Random Viewing: Catch-Up Edition, part 1

   My posting will still be irregular in the coming months but I thought that I'd better attempt to do some sort of catch-up with the films I watched towards the end of the year - as De tu ventana a la mía and Diamond Flash were in my end-of-year top 5, they will get standalone posts at some point in the future, but the others will appear in Random Viewing posts.

    So, to the films. El Sur / The South (Víctor Erice, 1983) was the film that I hit a bit of a stumbling block with back in October. Sometimes I find myself face-to-face with a classic but with very little to say. As with Erice's El espíritu de la colmena / The Spirit of the Beehive, the film focuses on the POV of a child, in this case Estrella (played by Sonsoles Aranguren as a child, and future-director Iciar Bollaín as a teenager). Estrella is looking back on the events of her childhood (she narrates from the position of adulthood), specifically her relationship with her father (Omero Antonutti), so we get both a sense of how she saw things at the time and also how she views them with the benefit of hindsight - although it is also key that she admits early on in the narration to invention; what we are seeing is a mixture of memory and story-telling. But there are parts of her father's story that she doesn't know about / understand, and which are connected to his life (prior to her birth) in the South and a woman by the name of Irene Rios (Aurore Clément). I will point you in the direction of an article by Jo Evans (HT @drsolas on twitter), as I'm still quite stumped for words. The film is somewhat notorious in Spain because of the controversy over the ending - it was originally intended to be a three-part drama for TV but ended up as a 94 minute film - the plug was pulled by the producer, Elías Querejeta, part way through filming with (according to Erice) the understanding that the film would be 'completed' later (although the events surrounding the interruption of filming are still disputed -see below). As it was, when the 'first part' was released it was hailed as a masterpiece and filming never resumed - to this day, Erice insists that the film is only half finished. I think that the film 'works' at its current length, but it also ends at a point in the story where new narrative avenues are opening up (Estrella is about to travel to the South to find out more about her father). It is beautifully photographed by José Luis Alcaine - like a painting come to life in some of the interior scenes. The 2012 Spanish edition on DVD (and presumably on the blu-ray as well) comes with optional English subtitles and is available from Spanish sites (see the links in the right-hand sidebar) for around 7€ (I'm pointing this out because people are selling them for £20 on Amazon UK, which is quite a mark up).

   The controversy surrounding the making of El Sur brings me to the next film, the documentary El Productor / The Producer (Fernando Méndez-Leite, 2007), about the career of Elías Querejeta, one of Spain's most prolific producers and a key figure in the history of Spanish cinema. I had actually seen this before but watched it again to refresh my memory about what was said about El Sur (nothing clear-cut, as it turns out -the talking heads interviewed give a variety of accounts). Querejeta has worked through several different eras, including Francoism and state censorship (of the game of wits he played with the censors, Querejeta characterises his strategy as manipulation rather than capitulation - he usually cleverly got his way) and Agustín Almodóvar suggests that Querejeta's continued success and enduring reputation as someone with an eye for talent is down to his ability to adapt with social change and keep in step with the times. The documentary covers his career to date but focuses mainly on his collaborations in the 1960s and 1970s with Erice (various anecdotes about the making of El espíritu de la colmena) and Carlos Saura (the latter parted company with Querejeta around the time of Carmen (1983), but only because they were wanting to go in different directions and not because of a falling out (a rare case of 'artistic differences' being just that) - they are about to work together again). But also it also looks at the idea that there is 'the Querejeta stamp' on projects he produces, as he is very much a hands-on collaborator - there are varying accounts from the many directors interviewed as to just how they viewed that 'collaboration'. I will probably be revisiting the documentary again as I am going to have some sort of 'project' surrounding Saura's films and there's also this book on Querejeta's films, which looks interesting. 

Ten Spanish Films Due to Arrive in 2013

   Truth be told, I can't say for certain that all of these ten films will be released in Spain in 2013 - at least two of them have yet to go into production, and the Spanish film industry is currently more than a little precarious due to Spain's uncertain economic state.
    In the December issue of Academia, the official magazine of the Spanish Film Academy [Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España], they highlighted the impact of the Spanish government's decision to disband the existing funding structures without putting anything in their place: of the 51 films that had been announced in January 2012, only 26 had actually been made by the end of the year. Another decision by the government will also be making an impact: in September the tax on 'entertainment' (which includes cinema tickets) jumped from 8% to 21% overnight (an increase that cinemas are unable to absorb, and so ticket prices are going up). The film industry (and theatre, museum, and arts bodies generally) has been arguing that 'culture' should be protected and is petitioning for the tax to go down to 10%, but in the last quarter of 2012 admissions were already reported to be down on the same period from last year - the year end box office statistics will be even more contentious than usual (early reports suggest that Spanish cinema has managed to increase its market share, but that admissions are down overall).
   So these are worrying times for Spanish cinema, but the films / projects listed below point to a rich variety of work still being made - and on a more positive note, the January 2013 issue of Academia lists a fresh slate of films going into production in 2013. As with the previous post, if a film does not yet have an official English language title, I've put a translation of the Spanish title in square brackets.

Ayer no termina nunca / [Yesterday Never Ends] (dir. Isabel Coixet)

Cast: Javier Cámara, Candela Peña.

Coixet is being deliberately secretive about the plot (Peña has said that it's the first time she has had to sign a confidentiality agreement for a film), so all I really know is that it is set in 2017 and revolves around a breakdown in the relationship between the characters played by Cámara and Peña. [no images as yet].

Caníbal / [Cannibal] (dir. Manuel Martín Cuenca)

Cast: Antonio de la Torre.

Tagline: Love is insatiable. De la Torre plays Carlos, a tailor of good standing in Granada, whose only passions are working and eating - but he's not exactly conventional: he's a cannibal. One day he encounters the twin sister of a woman he has already devoured... The project has been described as a meeting of Hitchcock and Buñuel, which is an ambitious claim but La mitad de Óscar (Manuel Martín Cuenca, 2011) was in my 2011 top 5 (it also featured De la Torre, but only in a small role) so I'm prepared to be impressed. 

Guernica, 33 días / Guernica, 33 Days (dir. Carlos Saura)

Cast: Antonio Banderas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bárbara Goenaga

The story of Picasso's (Banderas) iconic painting, Guernica, and his love affair with photographer Dora Maar (Paltrow). This was one of the films that Academia says was delayed due to the financial problems of the film industry but it does now look set to go into production this year and will reunite Saura with producer Elías Querejeta (who produced his films in the 1960s and 1970s). 

La gran familia española / My Family and Other Hooligans (dir. Daniel Sánchez Arévalo)

Cast: Quim Gutiérrez, Antonio de la Torre, Miquel Fernández, Roberto Álamo, Patrick Criado, Verónica Echegui, Alicia Rubio.

Comedy. A family of five brothers come together for the wedding of the youngest, which unfortunately happens to coincide with Spain reaching the World Cup final. Sánchez Arévalo's often have family relationships at their core -expect tears and a lot of laughter- and here most of his de-facto repertory company / film family are reunited again (minus Raúl Arévalo, who was working with Almodóvar). The film has a Youtube channel, so a trailer will probably appear there soon. Due for release in Spain in September.

Las brujas de Zugarramurdi / Witching and Bitching (dir. Álex de la Iglesia)

Cast: Carmen Maura, Carolina Bang, Terele Pavez, Mario Casas, Hugo Silva.

Comedy. Two thieves (Casas and Silva) stage a robbery and make a run for France with two policemen (Pepón Nieto and Secun de la Rosa) in hot pursuit. Before they reach the border they cut through a forest in Zugarramurdi and find themselves placed under a curse by local witches (Maura, Bang, and Pavez).... Álex de la Iglesia has been tweeting photos from the set (@alexdelaiglesia) and it looks like we're back to another gallery of grotesques after the relative normality of La chispa de la vida.

Los amantes pasajeros / I'm So Excited! (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)

Cast: Javier Cámara, Raúl Arévalo, Carlos Areces, Cecilia Roth, Jose María Yazpik, Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Lola Dueñas, Guillermo Toledo and cameos by Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, and Paz Vega.

Comedy. Passengers and crew face a life-threatening situation on a flight to Mexico City. Candid confessions and musical interludes (the teaser trailer sees Cámara, Arévalo and Areces dancing in formation to the Pointer Sisters) help them keep fear of death at bay. A return to the kind of comedy Almodóvar was known for in the 1980s, the film is released in Spain in March and should be out in the UK in May. 

Los últimos días / [The Last Days] (dir. Álex & David Pastor)

Cast: Quim Gutiérrez, Jose Coronado, Marta Etura. 

Thriller. The film takes place six weeks after 'The Panic' wherein humans suddenly became agoraphobic and are now unable to go in the open air. As nature reclaims the city, Marc (Gutiérrez) attempts to travel across Barcelona to find his girlfriend (Etura). The trailer looks good.  

Murieron por encima de sus posibilidades /  [They Died Beyond Their Means] (dir. Isaki Lacuesta)

Cast: Albert Plà, Jordi Vilches, Iván Telefunken, Raúl Arévalo, Emma Suárez, Sergi López [imdb also lists Eduard Fernández, Ariadna Gil and Jose Coronado although I haven't seen them mentioned in Spanish reports].

According the writer-director, this will be a black comedy in the style of The Ladykillers (Alexander Mackendrick, 1955). Five people damaged by the economic crisis meet by chance in a psychiatrist's waiting room and decide to form a plan to save Spain from financial ruin: to kidnap the director of the Central Bank (Josep Maria Pou). The film uses a flashback structure to show the backstory of each of the five protagonists. The cast list is intriguing and the financial crisis could do with some humour. [no images as yet].

Presentimientos / Premonitions (dir. Santiago Tabernero)

Cast: Eduardo Noriega, Marta Etura, Alfonso Bassave, Irene Escolar.

Thriller. Co-written by Noriega, this sees he and Etura as married couple Félix and Julia, on holiday to patch up their differences. On the night of their arrival they realise that they've forgotten their baby's food - Julia heads out to buy some but on her return becomes involved in an accident and then cannot find the apartment they are renting...Meanwhile Félix receives a phone call telling him that his wife is in a coma. Noriega is always on top form in thrillers and I'm interested to see what kind of writer he is. [no images as yet].

Tesis sobre un homicidio / [Thesis on a Homicide] (dir. Hernán Goldfrid) 

Cast: Ricardo Darín, Alberto Ammann.

Thriller. Argentina-Spain co-production. A law professor (Darín) comes to suspect that one of his best students (Ammann) has committed murder, and got away with it. But as he starts to conduct his own investigation, the case becomes ever more personal and he finds himself heading into a dark place...  It has Ricardo Darín, and thrillers are my favourite genre - so count me in. Trailer. 

Ten Spanish films from 2012 to see in 2013:

   As I said in my ‘Top 5 of 2012’ post, I tend to see Spanish films a year or so after their original release –here are ten from 2012 that I hope to fix my eyes on in 2013.
[If there is no official English language title, I’ve put a translation in square brackets]

Blancanieves / Snow White
Director: Pablo Berger
Cast: Maribel Verdú, Macarena García, Sofia Oria, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Pere Ponce, José María Pou, Inma Cuesta, Ángela Molina.
This appeared on my list of films to see in 2012, but it hasn’t reached DVD yet so I’m still waiting. It is representing Spain at the Oscars in 2013 and I’m hoping that if it makes the shortlist then it might get a theatrical release in the UK.

El artista y la modelo / The Artist and the Model

Director: Fernando Trueba

Cast: Jean Rochefort, Aida Folch, Claudia Cardinale.

This seemed to get mixed reviews in Spain but the black and white cinematography looks sumptuous in the trailer and Trueba’s name is always a mark of quality for me.

El cuerpo / The Body

Director: Oriol Paulo

Cast: Jose Coronado, Hugo Silva, Belén Rueda, Aura Garrido.

The directorial debut of one of the writers of Los ojos de Julia / Julia’s Eyes (Guillem Morales, 2010). I haven’t read all that much about it (it was only released in early December) but it sounds intriguing – the body of a rich woman (Rueda) disappears from the morgue before the autopsy can take place. How did she die? A detective (Coronado) investigates both the disappearance and the events leading up to her death. 

El muerto y ser feliz / The Dead Man and Being Happy

Director: Javier Rebollo

Cast: José Sacristán, Roxana Blanco.

Buenos Aires. Sacristán plays a hired assassin, a Spaniard who has spent half of his life in Argentina. When he discovers that he is dying, he absconds from the hospital with a supply of morphine and heads out on the road with no particular destination in mind…

Rebollo’s previous film, La mujer sin piano / Woman without Piano (2009), was very distinctive, so I’m interested to see where he has gone next and Sacristán has been picking up awards for his performance in this black comedy.

El mundo es nuestro / [The World is Ours]

Director: Alfonso Sánchez

Cast: Alfonso Sánchez, Alberto López, Olga Martínez, Pepa Díaz Meca, Antonia Gómez.

I don’t know much about this one – I was aware of it appearing on Filmin with some fanfare and its reputation as something of an online phenomenon. But it has been appearing on multiple Spanish end-of-year lists and topped the readers’ poll of Spanish films in El País – so I’d better catch up with it. 

Fin / The End

Director: Jorge Torregrossa

Cast: Maribel Verdú, Clara Lago, Daniel Grao, Antonio Garrido, Blanca Romero.

A reunion between old friends is interrupted by an incident that leaves them cut off from the outside world. As they try to reach help cracks their relationships come under pressure and the group starts to disintegrate….

Invasor / [Invader]

Director: Daniel Calparsoro

Cast: Alberto Ammann, Antonio de la Torre, Karra Elejalde, Inma Cuesta.

Thriller. A soldier (Ammann) awakes from a serious accident that took place during his time in Iraq. But as his memory returns, he realises that his memories do not tally with the official record of events…

Madrid 1987

Director: David Trueba

Cast: José Sacristán, María Valverde.

I don’t know that much about what transpires in this one –only that the trailer suggests that it is mainly a conversation between Sacristán and Valverde that takes place when their characters become locked in a bathroom together.

Sueño y silencio / Dream and Silence

Director: Jaime Rosales

Cast: Oriol Rosselló, Yolanda Galocha.

Black and White. Oriol and Yolanda live in Paris with their two daughters. While on holiday in Spain an accident leaves one child dead and Oriol with no memory of their late daughter. 

Una pistola en cada mano / A Gun in Each Hand

Director: Cesc Gay

Cast: Javier Cámara, Ricardo Darín, Eduard Fernández, Jordi Mollà, Eduardo Noriega, Alberto San Juan, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Luis Tosar, Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, Candela Peña, Clara Segura, Leonor Watling.

This was also on my list of forthcoming (2012) projects I wanted to see but it has only recently been released in Spain. A comedy about modern men –my main reasons for wanting to see it are Cesc Gay’s involvement and those men onscreen.

Next week there will be a post about ten new films due to arrive in 2013.

My Top 5 Spanish Films Seen in 2012

   As I've said previously, because I don't live in Spain I usually see Spanish films a year or so after their original release -when they arrive on DVD, or increasingly when they appear on Filmin: my criteria for the top 5 of the year is that they have to have been released in Spain in either 2011 or 2012. I've watched fewer films this year, not because of lack of choice but rather a lack of time; I've had to be a bit pickier about what I've spent my time on and have probably not watched as wide a variety as last year. You will see that there are films included below that I have not yet written about on the blog (including three of my top five) -I haven't written any blog posts since the end of October, but I have been watching films. I'll probably write a Random Viewing round-up post in January to cover those additional films (although the ones that made the top 5 should have their own standalone posts).
   Of my top five I have got two films level in top position - they are completely different beasts but I couldn't choose between them

My Top Five:

=1. De tu ventana a la mía / Chrysalis (Paula Ortíz, 2012)

Trailer (subtitled)

This film wasn't really on my radar until Paula Ortíz was nominated for 'Best New Director' at the Goyas earlier this year. Having seen it, I'm now surprised that it didn't garner more attention because it is a stunning directorial debut - 'stunning' in both its ambition (it interweaves three stories from different eras) and its appearance (it is easily the most beautiful film I've seen this year). The film tells the story of three women in three different eras: in 1923, Violeta (Leticia Dolera) in the mountains; in 1941, Inés (Maribel Verdú) in the arid countryside; in 1975, Luisa (Luisa Gavasa) in the city. Each strand of the story has a distinct look: a burnished gold for Inés; blue for Luisa; and somehow Violeta appears almost to be viewed through glass. The review in Caiman Cuadernos de Cine observed that a different film would have focussed on the men in the stories - these women exist at the margins of history, they are those left behind, but Ortíz suggests that their bravery is no less remarkable. Essentially these are tales of love, loss, and surviving with dignity. I hope to write a longer post about it in the future.

=1. No habrá paz para los malvados / No Rest for the Wicked (Enrique Urbizu, 2011)

Trailer (not subtitled)

I watched this back in February, mentioned it in my post about the Goya winners (it won Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor) and fully intended to write a proper piece on it, perhaps in relation to Urbizu's other thrillers, but then work got in the way. I rewatched it last week and it still stands up as an expertly-made thriller without an ounce of fat on it: everything matters and everything has a pay off. Likewise Urbizu and co-writer Michel Gaztambide refuse to spoon-feed or talk down to the audience - they expect you to pay attention and read between the lines without obvious signposts or a character spouting exposition to keep you up to speed. This is all the more true because the central performance (Jose Coronado) is largely wordless; Santos Trinidad is somewhere between a lone wolf and a shark (he must keep moving) and is uncommunicative to the point of surliness. Are we meant to root for him? Sympathies are not straightforward because his motives are murky and tied to self-interest and he really has no idea about what he has stepped in to. Again, I hope to write a longer post (it is formally an interesting film with many layers and doubling) in the New Year.

3. Diamond Flash (Carlos Vermut, 2012)

Trailer (subtitled)

I put off watching this one right until the last minute because the amount of hype around it made me think that I could only find it disappointing. A cult/underground hit in Spain, positive word-of-mouth started spreading in the summer when it debuted on Filmin (part of a prize it had won on the festival circuit -it has recently had a DVD release) and whipped up almost to the point of hysteria (it has been talked about as one of the most dazzling debuts in the history of Spanish cinema -although I now can't find the reference for that specific comment). It is a difficult film to describe - and is probably best viewed with as little information as possible because its impact is in its otherworldly strangeness - but reduced to a basic outline, it starts with the disappearance of a child and then incorporates the stories of five women (Eva Llorach, Victoria Radonic, Ángela Villar, Rocío León, Ángela Boix) whose lives connect with Diamond Flash (Miquel Insua), a mysterious masked man. It is something of a cliché to describe a decidedly non-mainstream film as Lynchian, but Lynch's Lost Highway is the closest comparison I can make to the experience of watching the film; it is unsettling because you genuinely do not know where you are being taken. I watched it on Filmin but will buy the DVD in the New Year so that I can rewatch it and attempt to write something more detailed.

4. Blackthorn (Mateo Gil, 2011)

Trailer (in English)

This was the first film mentioned on this blog (which is named after Gil's directorial debut), so it seems fitting that it finds a place here. You can read the standalone post I wrote about it here - I don't think I've got anything more to add to that assessment, so I'll just say that I hope it doesn't take Gil another twelve years until his next film. Oh, and it's available on DVD in the UK (it had a cinema release here).

5. Carmina o revienta (Paco León, 2012)

Trailer (no subtitles)

The third directorial debut in my top 5, and along with Diamond Flash a sign of change in the landscape of Spanish cinema -certainly in distribution patterns at the very least. Making the film with his own money, actor Paco León circumvented the restrictive distribution rules that come with public funds (namely a three-month window between theatrical and DVD releases) and harnessing the power of twitter went for a simultaneous multi-platform release that has paid dividends...and led to his memorable comment that his mother (his lead actress) had done more to combat film piracy in Spain than the Ley Sinde. But none of that would matter if the film was not up to quality -but it is. With his mother (Carmina Barrios) centre-stage as a force of nature, and his sister (María León) in support, León created a warm paean to (his) family.

Honourable mentions (in alphabetical order):

Arrugas / Wrinkles (Ignacio Ferreras, 2011), Elefante blanco / White Elephant (Pablo Trapero, 2012), Extraterrestre / Extraterrestrials (Nacho Vigalondo, 2012), Grupo 7 / Unit 7 (Alberto Rodríguez, 2012), Lobos de Arga / Attack of the Werewolves (Juan Martínez Moreno, 2012), Promoción fantasma / Ghost Graduation (Javier Ruíz Caldera, 2012).

Films from 2011* that I still need to track down:

Mientras duermes / Sleep Tight (dir. Jaume Balagueró), La voz dormida / The Sleeping Voice (dir. Benito Zambrano), Eva (dir. Kike Maíllo), Blog (dir. Elena Trapé), No tengas miedo / Don't Be Afraid (dir. Montxo Armendáriz), Cinco metros cuadrados / Five Square Metres (dir. Max Lemcke). [I've got 5 of the 6 on DVD, so I should manage to see them soon]. * 2012 films will form the basis of a separate post.

Films that don't fit the 2011/2012 criteria but that you should definitely see:

También la lluvia / Even the Rain (Iciar Bollaín, 2010), El sur / The South (Víctor Erice, 1983), Muerte de un ciclista / Death of a Cyclist (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1955), La torre de los siete jorobados / The Tower of the Seven Hunchbacks (Edgar Neville, 1944), Iberia (Carlos Saura, 2005), Pablo G. del Amo: un montador de ilusiones / Pablo G. del Amo: an editor of dreams (Diego Galán, 2006), El Productor / The Producer (Fernando Méndez-Leite, 2007).

Books of 2012:

The only book I wrote about this year was World Film Locations: Madrid, which gave bite-sized tasters of a wide range of films that utilise Madrid as a backdrop. In the second half of the year a few more Spanish cinema-related books have appeared: Manchester University Press released two more volumes in their Spanish and Latin American Filmmakers series with books on the work of Iciar Bollaín (by Isabel Santaolalla) and Alejandro Amenábar (by Barry Jordan); Wiley-Blackwell released A Companion to Spanish Cinema (edited by Jo Labanyi and Tatjana Pavlovic). At the more affordable end of the scale (that last book is an eye-watering £120), MUP released some of the earlier volumes in the series -including those on Álex de la Iglesia (by Peter Buse, Nuria Triana-Toribio and Andrew Willis) and Julio Medem (by Rob Stone)- in paperback for the reasonable price of £14.99. Hopefully the other volumes will receive the same treatment (the hardbacks are £65). I have managed to get the Bollaín book through the inter-library loan system and will attempt to do the same for the Amenábar and the Wiley-Blackwell volume in the New Year. There seem to be quite a lot of books on Spanish cinema due for release in 2013 and I'll take a look at them in a post in January.

The blog will be quiet now until January, when I will post my list of ‘Ten Spanish films from 2012 that I want to catch up with in 2013’, and ‘Ten Spanish films due to arrive in 2013’.

Feliz navidad!

[Untitled]

   I should probably never state how regularly I’m intending to post because I’m invariably proved wrong –‘life is what happens while you’re making plans’ and all that.
   I have watched a few films for the Random Viewing thread but have got ‘stuck’ on one in particular (I’m starting to think that I may just post an image from it and move on to the next one), which is why I haven’t posted anything for a few weeks, but I’ve also just generally been busier than I thought I would be this month.
   As I mentioned back in February, I finally had an ‘idea’ for a more academic piece of writing and was starting to research that. I then managed to get what ended up being an almost-six month secondment to a better job and had to put said idea to one side for the duration. In the past couple of weeks I’ve started to try and pick up the threads of where I was going with that idea, or at least trying to retrace my steps. I’ve also found a half-written piece (started around this time last year) on Javier Bardem which I’m currently trying to work out what to do with (and likewise trying to rediscover what my thoughts at the time were - the notes that I wrote as an aide-memoir at the end of where I’d got up to don’t make a great deal of sense to me now) –it might become one of my longer-style blog posts, or I might try to turn it into a conference paper. I think that these two things are probably going to be my focus for a while, so posting here will be a bit irregular for the rest of the year. I also need to get back into watching films for the sake of watching films –since September, when I said that my work commitments meant that my posting would increase again, I’ve felt a bit like I have to watch something in order to write about it here rather than just because I’d enjoy watching it. So I think that, rather contradictorily, I need to let my mind veg out a bit at the same time as focussing on a specific project and not darting from film to film so much.
So, in summary: I will be posting in the coming months but not in a regular pattern or great frequency. I’ll let you know when I start getting somewhere with my ‘project’ and I’ll still be checking in here and on twitter.

Grupo 7 / Unit 7 (Alberto Rodríguez, 2012)

   Grupo 7 takes place in Seville between 1987 and 1992 when the city was being cleared of 'undesirables' in the run up to playing host to Expo 92. We follow one of the police units charged with running the drug dealers out of town and removing drugs from the streets, a unit that already has a reputation for violence at the point at which we join the story. I included the film in my post about 10 Spanish films I was looking forward to in 2012, and said that it was a possible Spanish Training Day (I'd seen that film mentioned in relation to it). But actually although the initial set-up -a new officer, Ángel (Mario Casas), joins a team headed by a dominant and violent alpha male (Rafael -Antonio de la Torre, excellent as ever) who is unafraid to get violent to get results- points to a typical 'rookie officer faces trial by fire and conflicting loyalties but eventually proves his moral worth'-type narrative, this film flips that because Ángel arguably turns out to be the worst of the bunch. 

   He takes readily to the violence but he is also willing to go beyond 'stretching the rules' to 'breaking the law' in a way that initially stuns the other men. Arguably the lengths that he will go to, and his lack of emotional engagement with the people whose lives he places in danger -not only his wife (Inma Cuesta) but also informant Joaquin (Julian Villagran) and the team's criminal accomplice, La Caoba ('Mahogany') (Estefania de los Santos, who walks a tightrope between nerviness and brash bravado in her scenes)- remain problematic for the other members of the team (Rafael, Mateo (Joaquín Núñez), and Miguel (José Manuel Poga)). For me, Ángel is the weak point of the film (although that's not a criticism of Casas's performance -he does what is required of him) because although he is initially the audience's route into the narrative, I don't think we really get an explanation for his behaviour or a clear idea of his motives (is it boy-scoutery taken to dangerous extremes, is it the money, a desire to impress, or something else?). In contrast, Rafael emerges as a character with hidden depths and an emotional basis for his behaviour (and he also develops as a character as the film progresses), quite different to the stereotypical 'brutal cop' he appears to be in the opening scenes.

   This is a well-made and slick action film / thriller with an array of interesting characters and a narrative that hooks you from the outset and doesn't let go for the duration. It is a sign of the film's quality that it has been shortlisted (alongside Blancanieves / Snow White (Pablo Berger, 2012) and El artista y la modelo / The Artist and the Model (Fernando Trueba, 2012)) to represent Spain at the Oscars. I'd like to revisit in the future when I've had the chance to rewatch it and listen to the audio commentary (Antonio de la Torre and director Alberto Rodríguez), possibly to consider it in the context of style and/or genre. 

Facelift

   As you can see, I've had a bit of a redesign of the blog. It's purely cosmetic; everything is still in the same place and with the same layout. I just fancied a bit of a change. I'm not sure about having the sidebar partly transparent, but I'm going to leave it for a while and see how I get used to it.
   I've now got some time off work before going back to my normal contract, so let the film watching begin! It'll probably be another week before I start posting properly again but over the next few weeks I should be able to get back into a routine with my viewing and posting.

Not-Entirely-Random Viewing: Carlos Saura edition

Clockwise from top left: Sevillanas (1992), Flamenco (1995),  Iberia (2005), Fados (2007).

    I mentioned a few posts back that I'm considering doing another month-long project on a Spanish filmmaker, in the way that I did 'Almodóvar Month' last August. Saura is the filmmaker I'm considering writing about, mainly because I've realised that I've seen surprisingly few of his films. Is say 'surprisingly' because of the longevity of his career (he directed his first feature, Los golfos / The Delinquents, in 1960 and has now directed more than forty or so films to date), a number of his films are considered key works in Spanish cinema (most notably La caza / The Hunt (1966) and Cría cuervos / Raise Ravens (1976)), and also because he is one of the few Spanish directors whose name has some sort of cachet outside of Spain. Despite the fact that a lot of his films were reissued on DVD only a few years ago, they are now difficult to come by and a significant number are simply unavailable (strangely (to my mind, at least) this includes two films he made with Antonio Banderas). Looking at the availability of DVDs and titles that are currently supported by VOD platforms (quite a few of Saura's films are available at Filmotech), I think I can get access to around 26 of his films -I am slowly acquiring the DVDs that are available at a reasonable price (I recently broke my own rule about how much one should pay for a DVD and ended up getting burnt by what appears to be a counterfeit in the process -lesson learned), so we'll see how I go. His films will probably continue to appear in the Random Viewing thread until I make up my mind as to whether or not to make a project of it or not -I may hold off and do some sort of retrospective when his next film, 33 días / 33 Days (about Picasso (Antonio Banderas) and the painting of Guernica), gets released. The number of his films that revolve around music and dance is also a bit off-putting for me, given how little I know about those elements. But they are integral to his career as a filmmaker, so I'll have to give that some thought as well.
Ordinarily, if I'm planning some sort of retrospective, I work through the films chronologically. But while looking for trailers of the films (to give me some sort of idea of them) on youtube, I discovered that Sevillanas (1992) and Flamenco (1995) were on there in their entirety; as they're both currently OOP, I decided to watch them first before they disappeared. Iberia (2005) is available at Filmin and I bought Fados (2007) on DVD from amazon.es. Having watched Flamenco Flamenco (2010) last year I knew what to expect in terms of format, but one can also see a progression in terms of filming style across these four films.
    Although each varies in emphasis in terms of the balance between dance and song / music, performance is centre stage; there is no 'narrative' as such in these films, but rather a series of performances that hang together as a cohesive whole due to their shared roots. All four films take place in cavernous, warehouse-like spaces that are divided up with screens and mirrors. The screens change between being opaque and transparent, either through use of lighting or the projection of images, creating a play of shadows and / or silhouettes, light and colour, or sometimes a trompe l'oeil effect, depending on the atmosphere required by the particular performance being showcased (the trailers for Iberia and Fados show this more clearly than I am able to describe). When the projection of images onto the screens include the dancers actually performing in the sequence, a kaleidoscope-like effect of duplication and mirroring takes place, often disappearing into infinity on the screen. Likewise, there are also some The Lady from Shanghai-esque effects using the mirrors. Obviously sound is also important but I feel under-qualified to discuss that side of it -although it is a shame that the soundtracks don't seem to be readily available here as some of the music is of a goosebump-inducing quality. In Flamenco Flamenco Saura names the performers (and the title of the song / performance) in a subtitle at the start of each sequence, but in these earlier films we just get the titles -although I recognised some of the names in the opening credits, I generally had to wait until the closing credits to work out who sang / danced what.
I don't really have anything else to say about these films at the moment, but if I take on the project, I'll revisit them (and do some research).

   The blog will be quiet for the next couple of weeks, but once we get into September my work situation will revert back to what it was this time last year and I should be able to start posting more regularly again and with a bit more variety in content.

Post no.100: Nadie conoce a nadie / Nobody Knows Anybody (Mateo Gil, 1999)

    So I thought it about time (what with this being my 100th post) that I take a look at the film that gives this blog its name [I have kept it as spoiler-free as possible]. As will be apparent (through previous posts), my area of research has been star studies, specifically contemporary Spanish stardom and how interactions that actors / stars have with the national (i.e. concepts of ‘Spanishness’) change over time. I had four case studies that examined the careers of actors who started working in cinema at different points in the fifteen-year period I was looking at; this made it possible to track gradual changes undergone by Spanish stardom in terms of the form and content of star images in relation to the national. That is the prism through which I first saw Nadie conoce a nadie / Nobody Knows Anybody (Mateo Gil, 1999): as a piece of the puzzle in considering these issues in relation to the career of Eduardo Noriega. In relation to the people I took as case studies, Noriega emerged in the mid-1990s when the stardom of Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz was still in ascension, and Paz Vega (the fourth of my case studies) had yet to appear. He therefore overlaps two distinct ‘groups’ (I’m deliberately avoiding the word ‘generation’) of Spanish stars from the contemporary period: that of Bardem, Cruz and Jordi Mollà, and that of Vega and the El otro lado de la cama (Emilio Martínez-Lázaro, 2002) gang, and arguably that is manifested in how his stardom and his interactions with the national share different traits with both groups. The Spanish press has constructed a star narrative for Noriega that aligns him with an illustrious predecessor, by seizing on the fact that he is from Santander and travelled to Madrid to study acting in 1992 (the key is that he is not madrileño); several profiles draw parallels between the malagueño Antonio Banderas going to Madrid and becoming a ‘chico Almodóvar’ in the 1980s and the santanderino Noriega going to Madrid and becoming a ‘chico Amenábar’ in the 1990s (Díaz-Cano 1999:16). 

Another Book Added

Torres Hortelano, L. J. (ed) (2012) - World Film Locations: Madrid, Bristol: Intellect Books. ISBN: 9781841505688.

'When a book on cinema is launched, the first thing that one might try to do is figure out exactly what type of book it is. The book may be aimed at cinephiles, academic scholars or even those who just love to talk about movies. The World Film Locations series does not fit comfortably into any of those categories. What readers will find are the myths and the facts that explain what cinema is today through the representation of the city. We can see what remains today from the early twentieth up to the twenty-first century, and also what cinema has become. Movies are one of the most powerful cultural means of expression and catalyst for society. This series focuses on the representation of an area that was born alongside cinema: the city.' (p.5)

   Part cinematic appreciation, part travel guide, this book is effectively a love letter to Madrid and its various onscreen incarnations. It brings together seven bite-sized essays on various aspects of Madrid's representation(s) on film with an examination of forty-four scenes from different films. The introduction states that the 'criterion for the selection of films is not so much the length of footage that is dedicated to the city [...] but the importance of the scenarios, buildings or monuments in the narrative of the film, as well as the intrinsic role of the city of Madrid to the film as a whole' (p.5). The scenes are arranged throughout the book in chronological order (dating from 1912 to 2009), so we get a sense of change over time not just in terms of how the city has been utilised onscreen but also how the city itself has evolved. Each 'set' of scenes includes a map with the locations marked on it, and the two pages that each film receives include stills from the scene in question as well as photographs of the locations as they are today. The discussion of each scene is only a paragraph long but that's enough in most cases to give you a taste of the film and how the scene and its use of the city fit within the film overall. Having felt that Intellect's Directory of World Cinema: Spain was a bit light on a particular high-profile director, I was pleased to see that several of his films appear in this volume: a consideration of Madrid as a cinematic city would be seriously lacking if it did not give Pedro Almodóvar a certain prominence. But there are a range of films and directors included, including non-Spanish films that have sequences set in Madrid. Overall, I felt that the bite-sized essays take some interesting angles on the book's theme, and the scene discussions serve as a good taster for the films (there are certainly some that I haven't seen, but will now try to track down). Recommended.
I will add the title to the Books on Spanish Cinema, Part Two post. The list of contents (including film titles) is below.

Introduction
Madrid: City of the Imagination -Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano
Scenes 1-8 (1912-1951):

Asesinato y entierro de Don José de Canalejas / The Assassination and Burial of Don José de Canalejas (Enrique Blanco and Adelardo Fernández Arias, 1912), El sexto sentido / The Sixth Sense (Nemesio Sobrevilla, 1929), La verbena de la paloma / Fair of the Dove (Benito Perojo, 1935), La torre de los siete jorobados / Tower of the Seven Hunchbacks (Edgar Neville, 1943), Domingo de carnaval / Sunday Carnival (Edgar Neville, 1945), Siempre vuelven de madrugada / They Always Come at Dawn (Jerónimo Mihura, 1948), El último caballo / The Last Horse (Edgar Neville, 1950), Surcos / Furrows (José Antonio Nieves Conde, 1951).

Madrid in Motion: Squares, Corralas, Markets, Verbenas -José Luis Castro de Paz and José Ramón Garitaonaindía de Vera
Scenes 9-16 (1955-1965):

Muerte de un ciclista / Death of a Cyclist (Juan Antonio Bardem, 1955), El inquilino / The Tenant (José Antonio Nieves Conde, 1957), El pisito / The Little Apartment (Marco Ferreri, 1958), El cochecito / The Little Car (Marco Ferreri, 1960), The Happy Thieves (George Marshall, 1961), La gran familia / The Great Family (Fernando Palacios, 1962), El mundo sigue / Life Goes On (Fernando Fernán-Gómez, 1963), Chimes at Midnight (Orson Welles, 1965).

Iván Zulueta: Films of Madrid's Underground -Steven Marsh
Scenes 17-24 (1967-1984):

La busca / The Search (Angelino Fons, 1967), Cría cuervos / Raise Ravens (Carlos Saura, 1976), Elisa, vida mía / Elisa, My Life (Carlos Saura, 1977), Ese oscuro objeto de deseo / That Obscure Object of Desire (Luis Buñuel, 1977), Asignatura pendiente / Unfinished Business (José Luis Garci, 1977), Maravillas (Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, 1980), Las bicicletas son para el verano / Bicycles Are For the Summer (Jaime Chávarri, 1984), ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!! / What Have I Done to Deserve This? (Pedro Almodóvar, 1984).

Embracing Normalcy: Madrid Gay Cinema at the Turn of the New Millennium -Helio San Miguel
Scenes 25-32 (1987-1997):

La ley del deso / Law of Desire (Pedro Almodóvar, 1987), Siesta (Mary Lambert, 1987), ¡Atame! / Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (Pedro Almodóvar, 1990), El día de la bestia / Day of the Beast (Álex de la Iglesia, 1995), La flor de mi secreto / The Flower of My Secret (Pedro Almodóvar, 1995), Nadie hablará de nosotras cuando hayamos muerto / Nobody Will Speak of Us When We Are Dead (Agustín Díaz Yanes, 1995), Tesis / Thesis (Alejandro Amenábar, 1996), Barrio / Neighbourhood (Fernando León de Aranoa, 1997).

Madrid: Unexpected Dream Factory -Helio San Miguel
Scenes 33-38 (1997-2002):

La buena estrella / Lucky Star (Ricardo Franco, 1997), Abre los ojos / Open Your Eyes (Alejandro Amenábar, 1997), Segunda piel / Second Skin (Gerardo Vera, 1999), El corazón del guerrero / Heart of the Warrior (Daniel Monzón, 2000), Lucía y el sexo / Sex and Lucía (Julio Medem, 2000), Hable con ella / Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002).

Beyond the Cliché: Madrid in Twenty-First Century American Thrillers -John D Sanderson
Scenes 39-44 (2003-2009):

Noviembre / November (Achero Mañas, 2003), Camarón (Jaime Chávarri, 2005), The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass, 2007), Deception (Marcel Langenegger, 2008), Los abrazos rotos / Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodóvar, 2009), The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch, 2009).

Bright Young Things: Neo-existentialism in Madrid Cinema of the 1990s -Rafael Gómez Alonso
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