Movie Description
Carlos Saura has dedicated a good part of his career to bringing the diverse world of Spanish dance to an international audience. He is perhaps best known for the trilogy of CARMEN, BLOODWEDDING, and A LOVE BEWITCHED, taken from the works of Bizet and Garcia Lorca, but also for SEVILLANAS, which, like FLAMENCO, presents the talents of a variety of artists in a straightforward setting. The beautiful cinematography by Vittorio Storaro, who later shot the spectacular GOYA IN BORDEAUX for Saura, is the only element of the film that strays from its documentary feel. Using an old railroad station in Seville, fitted with mirrors, for the setting, Saura presents 300 singers, dancers and musicians. There are guitarists playing moving and mournful solos, women singing gypsy ballads and, of course, floor pounding, straight shouldered dancers who look right into the camera with those dark, smouldering, Spanish eyes. The clear star of the dance segments is the mesmerizing Joaquin Cortes. Doing what is deemed the New Flamenco style, Cortes combines elements of 18th century classical dance with more recent innovations. His bare-chested Farruca push the erotic elements to the limit of the style and is certainly the high point of the film. Saura wants to demonstrate not just the flamboyance of flamenco, but the breadth and depth of its integration into Spanish culture, and so he includes a rich variety of styles and performers.
| Credits | | Producer: | Juan Lebron | | Cast: | Paco De Lucia |
Editorial Reviews
"...Riveting....The luminous, richly hued backgrounds and changeable lighting create a highly romantic visual dialogue with the performers..."
New York Times - p.C4 - Stephen Holden (04/25/1997)
"...To see FLAMENCO is to be swept up in a performance dream, to experience a vibrant musical tradition as filtered through Spain's top director and one of the world's preeminent cinematographers..."
Los Angeles Times - Kenneth Turan (08/22/1997)
"...[Featuring a] spectacular variety of styles and performers....The director speaks through their character lines and eyes as much as their graceful twirling of arms and hands and elegant movements through space..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (07/18/1997)
"...Simply great....Saura's mise en scène gives visual expression to flamenco's vibrancy..."
Sight and Sound - Jose Arroyo (08/01/2000)
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