Religion and Spanish Film: Luis Buñuel, the Franco Era, and Contemporary Directors

What is it about?

How religious themes and the influence of the Catholic Church have shaped Spanish cinema. Treatments of religion found in Spanish cinema range from the pious to the anticlerical and atheistic, and every position in between. In a nation with a strong Catholic tradition, resistance to and rebellion against religious norms go back almost as far as the notion of “Sacred Spain.” Religion and Spanish Film provides a sustained study of the religious film genre in Spain practiced by mainstream Francoist film makers, the evolving iconoclasm, parody, and reinvention of the Catholic by internationally renowned Surrealist Luis Buñuel, and the ongoing battle of the secular versus the religious manifested in critically and popularly acclaimed directors Pedro Almodóvar, Julio Medem, Alejandro Amenábar, and many others. The conflicted Catholicism that emerges from examining religious themes in Spanish film history shows no sign of ending, as unresolved issues from the Civil War and Franco dictatorship, as well as the unsettled relationship between Church and State, continue into the present. Elizabeth Scarlett is Professor of Spanish and Chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literature at the University of Buffalo, SUNY.

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Why is it important?

First work to examine the entire trajectory of Spanish cinema for its connections to religion. Brings to bear relevant theory on religion and culture by Bourdieu, Kristeva, Eagleton, Habermas, and Baudrillard.