Spanish Film

With the Academy Awards rapidly approaching I figured I would do a bit on Spanish films that I have been studying in my class and the ones I have seen recently. Lets start with my class. It's called 2oth Century Spanish Cinema, it's taught in all my Spanish, and it's pretty hard. The first film we watched in class was Un Chien Andolou by Luis Bunuel. Click here to watch it on youtube. Be warned it's really really far out and contains a graphic scene at the start. Also if you do watch, watch with an open mind, because it's really really hard to understand. However if you think you get it leave a comment. Here's a poster for the film.
I have also gone to the movies with my class. We saw a movie called Miguel y William, which translates to Miguel and Will. If you were wondering the Miguel and William of the title, are Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare.

This movie was a romantic comedy that I think many of you will enjoy. It's about a friendship/rivalry Will and Miguel have over a girl. Of course the two of them end up inspiring each other for their stories (Othello and Don Quixote of course). What I liked the most about this is how they portray Shakespeare as the biggest ladies man ever. Over the course of the film he ends up having sex with almost every girl in the movie. This lead me and my friends to called him "Willy Shakes." It was a fresh take on the character who I always imagined chilling in a dark room in writing dark plays by candlelight. Here he is.
An interesting thing to note regarding this film is where the money came from to make it. In Spain the government finances most of the films. So when the movie started there were many logos for the various departments of culture that helped produce the film. This is interesting because since it's government money, there are rules regarding films. According to our professor there can be no films about ETA (Basque terrorists) or the train bombings of March 11.


Last night (Sunday) I went to see this movie. In America it's called Pan's Labyrinth. It's a pretty impressive movie from director Guillermo del Toro. I saw it all in Spanish (it's original language). A quick note here regarding language in films. According to our professor, Spain is the only country that requires foreign films to be dubbed. This practice started under Franco and it still in effect today. You can see films in their original language, but only at select theaters.


I'll go ahead and say I really loved this movie. I found it to be a fascinating story that succeeded on many many levels. It's a fantasy film about the power of imagination (like the recent Bridge to Terabithia), it's a horror film, and it's a historical drama. I would say that it ranks as the best movie I have seen in 2007, but that honor goes to the awesome Children of Men.



It's directed by Alfonso Cuaron, a mexican filmaker and close friend of Guillermo Del Toro. In fact Cuaron was one of many producers on "Pan."
Anyway, I know many people are enjoying Pan's Labyrinth. If you like it I would highly recommend the "prequel" called The Devil's Backbone. It's by the same director and deals almost all of the same themes. If you liked Pan, you should watch it.

Stay tuned for more posts about my host family, Segovia, and Paris!