So far I have been looking at these films:
- The Butterfly's Tongue, 1999, Jose Luis Cuerda - I think this will be really helpful as it shows the political divides of the 1930s from the perspective of a Republican child.
- The Spirit of the Beehive, 1973, Victor Erice - This was released just two years before Franco's death, so it will be interesting to look at as a contemporary comment on the regime. The main character, Ana acts as a metaphor for Spain - her experiences surrounding the war represent the corruption of Spanish innocence. Also, interestingly it uses fairy tales (Frankenstein) to tell the story.
- Pan's Labyrinth, 2003, Guillermo del Toro - A much more explicit film about the civil war and Franco's rule. It has narratives surrounding both government officials and rebel Republicans, which run in parallel to Ofelia's story. Interestingly this also uses fairy tales!
- Land and Freedom, 1995, Ken Loach - I didn't think this would be particularly helpful, as although it was a good demonstration of the events of the war, to me there didn't seem to be anything to read into it and it had quite a splintered narrative and no believable character. So good for background viewing but it's not going to be one of my focus films.
- La Caza (The Hunt), 1966, Carlos Saura - I haven't been able to get hold of this, but it looks really interesting. About some Civil War veterans on a rabbit hunt. Subject to Franco's strict censorship, so it could be useful as a look at how the result of the war affected cinema and how directors managed to make political comments about the war despite the controls.
I would like to focus on The Butterfly's Tongue, The Spirit of the Beehive and Pan's Labyrinth. I would have liked to bring La Caza in to the project, but as it is much more obscure it is proving much harder to find and there is less written about it. I will probably still try to get hold of it for another perspective, but it won't form a major part of the project.
