Political and social change in Spain in the films of Pedro Almodóvar
Ciaran Robbins
Throughout his expansive career of over four decades, Spanish auteur, Pedro Almodóvar, has earned a reputation as one of the most consistently daring, conceptually innovative and provocative voices in cinema, in both the 20 th and 21 st centuries. Almodóvar, through his signature cinematic style and unpredictable choice of theme for each film, has been repeatedly praised for his deeply introspective forays into universal ideas ranging from motherhood, to metadrama, to female identity. However, the beauty of A lmodóvar’s filmography is that it does not exist solely within these themes and manages to triumphantly elevate itself to a cut above other modern filmmakers, by the fascinating way in which Almodóvar employs the socio-political context of Spain in his films, with the purpose of enhancing and contemporizi ng these stories. As Triana Toribio notes, ‘it comes as no surprise that over the last decade researchers of Spanish cinema have increasingly turned their attention to the contexts of production, distributi on, and exhibition of global capitalism, in which Spanish cinema is irrevocably immersed’. 1 This of course begs the question of whether the ideas and themes captured in Almodóvar’s extensive filmography can exist in a world of their own, or whether the reason these films have received critical and popular acclaim is caused by the richness of their reflection of Spanish society. Perhaps the most persuasive argument in favour of the idea that Almodóvar’s films have used their contemporary context to enhan ce the story, is the way in which ‘La Movida Madrileña’ informed much of Almodóvar’s early filmography. Following the death of Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco, in 1975, many young Madrilenians took the opportunity to rebel against the strict, Catholic, deeply conservative society that he had imposed. Forming in downtown Madrid, La Movida Madrileña was an explosion of new political and social ideas, including socialism, feminism, transgender identities, and homosexuality, expressed by many young people through the use of punk rock and synthpop musical aesthetics, as well as alternative, outrageous queer fashion, akin to the punk movements in the USA and UK. Dr Barrie Wharton cites La Movida as ‘the source and direct inspiration for radical socio - cultural change in post- Francoist Spain’. 2 One of the most notable contributors to La Movida was Pedro Almodóvar, and this unapologetically queer, camp, and countercultural attitude, shines through strongly in many of his early films. One of the best examples of this is in his 1982 screwball comedy, Laberinto de Pasiones ( Labyrinth of Passion ). This film clearly exhibits Almodóvar’s socially liberated and countercultural ideas, perhaps most aptly shown by his ensemble of characters. ‘Sexilia’, nickname d ‘Sexi’ , is a nymphomaniac popstar, ‘Riza’ is a bisexual Middle Eastern prince and ‘Fabio’ is a transvestite heavy drug user. These larger-than-life, queer characters are combined with Almodóvar’s signature colour palette of bright colours, especially red, symbolizing sexuality and passion. The strong influence that the context of La Movida Madrileña had on this film is clear; similar ideas of new, alternative
1 Fernando Canet, Contemporary Spanish Cinema at https://www.academia.edu/26948166/Contemporary_Spanish_Cinema. 2 Barrie Wharton, More than just La Movida Madrileña; Popular Music and Cultural Change in 1980’s Spain at https://scripta.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/scripta/article/download/40178/36365/0.
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