Madrid selon Basilio Martín Patino : le charme discret de l’imperfection
Basilio Martin Patino’s 1985 movie is a polymorphous piece blending fictional and documentary elements in a way that makes interpretation difficult. The story may be summarized in the following way: on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, a German production...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Centre de Recherches Ibériques et Ibéro-Américaines
2014-12-01
|
| Series: | Cahiers de Civilisation Espagnole Contemporaine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ccec/5280 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | Basilio Martin Patino’s 1985 movie is a polymorphous piece blending fictional and documentary elements in a way that makes interpretation difficult. The story may be summarized in the following way: on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, a German production company sends a documentarian to Madrid to have him shoot a documentary on Civil War Madrid. But Hans’s ready empathy with his subject matter quickly puts off the executive of the production company; this entails a breach of Hans’s contract and this aborted artistic endeavor causes him great frustration. Through the moviemaker’s thoughts on History (in this case the years of the Spanish Republic, of the civil war and of the first Franco regime) and on the sometimes antagonistic relations between History and memory, Madrid is a celebration of the Spanish capital. Though some critics think that Madrid has always wanted a global approach to its urban areas and its architecture – a criticism scathingly voiced by the intellectual in the movie (actually the philosopher Carlos Paris) when he discusses Madrid with Hans on the rooftop of a skyscraper - the German moviemaker is so enamored with the capital that he only sees charms and spells where others see an urban chaos and a lack of harmony and architectural coherence. Thus, Martin Patino offers the spectators a loving and mythical vision of a city which is deeply faithful to its culture, its popular art and its tradition of freedom fighting. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1957-7761 |