Indecent Exposures; Bunuel, Saura, Erice and Almodovar; Edwards

Gwynne Edwards [+–]

Professor Gwynne Edwards teaches in the Department of Romance Studies at the University of Wales and is author of the much praised critical study Lorca: The Theatre Beneath the Sand, published by Marion Boyars.

The political turmoil of the Spanish Civil War, together with the attendant cultural isolationism which Franco’s repressive regime imposed upon the Spanish people has ironically fostered a strong tradition of subversive film makers dedicated to challenging the assumed realities of the status quo. Intent upon the ruthless exposure of hypocrisy and repression, the four Spanish directors, Bunuel, Saura, Erice and Almodovar have created a unique and distinctive body of work. Gwynne Edwards’ Indecent Exposures gives the reader a first-class introduction to ten of their films, depicting a world where bourgeois values have collapsed, and the facades of good manners, political expediency and social propriety have all been thrown aside. Such cinema classics as Bunuel’s Viridiana, Saura’s Raise Ravens, Erice’s Spirit of the Beehive and Almodovar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown are all analyzed in great depth, their major and minor themes discussed and set against both the social and political contexts of the time and the concerns reflected in the directors’ own lives. Indecent Exposures is essential reading for anyone interested in Spanish cinema; perhaps one of the most vibrant and iconoclastic contributions to this twentieth-century medium.

Reviews

Turning their faces away from Hollywood, except to exploit it as the purveyor of old and recyclable cliches, and towards the ruthless exposure of hypocrisy and repression, the four Spanish filmmakers Bunuel, Saura, Erice, and Almodovar have created a unique and distinctive body of work, making the most vibrant and iconoclastic contribution to twentieth-century film. Gwynne Edwards' Indecent Exposures depicts a world where middle class values collapse, and the facade of good manners, social propriety and the edicts of political expediency and established religion have all been thrown aside. Such cinema classics as Bunuel's Viridiana, Saura's Raise Ravens, Erice's The Spirit of the Beehive, and Almodovar's High Heels (as well as six more contemporary films by the same directors) are analyzed in great depth, their major and minor themes discussed and set against both their social and political context and the concerns reflected in the directors' own lives.
Midwest Book Review

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Indecent Exposures

Bunuel, Saura, Erice and Almodovar

Gwynne Edwards [+–]

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