Bodas de Sangue

The play on which this film is based is Federico García - Lorca's classic, poetic drama. The playwright/poet/actor/artist, who was probably Salvador Dalí's lover, was a brilliant sensualist who understood the power of myth and rural life. In this movie the story that is being performed on stage, the story that is taking place off stage, the whole weight of Spanish history and culture, the weight of flamenco as ballet and as folk art, and modern myths of romantic love are layered over and over each other. The movie is inexorable -- even when you realize the outcome, you are drawn hypnotized into it. Perhaps the greatest dance film ever made! You MUST see it.

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.

You will be mesmerized by this beautifully filmed production of Blood Wedding. The plot (of sorts):a dress rehearsal of an upcoming production of the classic Flamenco ballet is viewed,with the various dancers,musicians,etc. arriving one by one,with the dance taking up the bulk of the film. This was the first part of a quartet of films focusing on Flamenco culture (the others being Saura's Flamenco adaptation of 'Carmen','Love The Magician',and 'Flamenco'--all worth seeking out on DVD,or even better,a screening in a cinema proper,if you can find a cinema that is reviving Saura's films). Emotional,passionate music is also a key player that acts as the backdrop,as well as the usual sumptuous photography & editing that is typical of any Carlos Saura production. At least a couple of different cuts of the film seem to be available (most European editions clock in at around 72 minutes,but there is a 67 minute cut,as well).Spoken in Spanish with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,but nothing to offend even the most ardent prude.

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")

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.