ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Mexico as a case study because of its simultaneously unique and representative position in global cinema and focus on war films, because of their popularity as a genre in Mexican cinema, but one that is not conventionally thought of in terms of women's cinema. Previously in Mexican scholarship, important work of recuperation and recognition of Mexican filmmakers and stars has been carried out by film historians and scholars that focuses on two key periods: the so-called Golden Age of the studio period 1930s–1950s and the 1970s and 1980s which saw the emergence of feminist directors concerned with women's narratives. Building on their work yet taking a different frame, this chapter shifts the focus onto a key historical moment, the Mexican Revolution, in order to allow space to draw out the larger picture, challenge preconceptions about women's presence in bellicose films, and consider how women's film has evolved in Mexico.
