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Images of Dissent: Spanish Film under Franco

Module description

This module combines an overview of cinema in Spain during the Franco dictatorship and Transition with close analysis of selected films. We will consider questions of  propaganda, popular film and art cinema.

It is suitable for Hispanic Studies students, particularly those following a Hispanic / European Film pathways. Students who have not previously studied cinema should have studied at least one level 1 Spanish culture module.

It is also suitable for Film Studies/ Visual Culture students, particularly those following a European cinema pathway. Students who have not previously studied Spanish culture should have studied at least one level 1cinema module.

Module aims - intentions of the module

In this module you will explore the extraordinary films that arose from  the historical contexts of the Franco dictatorship and subsequent Transition. You will acquire a nuanced understanding of such terms as ‘propaganda’ film, ‘popular’ film and oppositional ‘auteurist’ cinema in order to consider what an ‘image of dissent’ in these contexts might be. You will consider production contexts in this period and consider questions such as how a film a film is financed and how are the director and creative team trained? Your main focus will be to  analyse the use of film form in the selected texts, including the deployment of genre and casting, and the use of mise-en-scène, cinematography, editing and sound.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a sound general understanding of the chosen films, including reference to their place in the historical and cultural contexts of their time.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 2. With some guidance from the course tutor, evaluate and apply a range of critical approaches to the material covered.
• 3. Mount a detailed argument in the appropriate register of English, mustering a range of textual or other evidence in its support.
• 4. Understand and use, in written and oral contexts, a range of film-critical terms.
• 5. Access and use critically printed and, where appropriate, electronic learning resources identified as useful by the course tutor, and, to a limited extent, discover other useful materials independently.
• 6. Analyse selected films, relating them to significant elements in their historical and cultural contexts.
• 7. Demonstrate visual literacy skills appropriate to the level, e.g. an ability to relate images to meanings beyond the images themselves and an understanding that the cinematic image is the product of a combination of personal values, technological practices and cultural and industrial contexts.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 8. Undertake defined learning activities with a measure of autonomy, asking for guidance where necessary.
• 9. Adopt a critical approach to the selection and organisation of material in order to produce, to a deadline, an oral /or a written argument.
• 10. Present information and arguments on a defined topic to a group of listeners.
• 11. Present a cogent and sustained argument orally and in writing, in English, on a topic chosen from a range of options provided, following broad guidelines but selecting and adapting them as required.

Syllabus plan

   Introductions: I. Film Studies: analysis of film language; overview of genres; theory and     criticism. II. Spanish Cinema: cinema of the regime; cinema of resistance; popular and art cinemas.

Bienvenido Míster Marshall / Welcome, Mr. Marshall (Berlanga 1952)
Muerte de un ciclista / Death of a Cyclist (Bardem 1955)
Viridiana (Buñuel, 1961)

Gary Cooper, que estás en los cielos / Gary Cooper, Who Art in Heaven (Miró 1980)
Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón / Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap (Almodóvar 1980)

Module Review

NB Films may vary depending on availability. Alternative films may include Plácido (Berlanga 1961), La gran familia / The Great Family (Palacios 1962), El mundo sigue / Life Goes On (Fernán-Gómez 1963), La tía Tula / Aunt Tula (Picazo, 1964) and La caza / The Hunt (Saura 1965).

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Bentley, Bernard.  A Companion to Spanish Cinema, Woodbridge: Tamesis, 2008

Faulkner, Sally, A History of Spanish Film: Cinema and Society 1910-2010, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2013

Hopewell, John. Out of the Past: Spanish Cinema after Franco, London: BFI, 1986

Jordan, Barry, and Mark Allinson, Spanish Cinema: A Student's Guide, London: Hodder Arnold, 2005

Labanyi, Jo and Tatjana Pavlovi�� (eds), A Companion to Spanish Cinema, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013

Pavlovi��, Tatjana and others, 2009, 100 Years of Spanish Cinema,Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009

Stone, Rob. Spanish Cinema, Harlow: Longman, 2002

Triana-Toribio, Núria. Spanish National Cinema, London: Routledge, 2003

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Films in syllabus plan

Key words search

Spanish film; Franco’s Spain; Auteurist Cinema; Dissident Cinema; Transition