In Claudia Llosa’s dramatic film, The Milk of Sorrow, released in 2010 in the United States, music plays an important role in unfolding what words fail to communicate. The film follows the journey of a young Peruvian girl, Fausta, who finds the need to earn enough money to bury her mother in the city. Her mother’s death forces Fausta to step out of her comfort zone as she is required to find odd jobs. The most significant one is being a maid in a rich woman’s house who offers her pearls in exchange of hearing Fausta sing in her native language, Quechua.
It is important to note that Fausta suffers from the disease of “La Teta Asustada,” which is transmitted through the breast milk of a mother who suffered a traumatic experience during her pregnancy. As a result, Fausta lives in constant fear. Fausta is a very introverted character; hence, the singing throughout the film is an essential component as it helps reveal her innermost thoughts and feelings as well as other the characters’, like her mother. Furthermore, music is used to highlight significant incidents that the protagonist may not necessarily emphasize.
The disease Fausta suffers from causes her to experience a constant feeling of distrust towards people, especially men. Therefore, it is difficult to perceive what she feels and thinks in significant situations. Fausta often does not make any comments regarding her opinion or view point. However, her signing assists in revealing what she cannot manage to say out loud. One incident that highlights this is when Fausta is in Ms. Aida’s house and she sees a frame of a military man’s boots and she begins to bleed from her nose. Terrified, Fausta begins to sing in order to calm herself down.
Although throughout the film Fausta does not make any specific comment on how she feels regarding her disease, the lyrics of this particular song reveal that she associates everything that represents the military with her mother’s sexual abuse. Additionally, the audience learns that she is deeply affected by what happened to her mother, as if she’d experienced it herself. Fausta is not able to communicate this horror and pain with words, however, does so via her songs. Moreover, her innermost feelings are expressed at the conclusion of the film when she carries her mom close to the sea.
She does not say anything until she is near the ocean. Here, she sings as the film ends, “Look at the sea, mom. Look at the sea. ” The tone in her song transmits her sense of peace. Those four simple words sang are all that takes to understa that Fausta has accepted her faith and is at peace with herself. This revelation of the protagonists’ feelings through songs is also seen with her mother. The film begins with Fausta’s mother singing in Quechua where she describes what the Andean legend tells about the milk of sorrow.
During the war of terrorism that took place in Peru, women were often raped. When these mothers breastfed their daughters, it is believed, their pain and terror is passed on to them. Through the mom’s song, the audience learns that she was a victim of this sabotage and that Fausta suffers from the disease. In addition, the song reveals the hardship of her, like many other women at the time, being sexually abused and that that is the reason Fausta is the way she is; a withdrawn and reserved person who is frightened by the presence of men.
The use of a song to explain this abhorrent period of time where military men took advantage of any woman, even the ones pregnant, helps the character communicate the indescribable. Her song gives way to express the awful experience through a first point of view and helps the audience understand what these women had to face. Furthermore, the song’s melancholic melody is able to transmit the woman’s sorrow and despair. Although the character’s signing is used to uncover their emotions, it is also used as a foreshadowing tool throughout the film.
One of the songs Fausta sings in the rich woman’s house, Ms. Aida, helps set the stage for the main incident to unfold and warns the audience of something that will happen without revealing the story or spoiling the suspense. When Ms. Aida hears Fausta sing, she is moved and impressed by her unusual song in her native language. Ms. Aida, being a pianist and composer, sees an opportunity to use Fausta’s peculiar tune to her advantage and offers Fausta all the pearls in a necklace, but one for every song she sings for her.
The first song Fausta sings after agreeing to the compromise is “The Mermaid Song,” which, by no coincidence, Ms. Aida plays in her concert later on. The song tells the story of another Andean legend. Similar to the known myth of making a deal with the devil, in the Andes it is believed that musicians often make pacts with mermaids where the creatures help them become better musicians in exchange of their soul. During the pact, quinoa seeds are given to the mermaids who count them down. These seeds represent the musician’s life span. When the countdown finishes, the mermaids take the musician’s soul.
The song correlates with the “pact” the two women agree on as Aida persuades Fausta to sing by bribing her with pearls. She knows that Fausta is desperate for the money, hence, offers her one pearl for every song she sings. This incident would not have the same effect if the song had not been added. The melody clarifies what their “deal” truly means and at the same time foreshadows that Ms. Aida will exploit Fausta and her necessity for her own advantage. The use of music throughout the film is a clever way to express the character’s emotions as it does so without compromising the character’s personality.
It also provides the audience with a glimpse of the Peruvian culture through the stories incorporated in the songs. Furthemore, the tunes and melodies are also meaningful as they help to transmit the character’s feelings. If the songs had been spoken, the film would not have been able to convey the same reaction from the audience as the characters would not have been as effective in expressing the particularly deep emotions. Fausta is a living example of how this period of time in Peru affected people, especially women.