The History of Spanish Film

In this course we will explore the history of Spain through an examination of Spanish film. We will begin our study in the 1890s and work our way to contemporary Spain, touching on the Surrealism of the 1920s and 1930s, the propagandistic yet surprisingly intriguing films of the Franco years (1939-1975), the counter-cultural post-Franco 1980s known as “la Movida,” and the amazingly productive years that lead us to today ́s Spain. We will also discuss how these periods can be linked to ever-present issues in Spanish society such as colonialism, feminism, collective memory, or folklore, among others.

One of the primary objectives of our course is to demonstrate that Spanish film cannot be stereotyped as falling into a determined genre of film-making. The films we will view and analyze will make you laugh, maybe cry, cause you to feel uneasy, repel you yet intrigue you at the same time, and even baffle you. Perhaps they will even spark an interest to learn more about Spanish cultural history or explore the thorny dynamics of determined social issues. Another very important objective of this course is to show that film genres, artistic movements, history, politics, economics, and social issues feed off of each other. The goal is to help us think together about Spanish "culture" from a historical perspective, as well as about Spanish history from a cultural perspective. We will do that with the help of renowned directors and stars such as Pedro Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz, as well as less internationally known but equally key figures such as Luis Buñuel, Carlos Saura, or Icíar Bollaín.