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Of youth, love and angst

The Spanish Film Festival that concluded recently provided some wonderful cinematic essays

`Indian cinema is extremely popular in Spain. So we have come here to showcase cotemporary Spanish cinema,' declares Larry Levene, Spanish filmmaker who was in New Delhi for the recently concluded Spanish film festival, jointly organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and the Ministry of Culture, Spain with other agencies. A distinguished delegation including producers, actors and other professionals of Spanish cinema accompanied the films. The dozen films on show reflected the quality and diversity of subjects and styles in Spanish cinema. "Spain had a prolific cinematic output of more than 142 feature films last year," says Fernando Lara, eminent Spanish film personality and a member of many international film juries. Spain has the second largest film market in Europe. The festival got off to a glittering start with Pedro Almodovar's All About My Mother. In this captivating film by the world-renowned director, we get a fresh look at the issues of motherhood, and the dilemma of human relationships from a contemporary perspective.

Human themes

The festival also showcased brilliant cinematic essays, like Tapas (directed by Juan Cruz, Jose Corbacho); which charts out the human tragedies in the modern cityscape. Cesc Gay's In the City looks at the unique tapestries of human relations hopelessly broken up in our own era of frail friendships and short-lived marriages. The theme was topical, and the setting, Barcelona, could as well be Delhi. Larry Levene's real-life documentary Cesar & Zain made a bold attempt to question our notions of cross-cultural understanding. An interesting experiment to understand cultures and faiths through the parallel journeys of two boys from Madrid and Delhi.

Isabel Coixet, My life Without Me, was another treat. Exploring another aspect of womanhood, it takes a spiteful look at the existence of a modern women. Antonio Mercero's The Fourth Floor depicts friendship, love, and the travails of childhood with a cheerful exuberance. Most of the films mirrored the trauma of change in contemporary Spanish society. As Joaquin Oristrell, director of Unconscious, a Freudian saga of female sexuality, puts it, "Passion and love are universal themes. But it is a thin line, which divides thoughts and actions. Spanish cinema is trying to capture that."

In a friendly chat all the members of the delegation spoke about the popularity of Hollywood among the youth. As Jaime Chavarri remarked, "The youth dictate the market. Hollywood caters to their taste."

The festival also screened renowned Spanish director Vincente Aranda's The Madness of Joana and Fernando Colomo's South From Granada. The former is a saga of passion and betrayal set in the backdrop of 15th Century Spain, and the latter a brilliant adaptation of Gerald Brenan's comic autobiographical book "Al Sur de Granada".

The debut feature film of the well-known Spanish duo, Ines Paris and Daniela Fejerman, My Mother Likes Women also evinced keen interest. An international success, this story about the life of a young, beautiful and insecure woman was an example of the interaction between theatre and cinema. Vincente Penarrocha (Body Confusion) tries to problematise the question between reel and real life. The fest concluded with a cinematic rendition of the life of Jose Monge Cruz, the king of flamenco music and culture, in Cameron, directed by Jaime Chavarri. All in all, this Spanish extravaganza could be summed up with the wise comment of the Spanish screenplay writer Joaquin Oristrell, "We make only half of the film. The audience completes it."

SANJAY KUMAR

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