wanted to appoint Zappa Minister of Cultural Affairs, but the US state
objected to the move.
That's one of the most convincing displays of the power of Propaganda that I've ever seen. Wholesale adoption of another country's completely unfamiliar culture.
ReplyDeleteStory reminded me of this strangeness.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.citylab.com/life/2017/02/meet-the-japanese-obsessed-with-chicano-culture/515388/
Not to mention the Japanese Rockabilly Greasers (use Google Image)
Delete