The flamenco cinema of Carlos Saura
Do you know the acclaimed Spanish filmmaker's love story for flamenco?
Carlos Saura also delighted us with his photography.
Photo: Carmen, 1983 © Carlos Saura, VEGAP, 2021
We recently said goodbye to Carlos Saura, one of the most renowned, prolific and groundbreaking film directors in Spanish cinema, whose name appears under the title of the films that defined post-war Spanish cinema and who made us smile with his insightfulness in dodging Franco's censorship.
The films La Caza (1966), Peppermint Frappé (1967), La prima Angélica (1974), Cría Cuervos (1976) or ¡Ay, Carmela! (1990) are probably familiar to you, but... did you know that, along with his facet as a film director, Carlos Saura had a great passion for flamenco that even made him try his talent as a dancer? And although in the end we have not had the pleasure of seeing him on one of our flamenco tablaosbut fortunately we have been able to enjoy his talent representing his love for this art. Saura himself said: "I have even had a scene repeated, when the shot was already good, for the pleasure of seeing a group dance, fascinated by this, I have had it repeated".
Enjoying flamenco through the sensitivity of a director of the stature of Carlos Saura and from a cinematographic narrative and aesthetics of a gift. An example of this is the masterpiece Bodas de sangre (1981), an adaptation of Federico García Lorca's tragedy through music, song and dance (visit our flamencopedia to learn more about flamenco terminology). It is a documentary that represented a new way of representing flamenco through film.
Bodas de Sangre, besides marking the beginning of the Aragonese director's musical period, is the first film of his flamenco trilogy together with Carmen (1983) and El amor brujo (1986), all literary adaptations in which the director collaborated with the dancer and choreographer Antonio Gades. And if with Carmen he won three medals from the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos, three Oscar nominations and a BAFTA for Best Foreign Film, with El amor Brujo he won two Goyas for Best Cinematography and Best Costumes.
Saura's passion for traditional Spanish dance continued later in other titles such as Sevillanas (1992), Flamenco (1995) and Flamenco, flamenco (2010), in which some of the most representative figures of this art form appear, such as Camarón, Rocío Jurado, Paco de Lucía, José Mercé, Estrella Morente, Manolo Sanlúcar, Sara Baras or Carmen Linares, among others.
Shall we prepare the popcorn?
Passionate scene from Bodas de Sangre (1981) by Carlos Saura
Paco de Lucía in Carlos Saura's Carmen (1983)
Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos in El amor brujo (1986) by Carlos Saura