Franco And Film

Francisco Franco came to power at the end of the Spanish Civil war in 1939 and ruled Spain with a repressive dictatorship for 36 years. The repression of the freedoms and liberties of the Spanish people affected all aspects of life and society, including Spanish cinema. Franco’s dictatorship enforced strict censorship laws that greatly impacted the Spanish film industry and it wasn’t until after his death that progressive measures were taken in changing the censorship code. After Franco’s death a cultural revolution took place from the late 1970s into the 1980s among the youth. The new democracy meant a break with the repressive social norms and regulations where a new pop culture was able to emerge. The movement that took place after Franco’s death, mainly in Spain’s capital Madrid, has been titled la movida madrileña and was pioneered by the film director Pedro Almodóvar, who portrayed the alternative Spanish lifestyles of sexual experimentation, punk rock, and comedic scandal.

After Franco’s death, traditional ideas of order, nation, patriarchy, family, machismo, and gender roles were questions in many films. Almodóvar is the one directors of this time period who is known for challenging these values, especially those dealing with sex and gender roles. Lesbian and gay identities were a focus in his films as he challenged those traditional morals with the pursuit of pleasure and experimentation with sexual identities. Almodóvar challenged the conventional social structures and patterns of behavior and mocked them by replacing them with alternative lifestyles and relationships.

The representation of female relationships in particular was a very strong change from what existed under Franco’s rule. Pedro Almodóvar has come to be known as a “women’s director” through his positive representation of female relationships and support networks in his films, as he represents female protagonists in a positive manner rather than a critical portrayal of men. Almodóvar has said that the reason for his focus on women in his films comes from his fascination of female relationships and his lack of fascination of male relationship. “The show that goes on between girlfriends when they are in a bathroom together, talking about female things, is a situation that I love” (Vidal 33). He likes to watch women talk and gossip with each other. He says that he is not only interested in their gossip, but in all aspects of their lives (Vidal 34).

Contrasting Almodovar’s first films from his latest have proved a significant shift in stylistics, which is very interesting. It seems as though after Franco’s rule he had much to prove and show that was shocked and pushed him in to a more outrageous style, which he has now moved away from. His first films, Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del monton, Laberitno de pasiones and Entre tinieblas, deal with the punk rock scene in Madrid at the time the films were made. The pursuit of pleasure, experimentation with drugs, sexual identities, lesbianism, the feminine realm, and everything unconventional that broke with the social norms of Franco’s Spain.

Pedro Almodóvar’s first two films focused mainly on portraying that punk rock scene that existed in Madrid in the late 1970s and the 1980s.

...