Almodóvar on his favorite Spanish film (by John Hopewell)

Pedro Almodóvar Talks About Spanish Cinema He Loves

By John Hopewell

Source: http://variety.com/2014/film/news/pedro-almodovar-talks-about-spanish-cinema-he-loves-1201331661/

Translator: Xuecheng Creek

Proofreader: James

As a tribute to Spanish cinema, Almodóvar chose a film that is little known abroad to be released at the Lumiere Film Festival.

"Without movies, we're nothing." Pedro Almodóvar said in the quote from the introductory film at this year's Lumière Film Festival in Lyon. Anyone who has seen Almodóvar's films can feel the great influence of earlier films on him, and feel that the passion of youth is transformed into a source of inspiration and sentiment in maturity. Like clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino, who previously won the Lumiere Prize, Almodóvar paid tribute to Spanish cinema by choosing some of the most heartfelt works to use in his films. He also wrote an article specifically for the Lumiere Film Festival to talk about these films.

I picked seven films to pay tribute to Spanish cinema. First and foremost are films that have stood the test of time and have aesthetic value. I also want to show the audience of the Lumiere Film Festival those works that are famous at home but little known abroad. Most of these works were filmed during franco's dictatorship. Not only are they beautiful, but they succeed in cleverly circumventing the absurd and ruthless censorship of the church and the state.

The two films most familiar to foreign audiences are Louis García Bellanga's The Executioner ("El verdugo") and Victor Iris's "The Hive Genie" ("El espíritu de la colmena"). The two films have very different ways of fooling inspectors, but both work well. Iris's films are masterpieces full of norms and symbolic signs. Bellanga's is a social comedy (a "work of local overtones") that deals with Italian neorealism. Censors failed to grasp the true meaning of both films. The Executioner, played by the magical José Espert, represents an idealized Spanish grandfather in the pop comedies of the era— an attractive old man, perfect, attentive to his family, whose only requirement for his son-in-law is to work to support his wife and son. Everyone can empathize with it. The audience's approval confused the inspectors, who did not see that the film was a condemnation of the death penalty. Spain was a totalitarian regime at the time and had always forbidden convicted persons to speak. The film directly blames the state for its crimes. The fooled censors have no idea what the film actually says. In civilized countries, The Executioner is considered a masterpiece. This film is more valuable to Spain in 1963. The film won the "Fibici International Film Critics Award" at the Venice Film Festival, which was "discovered" by those in power. After returning to Spain, the film had to face censorship that it had previously evaded, but this was another matter. The censorship of the film was so dramatic that neither Raphael Ascona nor Luis García Bellanga had to recreate a story.

Victor Iris's "The Hive Genie" and "The Executioner" are the opposite of each other, and are lyrical works presented in children's stories. In the film, James Weir's film Frankenstein awakens the curiosity of the little girl. In 1941, a year after Franco declared the end of the Spanish Civil War, she lived in a small village haunted by the undead. Unfortunately, it's been a year full of ghosts. In this almost silent film, the internalized adult characters are also the embodiment of censorship. The girl's parents (played by five-year-old Anna Torrent) are living dead: silent, indifferent, and closed. Anna takes care of a ghost (a deserter) hiding in an abandoned livestock barn. One day, the ghost was hit by the National Guard and disappeared. Anna's inquiring gaze, the innocence and recklessness in her eyes, more powerfully than any other picture, reflects our uncertain mentality and thirst for knowledge and correct thinking in 1973 (the year the film was filmed) ... We began to realize that the country we lived in was not the same as that of teachers and families.

Chronologically, José Luis Blau's Furtivos (1975) was the last full-fledged film of the Franco era. It was a very bold film at the time. In retrospect, it was only when franco's regime and censorship came to an end that the director could tell this cruel story to the fullest. But in 1974, when the film was shot, no one realized this. Fortunately, José Luis Brau and his co-screenwriter Manuel Gutierrez had enough freedom to create such a sharp and precise script that Spain would not benefit from their work until three years later. The film is a "Goya-style" mural. The story takes place in a forest, which is the epitome of Spanish society. One can think of the forest as a symbol of society, or as a metaphor for the state in the role of mother Martina— a ruthless, evil, hypocritical, incestuous, murderous woman.

Cross-Border Poachers combines two styles rarely seen in Spanish cinema: Western and film noir. The creators chose actress Lola Gauss to play her mother in a way that paid a clear tribute to Luis Buñuel. The hoarse and unattractive actress starred in the Aragonese genius director's "Veridana" and "Tristana" In Tristana she plays Setna, the maid of the young Tristana (Catherine Deneuve). The director himself has said that the name Saturna is the key to understanding the character of Martina in "The Border Poacher," a metaphor for the Spanish painter Goya's painting Saturn devouring one of his sons.

Although Ivan Zuruitta's "Arrebato" was shot in 1979, just four years later, Spain has changed dramatically. The story deliberately eschews politics and is set in Madrid, a cosmopolitan city at the beginning of the Movida movement. The protagonist is a horror film director who is mysteriously devoured by his "Super 8" camera. The film is a horror fantasy about "self-sacrifice", with its intrinsic themes of heroin and film, while darkness is considered the only way to self-discovery and self-growth. Just four years later, the new Spain, like the characters in Ecstasy and Cross-Border Poachers, is very different from previous years. Time has passed, and while Zurueta's film has been different to the film industry or to Spanish audiences, it has become a modern classic.

But this is not an isolated case on the film list. Although Carlos Serrano de Osma's "Embrujo" is themed after flamenco and does not seem to have a negative impact, this is another film that has been condemned. The appearances of singer Manolo Caracol and dancer Lola Flores at the peak of their careers are remarkable in themselves. Both are well-known Flamenco artists, and Lola Flores is also a singer and actress. These two legendary figures give us a glimpse into the unfathomable mysteries of flamanco art. However, as soon as the film was released, it was insulted. Critics cannot accept a departure from traditional depictions of time and space. Flamenco song and dance is like two sides of a mysterious coin for the director. The magic [Embrujo: Magic, Magic] implied by the title refers to the mysterious charm of Flamenco presented by spiritual catharsis and expressionist images, which is far from the standards of Spanish folklore cinema. Even today, Embrujo is a very new film.

Another masterpiece that has been "cursed" is El extraño viaje by Fernando Fernand Gomez, although censors have little way to explain their sanctions. In 1964, when the country began to experience a wave of modernization and development, tourism was regarded as the foundation of economic development and high hopes were placed. However, how can two fat, ugly drunken brothers on the beach be shown the beauty of our shores? The film was not released until the seventh year after its completion, and only in the form of a double-film series. Since then, the film has continued to win praise. Fernando Fernand Gómez is truly versatile: actor, director, novelist, playwright; good at all fields. "Strange Journey" is based on a true story in which two brothers are killed in a small harbor on the coast, and the case has not yet been solved. Unlike other films shot in the countryside, Fernand Gomez's work is full of black humor. The film is also an example of the qualities of Spanish neorealism, in which Italian sentimentality is rare and the narrative naturally combines grotesque and "bizarre", full of harsh black humor.

Calle Mayor (Barden Juan Antonio, 1956) and La tia Tula (Miguel Picazzo) closely resemble Fernand Gomez's films. Both melodramas focus on unmarried women. I prefer films that evoke memories of country life. Social prejudice and Catholic moral norms are particularly harsh on women. Before I was ten years old, I was surrounded by women, some of whom were very similar to those in the two films. I think that explains why I love these characters. In any case, both films are treasures. Aunt Dura won the 1964 San Sebastian Film Festival, winning Best Spanish Film and Best Director. At the 1956 Venice Film Festival, Via Mayor won Best Picture, the Fibizi International Film Critics' Jury Award for Best Director, and a special nomination for Betsy Blair.

In "Via Mayor" and "Aunt Dula", the protagonists Isabelle and Dula follow all the customs of daily life that require women at that time: church, family, meetings between women. In both films they are left alone. In the 1950s and 1960s, women's loneliness often stemmed from a lack of men. Women in their early thirties had to stay in the kitchen, go to church, or get fat. The two protagonists in the film live in similar circumstances, but there is an important difference: Isabel in "Via Mayor" is a victim of the repression of that era, while the protagonist in "Aunt Dura" is his own executioner. At the turn of the decade, women were not given more freedom, but were constrained by tougher regulations. The old girl of the 1960s refers to a person who grew up in the 1950s, restrained physical pleasure, and harbored a backward view of female chastity and dignity.

"Calle Mayor" and "Aunt Dura" accept and support the heroine's point of view. It is also worth noting that although the film does not have nudity and obvious sex scenes, the atmosphere of desire is extremely strong. I don't remember any films from that era or years after that when carnal desire was so common and so intense. We have to thank the director and the great actresses for that.