Identity and the militarized border: Mi Mejor Enemigo (Chile, 2005)

Abstract

This paper examines the representation of borders in Latin American film through a close reading of one film of the New South American Cinema movement, Mi Mejor Enemigo (Chile, 2005). The border is posited as heterotopic which acknowledges the multi-layered power dynamics imbued in borderlands which profoundly affect how people travel through them. Through film analysis an understanding of how the characters in Mi Mejor Enemigo are affected and shaped by the experience of crossing heterotopic borders becomes apparent. An engagement with Third Cinema and feminist film theory highlights how nationalism and gender become heightened at the border. The characters become regarded as ‘others’ and are affected by their spatial movement with labels based on their nationality, gender, ethnicity or sexuality ascribed to them.