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- 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
The current crop of Spanish directors
Despite the attention dished out to Almodóvar, there
is much more to Spanish cinema than themovida’s
favoured son. New directors surface regularly. Alejandro
Amenábar has made a splash in recent years with films
likeMar adentro(2004) – Javier Bardem’s turn as a
quadriplegic fighting to end
his own life isn’t as soul
sapping as it might sound.
Like Amenábar, Isabel
Coixtet has enjoyed success
with both Spanish and
English language films.
InThe Secret Life of Words
(2005), produced by
Almodóvar, she charts love
between a burns victim and
a refugee of the Balkan wars.
Santiago Segura is less
subtle but no less popular at
the box office. His balding,
ineptTorrente, a retired
Francoist cop who seems unable to let the job go, has
made it through three eponymous films so far.Torrente
is played by Segura himself. Julio Medem, another
consistently successful director, gave Spain something
more erotic withLucía y el sexo(2001), all blindfolds
and skinny dips on a mysterious island. Punters and
critics alike approved. However, for critical and popular
success, none of the above has matchedEl Laberinto
del Fauno(2006), a Spanish film directed by Mexican
Guillermo delToro. Known to most asPan’s Labyrinth,
the story of a girl escaping post-Civil War grief via a
magical underworld scooped three Oscars.
English lessons
with Alejandro
Alejandro Amenábar’s
Abre los ojos(1997), a
sci-fi of sorts about a
young man disfigured in
an accident, was remade
in Hollywood asVanilla
Sky(2001). Both versions
featured Penélope Cruz
in the same role. In 2001,
another Amenábar effort,
The Others, a spine-
chiller starring Nicole
Kidman, won eight
Goyas, including Best
Film and Best Director,
despite being filmed
entirely in English.
A question of faith
While praise has been
heaped on Almodóvar on
the international stage,
his reception in Spain,
where all of his films
have been made, hasn’t
been consistently
positive. Many love him;
others, especially (and
unsurprisingly) within the
Catholic Church and the
film establishment, find
his work irreverent and
frivolous.
The Best Actress
award at the 2006
Cannes Film Festival was
awarded collectively to
the female cast of Pedro
Almodóvar’sVolver.
