Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

eferred to as Acólitos del Diablo by Borola Burrón, 108 which would be an appropriate
nickname for them in some of the films too.
Popular perceptions of the police are evident in El Águila Descalza. As Poncho
and Chona are cycling to the factory, discussing how to make the world a better place,
Poncho says that there are not only good people in the world but also ‘gente de mala fe.’
As he says this the image focuses on a traffic policeman, connecting his statement to the
policeman. Without saying so directly, we understand what the director implies, and we
derive pleasure from this description: it accords with our views of the merits of the
police. The sequence itself is not funny, but as the shot unexpectedly changes and
shows us the policeman, we have the feeling that he has been insulted. If we open the
semantic unit and look forward in the sequence, we see that just immediately after this
statement, Poncho reveals his secret identity as ‘El Águila’. Later he imagines himself
as the statue of a celebrated hero, highlighting his clumsiness and absurdity. The
audience is thus reconnected to the comic character and to the world of comedy.
It is worth mentioning that the police appear five separate times in the film, and
each time they seem to be acting unprofessionally. The first occasion is when
Mascalzzone arrives the airport. A customs officer tries to check his violin case but
Mascalzzone intimidates him so he backs down. The second time is when Poncho is
riding his bicycle carrying things for other people. A policeman tries to stop him and
Poncho almost runs over him as in old silent films. 109 The third time is the scene
described in the previous paragraph, of a traffic policeman. The fourth occasion is when
Poncho and Chona decide to go to the Public Ministry to complain about the abuse that
the workers are suffering in the factory. At the entrance, a policeman criticises Poncho
108 Gabriel Vargas, La Familia Burrón, 17194, p. 30.
109 Again, if the policeman is our antithesis, we celebrate the fact that he is almost knocked down by
Poncho and that he looks ridiculous trying to stop Poncho. To ridicule him is a small vengeance. Purdie,
Comedy. The Mastery… p. 65.
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