This week we have discussed how the advent of sound and the emergence of Surrealism played a critical role in the development of the Second Republic, and viceversa. We considered how audiovisual representation of violence is intrinsically related to much of the history of filmmaking in Spain during the 20th century. Write a paragraph in which you reflect upon the importance of the Double, the subconscious, dreams, and returns for the formation of historical memories. Include in your post how Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves / Snow White, travels back to the future to conjugate all this national information.
Please, post your reflection by 5pm on Saturday, 13 February, 2021.
I really enjoyed watching Blancanieves/Snow White this week. After reading Pavlovic’s discussion of Un Chien Andalou and Andres Zamora’s article on Violence and the Spanish Eyes, I was watching closely for the same symbolism in Blancanieves. Pavlovic makes an interesting argument that the violence of the sliced eye in Un Chien Andalou is an act of aggression, not only on the woman or the animal, but on the spectator/audience of the film as well. Zamora echoes this idea by arguing that the depiction of violence in Spanish Cinema is an act of violence on the Nation itself saying, “Trying to blind the enemy, which is ourselves, we inescapably shoot our own eye out.” In Blancanieves, the eyes also contain important symbolic meaning. Carmen’s eyes remind her father of her dead mother, are used to show how Carmen regains her memory of her father after having amnesia, and express her pain and tragedy in the final moments of the film as a tear falls from her sleeping eye, hinting that she is still aware of being exploited and unwantedly kissed even in her unconscious state. Since our discussion on Wednesday, I have also been thinking a lot about the idea of the Double and how it functions to teach us more about the relationship between two people or things. The Double in Blancanieves shows symbolism between people, with Carmen and her Father, as well as connections between objects, with the Holy Communion and the Moon. Carmen’s glass box as a baby also serves as a sort of double, to reference her later fate to be condemned to her taxidermied “Snow White” state. The final scene of Blancanieves is beautifully haunting and I’m looking forward to hearing more about what my classmates thought of the film.
I feel as though the course material very much emphasizes the unconscious predilection towards violence within Spanish culture. From bullfighting to conquistadors to Franco, there appears to be a great deal of violence in Spain’s history. The gaze is important as it serves as a motivator for violence, you’re committing violence so other people can see you do it. Snow White grapples with violence on a sub-conscious level. I think the film is in a way a punishment against violence and the gaze, and it is made clear when Antonio Villalta is brutalized by the bull and made a quadriplegic, effectively emasculating him. Carmen serves as a double, as when she engages in this same performance, she is also rendered immobile (i.e. comatose from being poisoned). Interestingly she didn’t even try to kill the bull, so maybe it’s the gaze that’s punished, rather than the violence itself. This is enforced by the shot of the clouds going through the moon mirroring the eye cutting/cloud through moon scene in Andalusian Dog. I’d also like to not how surprised I was by the mention of injuries to the eye I saw in our readings this week, which I feel like corroborates the idea that the gaze desiring violence is something to grapple with.
Blancanieves (Snowhite) is a silent Spanish film from 2012, directed by Pablo Berger. In his re-imagining of the classic Brothers Grimm story, Berger crafts a tale of bullfighting, abuse and tradition, set in early 20th century Spain, during the end monarchal rule. Referencing some of the quintessential elements of the original snowhite story, such as the evil female antagonist, the benevolent female lead, the poison apple and the seven dwarfs, Berger takes many liberties in translating said elements into a historical Spanish fiction. Centering around young Carmen and her quest for autonomy, Blancanieves not only tells a fantastical story of family and bullfighting, but one of tradition challenging modernity in pre-Franco Spain. The most clear representation is said dichotomy or double is Carmen’s story arch, as she transforms from a subservient woman to proud bullfighter. Despite escaping oppression and reaching stardom in a male-dominated field, Carmen is eventually defeated and subjugated to exploitation, even after her tragic and early death. Likewise to the brief freedom enjoyed by Blancanieves in Berger’s film, Spain’s freedom from monarchism was short-lived before succumbing to Franco and fascism by the late 1930s. Furthermore, Blancanieves’ freedom was bookended by violence and abuse, like Spain during the second republic; a brief period of reform and progressivism in between long stretches of authoritarianism. Carmen’s naiveness as a free adult may be referencing the collective conscious of the Spanish people during their “dream”. Where the common tellings of the Grimm’s Snowhite ends on a joyous note, with the title character coming back to life, “happily ever after”, Berger’s film sees Carmen’s corps kissed by a friend, resulting in a single tear falling from her life-less body. Rather than adhering to the classic, optimistic ending of Snowhite, Berger subverts the viewers expectations with a far more poignant conclusion, implying Carmen will remain in bondage indefinitely. Carmen’s eternal sleep shares similarities to Spain’s 36-years of Francoism.
In last week’s classes we discussed Spanish violence in films. I found the essay by Zamora especially illuminating about the ways that violence shape the Spanish consciousness. I’m looking forward to our classes on the Spanish civil war and the ensuing Franco era to help elucidate the expressions of violence embedded in Spanish society that was brought up in the essay. In the film, Blancanieves, eyes play a significant role especially considering that the film is silent. I found it very interesting that the film contained so many references of the surrealist film by Banuel. The eye that gets sliced in the beginning of Un chien andalou with the tear that comes out is referenced at the end of the film when a tear slides out of the paralyzed Carmencita. The use of fairytales in reference to surrealist cinema allows the story being told to feel less engrained in time and space. But still, by setting the film in the 1920’s means that the young Carmen would have grown up during the years of the Second Republic which is significant because of how the young Carmen becomes a matador and goes on to gain respect for her skill.
Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves serves as a haunting homage to early 20th-century Spanish silent film, illustrating the importance of the surrealist medium to historical critique and meta-commentary. His use of the surrealist double in character construction helps to flesh out and expand the personas of the players, especially in regard to the Protoganist, Carmen. Each member of the supporting cast serves to accentuate and or foil Carmen’s character development. Her Mother’s personality and visage often are cut with images of Carmen, reminding the audience of their connection but also presaging Carmen’s eventual demise. Furthermore, Carmen’s parallel with her Father’s bullfighting career foreshadows the tragedy that will befall her and indicate the machinations of her stepmother’s wrath against her. This process of doubling allows the viewer to see how Carmen’s identity is both shaped and adapted to by the supporting cast. Though mostly confined to the background environment, the brief Republican era in which this film takes place highlights both Berger’s metaphor of Carmen as a tragedy for Spain during the coming fascist period and Carmen’s own tragic confinement in an unbreakable sleep. Carmen’s life itself and the characters surrounding her are analogies for the Spanish state. Her living death is Spain under Franco. Carmen can still dream of a better life, like Spain, but cannot act it out. She is trapped.