228- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Let the good times roll
TheTransición’smix of national soul searching and
destapefilms had evolved into something more
digestible by the 1990s as directors turned their lenses
toward issues of personal identity. In general, Spanish
cinema has impressed ever since. In particular, a batch
of early 90s films came to the fore and grabbed
international attention. Vicente Aranda showed how
comfortable Spain now was with its sexuality in
Amantes(1991), the story of a Madrileño seductress
played by Victoria Abril. Bigas Luna did much the same
withJamón Jamón(1992), an unlikely but engaging
blend of comedy, tragedy, ham and sex. A teenage
Penélope Cruz was its focus of desire. Luna, also a
designer and painter, quickly expanded his unabashed
repertoire withHuevos de oro(1993) andLaTeta y la
Luna(1994), delving into the machismo of the Spanish
male. A third groundbreaker, FernandoTrueba’sBelle
Epoque(1992), did most to alert foreign audiences to
the merits of contemporary Spanish cinema; the period
piece (that period being the Second Republic) about
four sisters and one lucky man won an Oscar for Best
Foreign Film. Significant directors and films kept coming
over the following decade. Among them Álex de la
Iglesia impressed with his debut,Acción Mutante
(1993), and has attracted audiences with a wild mix of
humour, sci-fi and horror ever since.“ACTING IS THE
WORK OF TWO
PEOPLE – IT’S ONLY
POSSIBLE WHEN
YOU HAVE THE
COMPLICITY, THE
HELP, EVEN THE
MANIPULATION OF
ADIRECTOR.”
Victoria Abril