Claudia Llosa's debut feature film Madeinusa (pronounced Ma–den–OO–za) is a fable about the United States' (or the Western world) influence on South America's (Peru in this case) tribal population. It's a fascinating portrayal of the townsfolk that doesn't judge them, but rather presents them as they are. Their traditions are Catholic but only in a fragmented version as is their entire life which is mixed with all sorts of pagan and tribal traditions.

The drama starts with a tall, dark gringo stranger entering the town from Lima as the town is starting it's yearly Holy Time, a kind of bacchanalian festival where anything goes and a kind of opposite world is lived for a few days. The stricking images document their rituals relating to this festival. One of the most interesting involves the men cutting off each other's ties (symbolic phalluses) with scissors before starting an orgiastic dance where the women choose which men they want to pair off with. There's a virgin contest which doesn't seem unlike the Miss America (or Miss USA) pagaent and clues you into why it's such a scandal here when one of the debutantes is shown to not be a pure. Things don't really change fundamentally, but instead only change appearence. The titular Madeinusa wins the beauty/virginity contest, partially because she's the daughter of the mayor - her father unfortunately has his incestuous eyes on her and Holy Time is when the virgins are deflowered.

I won't give away any more of the plot, I'll just say that this is a great debut feature and is a window into Peru's tribal culture and the influence of the Western world (symbolized by the capital city, Lima) on it. Even if you don't particularly like movies, students of anthropology will find it as fascinating as film fans find it compelling.

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