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Unlike many countries that are especially adept at one genre, Spain is a true jack-of-all-trades. Boasting some of the most influential horror (The Orphanage), melodrama (All About My Mother) and sci-fi (Open Your Eyes) ever made, this has been one of the hardest nations for which to choose two examples.
Director: Victor Erice
Released in the last years of Franco’s Spain, Victor Erice’s deeply political film somehow found its way past the censors, becoming one of the most memorable masterpieces of Spanish cinema. A haunting and deeply symbolic tale of isolation, loneliness and childhood, it is a truly remarkable film.
Set in 1940 just after the end of the Spanish Civil War The Spirit of the Beehive tells the story of six year old Ana who becomes enthralled by James Whale’s Frankenstein, which is being shown by the government for propaganda reasons. Soon Ana tries to understand the secrets of the film, calling out for spirits and longing to meet the seemingly kind monster and understand it. With her world of imagination only continuing to flourish throughout the film, the audience cannot help but become enveloped in her excitement as well as her dreams and desires. This is opposed to the harsh and alienating world of her disintegrating family and the barren landscape, all which is lovingly and carefully shot with the utmost simplicity and beauty to create a surprising, immersive world.
Overall the film succeeds on so many levels; as an examination of childhood imagination as well as dreams and desire, alongside its harsh critique of the then dying fascist state which is shown as barren and lifeless. It creates something truly magical that will haunt the viewer long after they have seen it, just as Ana is haunted by the image of the monster.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
There is something special about watching the earlier works of a much-acclaimed director. Since the late 1980s, Pedro Almodóvar has been one of the dominant forces in Spanish-language cinema with a string of hits including Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, All About My Mother and Volver. Before he made his global breakout, the films he released were a bit more hit and miss, with Law of Desire being the pivotal moment in his cinematic career.
However, the fact that this film marked such a turning point for this director is not the only reason that this makes for interesting watching. In present day cinema, outside of special interest, the depiction of homosexuals and transgender individuals in major roles is uncommon. This was even more so back in the 1980s which made the explicit portrayal of such characters in Law of Desire all the more impressive.
Fantastic performances from Antonio Banderas and Carmen Maura, in their respective roles as a crazed homosexual stalker and a struggling transgender actress, make sure that even though it was made 23 years ago this film has lost none of its impact. This is even more the case for those who are not well acquainted with Almodóvar’s films who may be shocked by the explicit homosexual overtones.
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