happy....sad....or twist ending?

Jonathan talked to us about literature ….and I’ll definitely read some of the books that he has recommended us.

Now, just a few lines about Spanish films, and specifically about film directors. It’s related to a previous post where I told you about Spanish literature and its main representations. I promised to write about films, but I forgot it completely!

And the Oscar goes to…. Pedro Almodovar. He’s a versatile film director. As for his beginnings he wasn’t considered politically correct. However, he’s in fact a transgressor artist. He tells everyday situations from another point of view. He focuses on people excluded from the society due to different reasons, such as sexual orientation, poverty, etc. He has won two academy awards. The first one was for the best foreign language film, Todo sobre mi madre (All about my mother), in 1999. The second one was for the best original screenplay, Hable con ella ( Talk to her), in 2000. Surely most of you know who Penelope Cruz is. She is actually one of his muses, and lately she has become his inspiration. Now, she is trying to make her way overseas. Antonio Banderas, Paz Vega, Elsa Pataky and Javier Bardem are other actors and actress that have moved to the USA recently. All of them want to become more famous out of our borders. Nowadays, it seems that to be a famous actor or actress, one has to get his/her own star in a Hollywood’s street.

Other Spanish film directors are: Alejandro Amenábar, Luis Buñuel, Jose Luis Garci, Luis Garcia Berlanga, Bigas Luna, Achero Mañas, Julio Medem, Fernando Trueba.

Alejandro Amenábar is the scriptwriter and director of the film The Others, which was starred in by Nicole Kidman. It’s a perturbing film that has an unusual end.

Luis Buñuel is an old famous film director. One of his masterpieces is El ángel exterminador (1962). I found this film incoherent, but enigmatic. The author claimed: “Maybe the best explanation to describe El ángel exterminador (Exterminating Angel) is that there’s no rational explanation. Life is the same. You can interpret it like you want to.”

I like the type of filming of Achero Mañas. He’s quite a sensitive director. You can see him like a kind of modern poet. He’s also an artist that expresses himself through his films. I love art film or cinema d'auteur, and Achero Mañas is pretty good one. One of his films that is my favourite is Noviembre (November). This film makes one thinks about which are our ideals, what we really want, and what we should defend.

Fernando Trueba won an Oscar for its film Belle Epoque. It was the second Spanish film to win an academy award. The first one went to Jose Luis Garci, and his film Volver a empezar (1982) (A new beginning), that is about a writer who has won the Nobel Prize in Literature and has just come back to his hometown, Gijón, after many years in exile.

In Belle Epoque, the plot isn’t set in the 20s, but it is set in the days before and after the Second Republic. Penelope Cruz is one of the main characters. You can see in here her skills development, from that time till now.

Jonathan, you seem to have travelled a lot. I’m a bit jealous!. Besides, your writing is delightful. I’ve enjoyed your posts. Now I have a more in-depth knowledge about England, Poland and some of your traditions. You are definitely a round character (using film terminology)!

Thanks to all of you for your comments and support. I now December has always been a busy month, but you have managed to write me back. I’ve also learnt a lot from you.

See you tomorrow….in which will be my very last day blogging :(

Love,

silvia

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