Bodas de sangre

How can a film be so simple, and yet so beaultiful? It's easy to see that the film must has costed almost nothing, and it's very very simple: just shows a dance group showing it's art. But the impressive corporal and facial expressions, the intense dance and all emotions envolved, the ones in the tragic story and the ones in the real story of the dancers, makes this film a simple work of art. Simple as a movie, but art as it is.

A company of Flamenco dancers rehearsal a play of Federico Garcia Lorca about a wedding imposed by the parents to the bride. She is indeed in love of another man, and when the groom finds her with her lover, they duel with razors, ending tragically the feast.

"Bodas de Sangre" is an original movie, where a play is danced in a room. I personally like this folkloric Spanish gypsy style of music and dancing, therefore I liked this film. However, I agree that for those viewers not used to this type of dancing and music, this art movie probably is boring. The group of dancers is excellent, and gives a wonderful choreography and interpretation. This film is the beginning of Carlos Saura's dance trilogy, completed with "Carmen" (1983) and "El Amor Brujo" (1986). My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Bodas de Sangue" ("Blood Wedding Feast")

In an attempt to transform Lorca's play into film, Saura has used the art of the popular Spanish tradition, Flamenco. Without ever uttering a word of dialogue, the performers of the Flamenco dance are able to portray the basic plot and themes of the original script, based on a true story. The basic plot, two lovers unable to be together, is generally easy to follow through the entirety of the dance. However, if ballet is not of personal interest, even the brief 70 minutes of this movie will seem an eternity. The entire second half of the film is Lorca's play in the form of dance. To add to the film's focus on dance, the first half shows the dancers warming up and preparing for their performance. This type of movie will appeal to those who can appreciate the art of dance and to those whose patience won't wear thin. For the full effect of Bodas de sangre, I would highly recommend Lorca's original version over the film.

The human body uses the dance language to tell the simple story of damned love. The ballet, far from being a tool incidental to communication, carries within itself a whole body of assumptions about love and death, about sin and punishment.

The story line is simple. A bride elopes with her lover in the very day of her wedding. The groom follows the two lovers, and a knife fight takes place. The rivals stab each other and the only wedding that takes place is that one knotting their destinies together in death. A blood wedding.

Besides from the unearthly beauty of the dance spilling out of the dancers bodies on the Flamenco rhythm, the film goes a long way toward shaping and determining the kind of thoughts one is able to have on the controversial topic of sinful love.

As I watched the movie Bodas de sangre, I was completely disturbed. Although I like the Flamenco and appreciated how Carlos Saura, the director, incorporated it into the movie I wonder where some of the important themes went. The movie shows the emotions of the characters through the Flamenco however it fails to touch on some of the most significant ideas of the play. This movie lacks the themes that made the play so compelling. For instance, the importance of virginity, la honra, is totally forgotten. We don't see the mother's disappointment with her son's choice of a wife because the girlfriend had another boyfriend. Money and the desire for land are ignored as well as the significance of destiny. The viewer never understands the importance of destiny in regards to Leonardo and the groom. Also, the viewer cannot see that the characters in the book are nameless except for Leonardo. Maybe if I had not read the play before watching Bodas de sangre I wouldn't have been so disappointed. I thought that the Flamenco was a useful tool for showing emotion but couldn't carry the entire movie.