Blood cinema: the reconstruction of national identity in Spain

Abstract

In this innovative synthesis of film history and cultural analysis, Marsha Kinder examines the films of such key directors as Bunuel, Saura, Erice, and Almodovar, as well as works from the popular cinema and television, exploring how they manifest political and cultural tensions related to the production of Spanish national identity within a changing global context. Concentrated on the decades from the 1950s to the 1990s, Kinder's work is broadly historical but essentially conceptual, moving backward and forward in time, drawing examples from earlier films and from works of art and literature, and providing close readings of a wide range of texts. Her questioning and internationalizing of the 'national cinema' concept and her application of contemporary critical theory - especially insights from feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, cultural studies, and discourse theory - distinguish Blood Cinema from previous film histories. The author also makes use of a variety of sources within Spain such as the commentaries on Spanish character and culture by Unamunov and others, the contemporary debate over the restructuring of Spanish television. Kinder's book moves Spanish cinema into the mainstream of film studies by demonstrating that a knowledge of its history alters and enriches our understanding of world cinema. The interactive CD-ROM is available from CINE-DISCS, 2021 Holly Hill Terrace, Los Angeles, CA 90068, (213) 876-7678.

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