Spanish Realism on film at Manchester Cervantes Institute

Realism in Spanish Cinema of the 50´s

OUR publication Northern Voices is on sale at the Cornerhouse cinema bookshop and in our publication there have been regular reviews of Spanish cinema at the Cornerhouse particularly during the Viva Festivals. If you have difficulty finding our journal on sale at your local newsagent you may make a postal subscriptions by sending a cheque for £4.20 payable to 'Northern Voices' for two issues (post included) to 52, Todmorden Road, Burnley, Lancashire, BB10 4AH.

Cervantes Institute Report:

The 1950s and 1960s saw the establishment and rise of a movement of young Spanish film directors who were clearly influenced by Italian neo-realism. With the intention of narrowing the gap between cinematic fiction and reality, they insisted on the need for the cinema industry to move away from making historical films with strong patriotic values towards much more critical detective films and to films of wide thematic and narrative content. Realism in Spanish Cinema (1951 – 1963) [El realismo en el cine español (1951-1963)] is the title of the season which opens in the Cervantes Institute in Manchester with a program made up of five emblematic films from this decade.

During June the following films will be shown at the Cervantes Institute at
326-330 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4FN:

Welcome Mr Marshall
Los golfos (The Delinquents)
Viridiana
El verdugo (Not On Your Life)
Muerte de un ciclista (Age of Infidelity)


The first film showing next Thursday, 2nd, June is Luis Garcia Berlanga's ¡Bienvenido Mr Marshall! 'Welcome Mr Marshall!' made in 1953 (Duration:- 75 min). It is the original version in Spanish with English Subtitles:


Villar del Río is a peaceful, poor and forgotten town, where nothing new ever happens and the routine is the same day in and day out. Now the arrival of singer Carmen Vargas and her manager and agent have shaken up the town’s boring life. That same morning, a government representative suddenly shows up to announce the imminent arrival of a commission from the Marshall Plan. On hearing of the news, the town mayor, a good-natured albeit a slightly deaf man, decides to dress all the denizens in the purest Andalusian style to welcome the American visitors.

Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga, assisted by Mihura, wrote this corrosive story – a watershed in Spanish cinema history, based on the unease Spain felt at being left out of the distribution of US aid (aka the Marshall Plan), which aimed to reconstruct a Europe ravaged by the World War.

Dr Nuria Triana Toribio, from the University of Manchester and Mr Andy Willis from the University of Salford will present the film and organize a Q&A after the screening (in English).

Instituto Cervantes
326 Deansgate
Manchester
M3 4FN
Tf: 0161 6614200
www.manchester.cervantes.es

Free entrance