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Spain (Un)Censored
October 17–November 5, 2007
Spanish cinema flourished during General Francisco Franco's regime (1939–75) despite the dictatorship. Provoked by the system they lived under, Spanish directors told stories about the people's hopes and troubles by using humor and symbols that reached their audiences and sidestepped the censors. This unique exhibition explores an era that fought for freedom through cinema.
Other events include a book-release reception for Breaking the Code: Daring Films that Mocked the Repression in Spain at the Instituto Cervantes at Amster Yard on October 18.
Death of a Cyclist. 1955. Spain. Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem
Muerte de un Ciclista (Death of a Cyclist). 1955. Spain. Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem. With Alberto Closas, Lucía Bosé. Bardem's most celebrated solo effort concerns a university professor and his well-connected mistress, who strike a bicyclist while out driving. To hide their affair, they leave the man to die. This choice destroys their lives and epitomizes the shallowness of their upper-class lifestyle. The contrast between Madrid's rich and poor districts is well captured, but censorship forced Bardem to punish the adulterous woman in a melodramatic ending. New print. In Spanish; English subtitles. 84 min.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Opening remarks by exhibition participants)
Sunday, October 28, 2007, 2:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Welcome Mister Marshall!. 1952. Spain. Directed by Luis García Berlanga
¡Bienvenido Mister Marshall! (Welcome Mister Marshall!). 1952. Spain. Directed by Luis García Berlanga. With José Isbert, Lolita Sevilla. The run-down Castilian village of Villar del Río rouses itself from slumber at the news that Americans representing the Marshall Plan are due to visit. The mayor, eager to snare a hefty slice of economic aid, prepares to welcome "Mr. Marshall" with toasts of lemonade and sangria. Persuaded by a passing entertainment agent that the village's dried-up fountain, black-shrouded women, and listless men will never attract the Americans' benefaction, the town sets about preparing another kind of welcome. In Spanish; English subtitles. 78 min.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 8:15 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Saturday, October 20, 2007, 4:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
The Little Flat. 1958. Spain. Directed by Marco Ferreri, Isidoro M. Ferri
El Pisito (The Little Flat). 1958. Spain. Directed by Marco Ferreri, Isidoro M. Ferri. Screenplay by Rafael Azcona, Ferreri. With José Luis López Vázquez, Mary Carrillo. Ferreri's anti-bourgeois black comedy centers on the life of Rodolfo, a middle-class man who leases a room in the overcrowded apartment of Doña Martina, a crotchety, dying octogenarian. Until he can afford his own place, Rodolfo cannot marry his embittered fiancée, who persuades her meek boyfriend to propose to Martina in order to inherit the apartment. In Spanish; English subtitles. 80 min.
Thursday, October 18, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, October 29, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Plácido. 1961. Spain. Directed by Luis García Berlanga
Plácido. 1961. Spain. Directed by Luis García Berlanga. Screenplay by Berlanga, Rafael Azcona, Ennio Flaiano. With Casto Sendra-Cassen, José Luis López Vázquez. Academy Award–nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, Plácido is a comedy about an impoverished man who spends the day before Christmas trying to avoid foreclosure on his motorbike. His frantic dealings with bankers and lawyers are set against the film's satirical canvas of a provincial town putting on a showy Christmas campaign called "Seat a Poor Man at Your Table." In Spanish; English subtitles. 88 min.
Thursday, October 18, 2007, 8:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Wednesday, October 31, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Nine Letters to Bertha. 1965. Spain. Directed by Basilio Martín Patino
Nueve Cartas a Berta (Nine Letters to Bertha). 1965. Spain. Directed by Basilio Martín Patino. With Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, Mari Carrillo. Upon returning from an English holiday, Lorenzo, a student in 1950s fascist Spain, writes to Berta, the daughter of an exile. Having experienced another way of life, he shares his desire to leave his provincial family and discover life on his own. Patino's first feature shows a Spain shifting toward modernity and reveals Franco's regime as backward and stifling. In Spanish; English subtitles. 95 min.
Friday, October 19, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Discussion with the filmmaker)
Saturday, November 3, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Discussion with the filmmaker)
Songs for after a War. 1971. Spain. Directed by Basilio Martín Patino
Canciones para Después de una Guerra (Songs for after a War). 1971. Spain. Directed by Basilio Martín Patino. A documentary about popular songs in the first fifteen years of the Franco dictatorship, this film begins with footage of joyous people making the fascist salute at a public demonstration. The editing of over four thousand film clips mirrors the rhythms of the musical background. One song declaims, "You can do anything you want, even kill me," leaving the impression of Franco's regime as a cult of death. Although it contains no direct political criticism, this documentary was deemed unacceptable for public viewing, but was privately screened by the censors and their families. After completing the film (which was finally released after Franco's fall), Patino decided to go underground to make documentaries. In Spanish; English subtitles. 96 min.
Friday, October 19, 2007, 8:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Discussion with the filmmaker)
Saturday, November 3, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Discussion with the filmmaker)
Aunt Tula. 1964. Spain. Directed by Miguel Picazo
La Tía Tula (Aunt Tula). 1964. Spain. Directed by Miguel Picazo. With Aurora Bautista, Carlos Estrada. This debut feature of Spanish actor, screenwriter, and director Picazo helped establish him as a leading figure in 1960s New Spanish Cinema. Picazo adapts Miguel de Unamuno's abstract novel to the particular circumstances of 1960s Spain and scrutinizes both Francoist gender ideology and his own equivocal experience of artistic freedom and ideological restraint. When a bank employee's wife dies, he calls upon his sister-in-law to care for the children, and finds himself falling for her. New print. In Spanish; English subtitles. 107 min.
Saturday, October 20, 2007, 2:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Friday, November 2, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
The Executioner. 1963. Spain. Directed by Luis García Berlanga
El Verdugo (The Executioner). 1963. Spain. Directed by Luis García Berlanga. Screenplay by Berlanga, Rafael Azcona, Ennio Flaiano. With José Isbert, Nino Manfredi. A soon-to-retire executioner in early 1960s Spain worries about finding a successor and a groom for his daughter. The local undertaker, a handsome young man, seems a candidate for both roles. Berlanga's most elegant film, shot by the great cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, remains a powerful condemnation of capital punishment and the Francoist myths of duty and patriotism. In Spanish; English subtitles. 91 min.
Saturday, October 20, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1 (Presented by Rafael Azcona)
Thursday, November 1, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (Presented by Rafael Azcona)
My Dearest Señorita. 1971. Spain. Directed by Jaime de Armiñán
Mi Querida Señorita (My Dearest Señorita). 1971. Spain. Directed by Jaime de Armiñán. With José Luis López Vázquez, Julieta Serrano. A country matron living a conservative village life is courted by a local businessman, but after accepting his engagement ring, his further advances disgust her. Disturbed by her reaction, she follows her priest's advice, seeks medical help, and finds that she is, in fact, a man. Horrified, she takes up life in Madrid as "Juan." In Spanish; English subtitles. 84 min.
Sunday, October 21, 2007, 2:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Saturday, November 3, 2007, 2:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
The Spirit of the Beehive. 1973. Spain. Directed by Víctor Erice
El Espíritu de la Colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive). 1973. Spain. Directed by Víctor Erice. With Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera. Near the end of Franco's dictatorship, Spanish cinema began to probe the buried traumas of the recent past. Erice's theme is repression—not the stifling of thought by political authority, but the willed avoidance of painful experience—in this bewitching portrait of a child's haunted inner life. In a small Castilian village in 1940, in the wake of the country's devastating civil war, six-year-old Ana attends a screening of Frankenstein and becomes possessed by its memory. In Spanish; English subtitles. 98 min.
Sunday, October 21, 2007, 5:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, November 5, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Poachers. 1975. Spain. Directed by José Luis Borau
Furtivos (Poachers). 1975. Spain. Directed by José Luis Borau. With Lola Gaos, Ovidi Montllor. One of Luis Buñuel's favorite films, this independently financed feature is about an emotionally underdeveloped poacher, his first experience with romantic love, and his mother's obstruction. Inspired by Franco's description of his Spain as a "peaceful forest," this cruel—and at times raunchy and slightly incestuous—story was initially banned by the censors and nearly doomed to oblivion before being resuscitated by the San Sebastián Film Festival. New print. In Spanish; English subtitles. 82 min.
Monday, October 22, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Sunday, November 4, 2007, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
The Disenchantment. 1975. Spain. Directed by Jaime Chávarri
El Desencanto (The Disenchantment). 1975. Spain. Directed by Jaime Chávarri. With Felicidad Blanc, Leopoldo María Panero. A veritable cult classic, this documentary profiles the widow and children of Leopoldo Panero, an official poet of Franco's regime. The surviving family members dissect their own personal realities and that of Panero. This acerbic psychodrama, once considered "anti-family," continues to challenge notions of the sanctity of familial relationships. It is a beautiful representation of a family trying to come to terms with its own past in a Spain that was converting to democracy. New print. In Spanish; English subtitles. 95 min.
Monday, October 22, 2007, 8:15 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, November 5, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Main Street. 1956. Spain/France. Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem
Calle Mayor (Main Street). 1956. Spain/France. Directed by Juan Antonio Bardem. With Betsy Blair, José Suárez. Gamblers persuade a young stud from Madrid to propose to a plain spinster. One of Bardem's masterpieces, this splendidly somber film lays bare the suffocating hypocrisy of a 1950s provincial town and the sad lives of its residents. Imprisoned while shooting the film, Bardem satisfied the censors by adding to the film a claim that the events depicted could happen anywhere. The film won the International Critics' Prize at the 1956 Venice Mostra after nearly successful attempts by censors to block its exhibition. In Spanish; English subtitles. 97 min.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Sunday, October 28, 2007, 5:30 p.m., Theater 1, T1
The Delinquents. 1959. Spain. Directed by Carlos Saura
Los Golfos (The Delinquents). 1959. Spain. Directed by Carlos Saura. With Manuel Zarzo, Luis Marín. Inspired by Luis Buñuel's films, Saura's acclaimed first film—the "most difficult film in my career" (Saura)—is an uncompromising portrait of a teenage gang (played by street children) and the first Spanish film shot entirely on location. When one of the boys expresses a desire to become a bullfighter, the others pull a big heist to finance their pal's dream. Delayed by the censors during production, the film revealed the contradictions in Franco's "defascistization," and the censorship and repression that continued under his regime. In Spanish; English subtitles. 88 min.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Monday, October 29, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Viridiana. 1961. Spain/Mexico. Directed by Luis Buñuel
Viridiana. 1961. Spain/Mexico. Directed by Luis Buñuel. With Silvia Pinal, Fernando Rey. Viridiana's title character is a young nun whose extreme devotion extends to the crown of thorns she wears and the large wooden crucifix hanging over her bed. Upon visiting the wealthy uncle who has provided for her financially, Viridiana's faith is challenged as he attempts to corrupt her. Having returned to his native Spain to create what many consider a crowning achievement, Buñuel submitted the script to Spanish censors and received support from Franco's government, who later attempted to suppress the film on charges of blasphemy and obscenity. The film was smuggled to France, where it won the Palme D'Or in Cannes. It finally premiered in Spain in 1977, after Franco's death. In Spanish; English subtitles. 90 min.
Thursday, October 25, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Wednesday, October 31, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
The Strange Trip. 1964. Spain. Directed by Fernando Fernán Gómez
El Extraño Viaje (The Strange Trip). 1964. Spain. Directed by Fernando Fernán Gómez. With Carlos Larrañaga, Tota Alba. Two siblings living in a small town near Madrid learn of their older sister's intentions to sell their family's belongings and dispose of the younger pair. Part murder mystery, part passionate indictment of the Franco regime, The Strange Trip is a fabulous oddity. In Spanish; English subtitles. 92 min.
Thursday, October 25, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Friday, November 2, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Furrows. 1951. Spain. Directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde
Surcos (Furrows). 1951. Spain. Directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde. With Luis Peña, María Asquerino. Nieves Conde's best-known work, this portrait of postwar Madrid set the precedent for Spanish Neorealist filmmaking. Tackling issues virtually unseen during Franco's rule, including rural immigration into the cities, poverty, prostitution, unemployment, and class conflicts, the film follows a family's migration from the countryside in hope of a new life in the city. Furrows is an expression of the contradictions within Franco's regime. While the Catholic Church considered the film "deeply dangerous," the political wing labeled it of "national interest." The film wasn't released until its controversial ending was removed. New print. In Spanish; English subtitles. 100 min.
Friday, October 26, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Saturday, October 27, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
The Hunt. 1965. Spain. Directed by Carlos Saura
La Caza (The Hunt). 1965. Spain. Directed by Carlos Saura. With Ismael Merlo, Alfredo Mayo. Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. Three men and a boy embark on a hunting expedition that traverses territory where the men fought during the Spanish Civil War. As tempers rise among the ex-soldiers, their animal prey are brutally slaughtered, much to the horror of their youthful companion. Spanish Civil War memories and guilt emerge, climaxing violently and shockingly as the men's seething anger and hatred surface. In Spanish; English subtitles. 88 min.
Friday, October 26, 2007, 8:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Saturday, November 3, 2007, 4:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
From Pink...to Yellow. 1963. Spain. Written and directed by Manuel Summers
Del Rosa...al Amarillo (From Pink...to Yellow). 1963. Spain. Written and directed by Manuel Summers. With Antonio Alfonso Vidal, Antonio D. Olano. Two stories concerning love, young and old: a young boy in love becomes obsessed with winning the heart of an older girl of fourteen who enjoys playing with his affections; two residents of an old-folks home for the poor, separated by the gender rules of the institution, express their love through letters. In Spanish; English subtitles. 90 min.
Saturday, October 27, 2007, 2:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Thursday, November 1, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
The Cuenca Crime. 1979. Spain. Directed by Pilar Miró
El Crímen de Cuenca (The Cuenca Crime). 1979. Spain. Directed by Pilar Miró. With Amparo Soler Leal, Héctor Alterio. In this film based on actual events, two innocent men are convicted of a shepherd's murder after an orchestrated trial. Subjected to brutal torture, they serve six years of a fifteen-year prison term. Marking the limits of the fragile freedom of expression during Spain's transitional period from dictatorship to democracy, the film was originally suppressed, and Miró was tried unsuccessfully for defamation. When released in 1981, it became the highest grossing film in Spanish history. New print. In Spanish; English subtitles. 88 min.
Saturday, October 27, 2007, 4:00 p.m., Theater 1, T1
Sunday, November 4, 2007, 2:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2
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