(Re)viewing Creative, Critical and Commercial Practices in Contemporary Spanish Cinema

319 pages

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(Re)viewing Creative, Critical and Commercial Practices in Contemporary Spanish Cinema , livre ebook

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319 pages

English

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A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Formulated around a number of key thematic concerns – including new creative trends; the politics and practices of memory; auteurship, genre and stardom in a transnational age – this reassessment of contemporary Spanish cinema from 1992 to 2012 brings leading academics from a broad range of disciplinary and geographical backgrounds into dialogue with critically and commercially successful practitioners to suggest the need to redefine the parameters of one of the world’s most creative national cinemas. This volume will appeal not only to students and scholars of Spanish films, but also to anyone with an interest in contemporary world cinema.

Editorial Note

Chapter 1: Introduction: How and Why This Book Came into Being – Fernando Canet and Duncan Wheeler

Chapter 2: Spanish Films, 1992–2012: Two Decades of Cinematic Production and Critical Discourse – Duncan Wheeler

Chapter 3: From the Past to the Present: Contemporising Trends that Define Spanish Cinema – Fernando Canet

Part 1: Sense and Sensibility: New Forms of Being and Seeing in Recent Spanish Cinema

Chapter 4: Back to Africa? Colonial History and Postcolonial Dynamics in Recent Spanish Cinema – Alberto Elena

Chapter 5: The New Ethos of Gay Culture and the Limits of Normalization – Helio San Miguel

Chapter 6: Behind the Enigma Construct: A Certain Trend in Spanish Cinema – Javier Moral

Chapter 7: Reproduction and Rhetorical Processes in the Construction of Reality: En Construcción and La leyenda del tiempo as Case Studies – Fernando Canet

Chapter 8: Art and Ethnography: Miquel Barceló and Isaki Lacuesta – Earth Magicians? – Wenceslao García Puchades and Miguel Corella Lacasa

Chapter 9: The Everyday Affect: Isabel Coixet and the Five Senses – Jennie Rothwell

Part 2: Revisiting the Past: The Politics of Memory and the Transition’s Cinematic Legacy

Chapter 10: Ana Torrent as Palimpsest in Elio Quiroga’s No-Do (The Haunting) – Sarah Wright

Chapter 11: Victimhood in Contemporary Spanish Documentary: The Politics of Agency in Jaime Camino’s La vieja memoria and Los niños de Rusia – Isabel Estrada and Melissa M. González

Chapter 12: New Bodies, New Sounds: Rediscovering the Eroticism of the Transition – Alejandro Melero

Chapter 13: Blood and Unfulfilled Promises: Representations of Terrorism and the Transition – Concepción Cascajosa Virino

Chapter 14: Back to the Future: Repackaging Spain’s Troublesome Past for Local and Global Audiences – Duncan Wheeler

Chapter 15: Clowns, Goats, Music and the Comedic Violent: Late Francoism and the Transition to Democracy in Álex de la Iglesia’s Films – Vicente Rodríguez Ortega

Part 3: Redefining Auteurship, Genre and Stardom in a Transnational Age

Chapter 16: Almodóvar in the USA/The USA in Almodóvar – Cristina Martínez-Carazo

Chapter 17: Acting and Directing in Spain: Historicizing Stardom and the Author Function – Duncan Wheeler

Chapter 18: Sex, Art and Commerce: Penélope Cruz and Isabel Coixet Tackle Philip Roth in Elegy – Duncan Wheeler

Chapter 19: Deadly Hybridity: Sexykiller, the Female Serial Killer and the New Spanish Horror Film – Shelagh Rowan-Legg

Chapter 20: Flexing Generic Boundaries: Torrente, [REC] and Adolescent Cinema in Spain – Agustín Rico-Albero

Chapter 21: The Torrente Tetralogy: A Homegrown Saga – Lidia Merás

Chapter 22: Hybrid Models: Auteurism and Genre in Contemporary Spanish Crime Thrillers – Carmen Herrero

Chapter 23: Planet 51 and Spanish Animation: The Risks and Attractions of Globalization – Maria Soler Campillo, Marta Martín Núñez and Javier Marzal Felici

Coda: Backstage Pass – Engaging with Practitioners and Cinematic Institutions

Chapter 24: How to Make Arty Films Now – Luis Miñarro

Chapter 25: How to Make Commercial Films Now – Mercedes Gamero and Duncan Wheeler

Chapter 26: San Sebastián: A Film Festival of Contrasts – Mar Diestro-Dópido

Chapter 27: The Art Director as Architect: The Reconstruction of Deconstructed Memories – Sandra Martorell

Chapter 28: The Films of Isaki Lacuesta: Hidden Portraits, Multiple Lives – Linda C. Ehrlich

Chapter 29: Color perro que huye: An Audio-visual Prosumer versus the Institutional Cinematic Model – Elena López Riera

Chapter 30: New Tendencies in Contemporary Cinema: Round Table Discussion with José Luis Guerin, Isaki Lacuesta and Luis Miñarro – Fernando Canet and Duncan Wheeler

Sujets

Literary Criticism

Película fotográfica

General officer

Television

Spanish

Cinema

General

Drama

Radio

Film

Informations

Publié par	Intellect Books
Date de parution	01 décembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	3
EAN13	9781783204083
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,4150€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

First published in the UK in 2014 by
Intellect, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 3JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2014 by
Intellect, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th Street,
Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Copyright © 2014 Intellect Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the
British Library.
Cover designer: Stephanie Sarlos
Cover image: From La mosquitera/The Mosquito Net (Vila, 2010) courtesy of Luis Miñarro (copyright Eddie Saeta)
Copy-editor: Lisa Cordaro
Production manager: Claire Organ
Typesetting: Contentra Technologies
Print ISBN: 978-1-78320-406-9
ePDF ISBN: 978-1-78320-407-6
ePub ISBN: 978-1-78320-408-3
Printed and bound by TJ International, UK
In Memoriam Alberto Elena (1958-2014)
Contents
Acknowledgements
Editorial Note
Chapter 1: Introduction: How and Why This Book Came into Being
Fernando Canet and Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 2: Spanish Films, 1992–2012: Two Decades of Cinematic Production and Critical Discourse
Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 3: From the Past to the Present: Contemporising Trends that Define Spanish Cinema
Fernando Canet
Part 1: Sense and Sensibility: New Forms of Being and Seeing in Recent Spanish Cinema
Section introduction by Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 4: Back to Africa? Colonial History and Postcolonial Dynamics in Recent Spanish Cinema
Alberto Elena
Chapter 5: The New Ethos of Gay Culture and the Limits of Normalization
Helio San Miguel
Chapter 6: Behind the Enigma Construct: A Certain Trend in Spanish Cinema
Javier Moral
Chapter 7: Reproduction and Rhetorical Processes in the Construction of Reality: En Construcción and La leyenda del tiempo as Case Studies
Fernando Canet
Chapter 8: Art and Ethnography: Miquel Barceló and Isaki Lacuesta – Earth Magicians?
Wenceslao García Puchades and Miguel Corella Lacasa
Chapter 9: The Everyday Affect: Isabel Coixet and the Five Senses
Jennie Rothwell
Part 2: Revisiting the Past: The Politics of Memory and the Transition’s Cinematic Legacy
Section introduction by Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 10: Ana Torrent as Palimpsest in Elio Quiroga’s No-Do ( The Haunting )
Sarah Wright
Chapter 11: Victimhood in Contemporary Spanish Documentary: The Politics of Agency in Jaime Camino’s La vieja memoria and Los niños de Rusia
Isabel Estrada and Melissa M. González
Chapter 12: New Bodies, New Sounds: Rediscovering the Eroticism of the Transition
Alejandro Melero
Chapter 13: Blood and Unfulfilled Promises: Representations of Terrorism and the Transition
Concepción Cascajosa Virino
Chapter 14: Back to the Future: Repackaging Spain’s Troublesome Past for Local and Global Audiences
Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 15: Clowns, Goats, Music and the Comedic Violent: Late Francoism and the Transition to Democracy in Álex de la Iglesia’s Films
Vicente Rodríguez Ortega
Part 3: Redefining Auteurship, Genre and Stardom in a Transnational Age
Section introduction by Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 16: Almodóvar in the USA/The USA in Almodóvar
Cristina Martínez-Carazo
Chapter 17: Acting and Directing in Spain: Historicizing Stardom and the Author Function
Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 18: Sex, Art and Commerce: Penélope Cruz and Isabel Coixet Tackle Philip Roth in Elegy
Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 19: Deadly Hybridity: Sexykiller , the Female Serial Killer and the New Spanish Horror Film
Shelagh Rowan-Legg
Chapter 20: Flexing Generic Boundaries: Torrente , [REC] and Adolescent Cinema in Spain
Agustín Rico-Albero
Chapter 21: The Torrente Tetralogy: A Homegrown Saga
Lidia Merás
Chapter 22: Hybrid Models: Auteurism and Genre in Contemporary Spanish Crime Thrillers
Carmen Herrero
Chapter 23: Planet 51 and Spanish Animation: The Risks and Attractions of Globalization
Maria Soler Campillo, Marta Martín Núñez and Javier Marzal Felici
Coda: Backstage Pass – Engaging with Practitioners and Cinematic Institutions
Chapter 24: How to Make Arty Films Now
Luis Miñarro
Chapter 25: How to Make Commercial Films Now
Mercedes Gamero and Duncan Wheeler
Chapter 26: San Sebastián: A Film Festival of Contrasts
Mar Diestro-Dópido
Chapter 27: The Art Director as Architect: The Reconstruction of Deconstructed Memories
Sandra Martorell
Chapter 28: The Films of Isaki Lacuesta: Hidden Portraits, Multiple Lives
Linda C. Ehrlich
Chapter 29: Color perro que huye: An Audio-visual Prosumer versus the Institutional Cinematic Model
Elena López Riera
Chapter 30: New Tendencies in Contemporary Cinema: Round Table Discussion with José Luis Guerin, Isaki Lacuesta and Luis Miñarro
Fernando Canet and Duncan Wheeler
Notes on Contributors
Index
Acknowledgements
This book has been published with the support of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the Institut Ramon Llull and with the help of the research project ‘Study and Analysis for Development of Research Network on Film Studies through Web 2.0 platforms’, financed by the National R + D + i Plan of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the period 2011–13 (HAR2010-18648), under the direction of Fernando Canet. Duncan Wheeler’s participation was facilitated by a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowship. He would like to thank his colleagues in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Leeds for their support.
The editors are very grateful to the contributors who make this volume what it is, and especially to the following practitioners who selflessly took time out of their invariably busy schedules to participate: Mercedes Gamero, José Luís Guerin, Edou Hydallgo, Isaki Lacuesta, Luís Miñarro, Felix Murcia and Josep Rosell.
Editorial Note
All translations are the contributors’ own unless otherwise noted. Film titles are given in Spanish and English when first referenced in individual chapters; all subsequent references are in Spanish alone. The only exception is in cases such as Volver (Almodóvar, 2006), where the film was internationally distributed using the Spanish title, or on those occasions where there was no distribution title in English.
Chapter 1
Introduction: How and Why this Book Came into Being
Fernando Canet and Duncan Wheeler
The problem of the critic, as of the artist, is not to discount his subjectivity, but to include it; not to overcome it in agreement, but to master it in exemplary ways.
(Cavell, 1976: 94)
A lthough there is a certain arbitrariness in all attempts at chronological division, there are clearly key moments in which, as a result of broader socio-historical factors and/or aesthetic developments, national cinemas appear to undergo serious transformation. In the case of Spain, this has been inextricably linked with changes in political mood or power: therefore, it is customary to refer to its cinema in terms of the period in which it was produced, be that during the Second Republic, the Spanish Civil War or the dictatorship. Even those films produced in the late 1970s and 1980s tended to be viewed and written about in terms of the nascent democracy; hence, a film-maker as ostensibly apolitical as Pedro Almodóvar was often interpreted (especially abroad) in relation to Franco’s death and the dictatorship’s demise. If 1992 was the year in which, through a series of emblematic events – the Barcelona Olympics, the Expo in Seville, Madrid being named City of Culture – Spain announced its democratic credentials to the world, then it also marked the final point at which its cinematic output could be plausibly classified in relation to its sociopolitical Transition.
If, for example, we take even a fleeting glance at the film whose image graces the front cover of this volume – La mosquitera/The Mosquito Net (Vila, 2010) – the need to extend our artillery of heuristic tools and the parameters of what is commonly understood by Spanish cinema become apparent. In a twenty-first century continuation of Spain’s rich surrealist tradition, this depiction of a dysfunctional upper-middle-class family is an artfully constructed, psychologically acute and engaging black comedy; nevertheless, it trades in the kind of bourgeois angst more habitually associated with French cinema and whose manifestation in modern-day Barcelona is a symptom, for better or worse, of Spain’s economic and social normalization in relation to its European neighbours. Although the film’s producer, the prolific Luis Miñarro has, to borrow a phrase from Paul Julian Smith (2011: 184), ‘midwifed much of the new Catalan art cinema’, La mosquitera is fairly conventional in many respects: made with television funding, it has a pace redolent of commercial cinema and stars Emma Suárez, a figure familiar to Spanish television and cinema audiences, who first made her name as an adolescent sex symbol in the 1980s. While a few years previously these ingredients would have virtually guaranteed box office success, La mosquitera delivered only a modest financial return, but it was very well received at a number of international film festivals which constitute a circuit on which much Spanish cinema is increasingly reliant, implicating even ostensibly national films such as this within a matrix of transnational economic and aesthetic exchanges.
The primary aim of this edited volume is to provide a self-reflective and interventionist form of academic criticism which combines aesthetic appraisal with a (re)consideration of the creative, commercial and critical imperatives that inform and underpin the viewing and reviewing of contemporary Spanish films. It makes no claim to be exhaustive or even necessarily representative; there are already numerous excellent companions and guides to the history of Spanish cinema available, many of which will be cited in different chapters. At a time when the entire notion