This chapter focuses on a thirteen-year period which shook the foundations of Uruguayan society. Between 1960 and 1973 the country was between, on the one hand, the admiration of European living standards and culture and, on the other hand, the realisation of the similarities between Uruguay and other Latin American nations, mainly regarding poverty and social inequalities. I seek to explore the ways in which this tension is present in the text and materiality of films. First, I explore traces of avant-garde in La ciudad en la playa (henceforth, La ciudad) to demonstrate the oppositional potential of a film funded by the National Office for Tourism to promote Uruguay as a tourist destination; second, I delve into the University Film Institute (ICUR) and the film Carlos: cineretrato de un caminante en Montevideo (henceforth, Carlos) to analyse the blurred boundaries between political documentaries and scientific cinema; and third, I study Refusila through Stella Bruzzi's concept of ‘approximation’ to go beyond the idea of representation in political documentaries. This chapter also introduces an innovative way of complementing the textual analysis by exploring the films’ material transformations over time. It discloses the current location of these works and focuses on the different layers of physical changes that generated the ‘palimpsestic copies’ that can be accessed today.

The ‘Switzerland of America’, the Guerrilla and the Coup d’état

During the first half of the twentieth century, Uruguay enjoyed a fairly well established democracy, except for the years of Gabriel Terra's dictatorship (1933–38). Several historians have remarked that political tensions were mostly resolved through dialogue and negotiation between the main political figures. These politicians would usually be members of one or the other of the two traditional parties: Blanco and Colorado. This tradition of negotiating and establishing dialogue would lead Germán Rama to speak about a ‘sociedad hiperintegrada’ (hyper-integrated society) and Carlos Real de Azúa about a ‘sociedad amortiguadora’ (buffer society). Historians have also frequently analysed the people's trust in democratic institutions, an example of which is the first triumph of the Blanco party in 1958. The Colorado party had ruled for ninety-three years; however, the severe crisis suffered by the nation as 1958 approached caused the people to consider a different option in the general election.