Beyond Buñuel, Spanish film-makers struggled to make an international impact – until Franco's death in 1975 liberated an entire generation
Spain embraced the new medium of cinema at the turn of the century as fervently as any of its European counterparts; this film of a religious procession in 1902, by the splendidly named Fructuos Gelabert, is typical of the early amateurs.
In Segundo de Chomón, however, Spain produced a trickster director
to rival France's Georges Méliès.
De Chomón worked mostly in France, and even made An Excursion to the Moon, his own version of Méliès's most famous film.
The route from Spain to France was well-trodden by the time Buñuel and Dalí made Un Chien Andalou in 1928; otherwise, little of Spain's silent-film output made any impact internationally.
The early sound period fared little better, as political convulsions in the run-up to the civil war made a settled industry difficult.
After L'Age d'Or (1930), his second French film,...
Spain embraced the new medium of cinema at the turn of the century as fervently as any of its European counterparts; this film of a religious procession in 1902, by the splendidly named Fructuos Gelabert, is typical of the early amateurs.
In Segundo de Chomón, however, Spain produced a trickster director
to rival France's Georges Méliès.
De Chomón worked mostly in France, and even made An Excursion to the Moon, his own version of Méliès's most famous film.
The route from Spain to France was well-trodden by the time Buñuel and Dalí made Un Chien Andalou in 1928; otherwise, little of Spain's silent-film output made any impact internationally.
The early sound period fared little better, as political convulsions in the run-up to the civil war made a settled industry difficult.
After L'Age d'Or (1930), his second French film,...
- 3/29/2011
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
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