Spanish Cinema

In recent years, the Spanish film industry has achieved great recognition as a result of its technical and creative excellence. The first director to achieve universal recognition, in the long history of Spanish cinema, was Luis Buñuel, followed by Pedro Almodóvar in the 1980s. Spanish cinema has also seen international success over the years with films by directors like Segundo de Chomón, Juan Antonio Bardem, Florián Rey, Luis García Berlanga, Julio Médem, Carlos Saura and Alejandro Amenábar.

Woody Allen, upon receiving the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award in 2002 in Oviedo remarked:

“when I left New York, the most exciting film in the city at the time was Spanish, Pedro Almodovar’s one. I hope that Europeans will continue to lead the way in film making because at the moment not much is coming from the United States.”

Actors, Screen Writers and Cast

Non-directors have also attained international notability like the cinematographer Néstor Almendros, the Art director Gil Parrondo, the screenwriter Rafael Azcona, the actresses Maribel Verdú and, especially, Penélope Cruz. Other actors including Fernando Rey, Francisco Rabal, Antonio Banderas, Javier Bardem and Fernando Fernán Gómez have obtained significant recognition outside Spain. Twelve Spanish films or co-productions are represented in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, namely All About My Mother, Chimes at Midnight, City of God, Cría cuervos, Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan, The Spirit of the Beehive, Open Your Eyes, Pan’s Labyrinth, Talk to Her, Tristana, Viridiana and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Today, 10-20% of box office receipts in Spain are generated by domestic films, a situation that repeats itself in many nations of Europe and the Americas. The government of Spain has therefore implemented measures aimed at supporting local film production and cinemas, which include the assurance of funding from the main national TV stations. The trend is being reversed with the recent screening of productions such as the €30 million film Alatriste (starring Viggo Mortensen), the Academy Award winning Spanish/Mexican film Pan’s Labyrinth (starring Maribel Verdú), Volver (starring Penélope Cruz and Carmen Maura), and Los Borgia (starring Paz Vega), all of them sold-out blockbusters in Spain.

English Language Spanish Films

Another aspect of Spanish cinema relatively unknown to the general public is the appearance of English-language, Spanish films such as The Machinist (starring Christian Bale), The Others (starring Nicole Kidman), and Milos Forman’s Goya’s Ghosts (starring Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman). All of these films were produced by Spanish film companies with international casting. This attests to the dynamism and creativity of Spanish directors and producers.

The Civil War and Francisco Franco Regime

Cerca 1936, both sides of the Civil War began using Spanish cinema as a means of propaganda. A classic example of this is Luis Buñuel’s España (1936), which also contains a lot of rare newsreel footage. The pro-Franco side founded the National Department of Cinematography, causing many actors to go into exile.

The Franco regime began to impose obligatory dubbing to highlight directors such as Ignacio F. Iquino, Rafael Gil (Huella de luz (1941)), Juan de Orduña (Locura de amor (1948)), Antonio Román (Los últimos de Filipinas), José Luis Sáenz de Heredia (Raza (film)) (1942)) with scripts of Franco’s and Edgar Neville’s. Cifesa produced Ella, él y sus millones as well as Fedra (1956), by Manuel Mur Oti.

For its part, Marcelino pan y vino (Marcelino, Bread and Wine) (1955) from Ladislao Vajda would trigger a trend of child actors, such as those who would become the protagonists of “Joselito,” “Marisol,” “Rocío Durcal” or “Pili y Mili.”

Finally, in the 1950s, the influence of Neorealism became evident in the works of new directors such as Antonio del Amo, Antonio Nieves Conde’s masterpiece Surcos, Juan Antonio Bardem’s (Muerte de un ciclista and Calle mayor), and Luis García Berlanga (Bienvenido Mister Marshall, Plácido).

Juan de Orduña would later have an enormous commercial hit with El Último Cuplé (The Final Variety Song) (1957), with leading actress Sara Montiel.

Buñuel sporadically returned to Spain to film the shocking Viridiana (1961) and Tristana (1970), two of his best films.