Spanish Cinema Now. 10.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual Spanish Cinema Now series comes to a close tomorrow, Thursday, after three full weeks of films new and old. 2007 was the first year in which I managed to see every single - count 'em: 28 - piece on the program. Not coincidentally, I think, this was also my favorite SCN of the ten or so I have attended. While the experience can sometimes seem daunting during those 21 days, the payoff is immense. The more you see, the more there is to like (or not) and, most importantly, the more there is to understand. The personality of a country's present and past begins to come together - culturally, politically, economically, socially, artistically - and, while you'll never comprehend the entire package, you'll certainly be wiser going out than coming in. What has been happening in the country over the past year? This fest certainly offers a kind of barometer, together with some of the themes that were on the mind of moviemakers and, most probably, of the populace at large.

Nothing like this opportunity exists anywhere else that I know. SCN lasts longer than either the French or Italian yearly series sponsored by the FSLC, perhaps deservedly so. The energy, enthusiasm and talent of Spanish filmmakers young and old is pretty extraordinary. Unlike Cannes, Toronto and many other noted festivals, where you must choose among many more movies than a single body is able to view, here, you can actually see them all. And if a "specific country" festival such as SCN does not have the caché of the FSLC's New York Film Festival or New Directors/New Films, that's all the better because it renders the programs more available, with tickets easier to procure. (The French fest does seem to be selling out more rapidly year by year, so book early for that one). Moreover, your chances of discovering films you like (or don't) are no less here than at any festival. But since you or I are not calling the shots as to which films are chosen, there'll be plenty of disagreement, as usual.

Take, for instance, the retrospective of films by the late Pilar Miró. Going into it, I knew little of her work. Now that I have seen seven of her films, I am not a fan - though I did find much to appreciate in two of them: The Cuenca Crime and The Dog in the Manger. Further, I am enormously grateful to the FSLC for giving me the opportunity to sample her work - which, with one exception, does not seem to be available in the US on DVD. Ditto La Guerra filmada, the Spanish television series on the Civil War that saw its US premiere during the series. I found it a missed opportunity, yet looking back, even at this short distance of time, I realize that I did learn from it (though perhaps not quite enough to match the eight hours I spent watching).

One accomplishment of La Guerra filmada was to help link Spain's present with its past - which seemed a particularly strong theme at this year's fest. It surfaced in a myriad of ways, some of them more obvious than others. Watching La Guerra filmada's newsreel footage of the war, then seeing Miró's Your Name Poisons My Dreams and its investigation of the Fascist aftermath, then watching Icíar Bollaín's new Mataharis, with its look at a present-day (and just as insidious) method of keeping the powerful in power is to note a rather disturbing-but-typical timeline. If the Miró retrospective offered a look into the mind of (particularly) women in the period during and after the Franco years, new films like Judith Collel's 53 Winter Days and Rodrigo Cortes's Contestant showed us the somewhat precarious state of urban Spain today.

Other more charming links from past to present can be found by observing certain actors in both their early and current films. Blanca Portillo makes a lovely gentlewoman in Miró's The Dog in the Manger; twelve years later, here she is in a terrific performance as an angry but wonderfully decent ex-con in Gracia Querejeta's new Seven Billiard Tables. Likewise, the lovely Emma Suárez can be seen in Miró's Manger, Your Name Poisons My Dreams and the new Under the Stars. Both actresses (plus Ms Portillo's Billiard costar Maribel Verdú) have been nominated for Goya awards this year - the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars. SCN often hosts a number of Goya-nominated films, and this year I counted some 27 nominations among the 17 new films in the SCN roster, from best production to direction, acting, writing, editing, cinematography and score.

Speaking of the Goya awards brings us to the one possibly great film of this festival, Jaime Rosales's La Soledad. I hesitate to use the word masterpiece for a movie I have seen only once. Time will tell. Meanwhile, this new work from the maker of The Hours of the Day uses an often stationery camera (abetted by the occasional split screen) plus a visionary screenplay (with its dialogue given life by a wonderful acting ensemble) to allow an observation of life that we have rarely, maybe never seen. A young woman whom I met at the SCN luncheon told me that her parents, who live in Spain, called La Soledad the best film in the SCN festival, although she herself felt it was "more art than cinema." I found it both: high art that is rigorous yet accessible. That it has been nominated for a Best Picture Goya is most encouraging, although it is up against the enormously humane Seven Billiard Tables, 13 Roses (which I have not seen) and The Orphanage, soon to be released here via Picturehouse and already Spain's top-grossing movie of the year (also as yet unseen by me).

If the Goyas function as anything like our Oscars, the outcome, I should think, is foregone. "Entertainment" is still king internationally, of course, but unlike your average city cineplex, the FSLC's Walter Reade Theater offers its patrons the increasingly rare and precious opportunity to think, feel and learn - in addition to being entertained. Still, this Goya nomination might bring La Soledad one step closer to a deserved release here in the US.

Immigration, a hot topic in most of the western world, figured importantly in much of the SCN roster, including Barcelona (A Map), Doghead, The Education of Fairies, 53 Winter Days, Mataharis, Scandalous, Septembers, Under the Stars, Yo and Said's Journey (part of the Shortmetraje program).

Another link from past to present in this edition of SCN occurs via, of all things, the two musicals on offer, one distinctly old style (Lola, la película), the other quite new (Scandalous). Though neither is anything like a conventional musical, both feature musical numbers. The former, set in the 1930s and 40s, gives a rich sense of period (even if it manages to completely leave out the Spanish Civil War!) and a look at the phenomenal actress/singer/dancer Lola Flores, brought to wonderful life by Gala Évora (another Goya nominee). The latter, directed and co-written with an unusual combination of reticence, spirit and charm by Álvaro Begines, has almost nothing in common with the Lola film, except perhaps its own Lola, via the wonderful Lola Herrera, an integral part of the acting ensemble who possesses the flamenco spirit and hauteur.

These two movies, one concerned with Spain's past, the other with her present (and perhaps future) make a lovely pair of bookends to the festival. I can't help imagining Lola Flores herself, looking down on (perhaps up at?) Spanish Cinema Now - and smiling with surprise, pleasure and approval.

Posted by dwhudson at December 26, 2007 5:07 AM