Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Romance Studies - Spanish Studies, grade: 1,3 (A), Kingston University London (Spanish Institute), course: Spanish Cinema, language: English, abstract: Introduction Almodovar’s first three films Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (1980), Laberinto de Pasiones (1982) and Entre Tinieblas (1983) can be seen as a breaking of all the taboos that were forbidden under Franco’s regime: there is drug use, "abnormal" sexuality, crude language, adultery, religious blasphemy. The films clearly mirror the new freedoms enjoyed by a generation of film-makers belonging to Spain’s “la movida” movement of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Born in 1951, Almodovar mainly grew up in the rural Extremadura, but left for Madrid at the age of sixteen. He originally wanted to attend the national film school, but due to the closure of the school by the Dictator Franco′s repressive government he was unable to go. He instead took a job at a telephone company to make the money to buy himself a Super-8 camera. Almodovar began filming short films in the early 1970s, and quickly became associated with ‘la movida’. This essay will be evaluating Almodovar’s role as a post-modern director, including a brief demonstration of the development of the post-modern culture after Franco’s death. The essay is especially interested in the juxtaposition of homo- and heterosexuality in Almodovar’s films and will evaluate the different ways in which Almodovar presents homosexuality. It will also have a close look at the mediums Almodovar uses to make his audience take his absurd film worlds for granted, and accept the happenings and characters as ‘normal’.

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Romance Languages - Spanish Studies, grade: 1,3 (A), Kingston University London (Spanish Institute), course: Spanish Cinema, language: English, abstract: Introduction Almodovar's first three films Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón (1980), Laberinto de Pasiones (1982) and Entre Tinieblas (1983) can be seen as a breaking of all the taboos that were forbidden under Franco's regime: there is drug use, "abnormal" sexuality, crude language, adultery, religious blasphemy. The films clearly mirror the new freedoms enjoyed by a generation of film-makers belonging to Spain's "la movida" movement of the late 1970's and early 1980's. Born in 1951, Almodovar mainly grew up in the rural Extremadura, but left for Madrid at the age of sixteen. He originally wanted to attend the national film school, but due to the closure of the school by the Dictator Franco′s repressive government he was unable to go. He instead took a job at a telephone company to make the money to buy himself a Super-8 camera. Almodovar began filming short films in the early 1970s, and quickly became associated with 'la movida'. This essay will be evaluating Almodovar's role as a post-modern director, including a brief demonstration of the development of the post-modern culture after Franco's death. The essay is especially interested in the juxtaposition of homo- and heterosexuality in Almodovar's films and will evaluate the different ways in which Almodovar presents homosexuality. It will also have a close look at the mediums Almodovar uses to make his audience take his absurd film worlds for granted, and accept the happenings and characters as 'normal'.

In this volume, eighteen experts from a variety of academic backgrounds explore the use of songs in films from the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds. This volume illustrates how – rather than simply helping to tell the story of – songs in Hispanic and Lusophone cinema commonly upset the hierarchy of the visual over the aural, thereby rendering their hearing a complex and rich subject for analysis. Screening songs... constitutes a ground-breaking, interdisciplinary collection. Of particular interest to scholars and academics in the areas of Film Studies, Hispanic Studies, Lusophone Studies and Musicology, this volume opens up the study of Hispanic and Lusophone cinema to vital, new, critical approaches. The soundtracks of films as varied as City of God, All About My Mother, Bad Education and Buena Vista Social Club are analysed alongside those of lesser-known works that range from the melodramas of Mexican cinema’s golden age to Brazilian and Portuguese musical comedies from the 1940s and 1950s. Fiction films are studied alongside documentaries, the work of established directors like Pedro Almodóvar, Carlos Saura and Nelson Pereira dos Santos alongside that of emerging filmmakers, and performances by iconic stars like Caetano Veloso and Chavela Vargas alongside the songs of Spanish Gypsy groups, Mexican folk songs and contemporary Brazilian rap.

This encyclopaedia will be an indispensable resource and recourse for all who are thinking about cities and the urban, and the relation of cities to literature, and to ways of writing about cities. Covering a vast terrain, this work will include entries on theorists, individual writers, individual cities, countries, cities in relation to the arts, film and music, urban space, pre/early and modern cities, concepts and movements and definitions amongst others. Written by an international team of contributors, this will be the first resource of its kind to pull together such a comprehensive overview of the field.

This annual guide on global film-making offers a unique survey of trends, achievements and personalities during the past year. As usual the guide selects five Directors of the Year for appraisal: Danny Boyle, Takeshi Kitano, Soren Kragh-Jacobsen, David Mamet and Spike Lees. This edition has updated sections on film festivals, music and archives.