Epidemias erradicables en seis películas a redescubrir

Abstract

We analyzed six films on four infectious diseases that are currently in remission and even eradication due to improved hygiene and advances in medical knowledge. Two of the pathologies occur in explosive outbreaks with great contagiousness and lethality: cholera, with the Japanese film Red Angel, and the plague with the films The Year of the Plague and The Island of Death. On the other hand, we review infections that occur with sequelae and long-term disabilities such as polio with The Shiinomi School and leprosy with the documentary The house is black and Molokai la isla maldita. We try to assess how diseases are represented, their diagnosis and therapeutic approach, as well as the context in which they are presented and the social attitudes they trigger.