The 80s marked an era of rupture with the forty years of fascism and the nostalgic embracement of imperial politics, and a subversion of the highly documented National. This week we considered how religious institutions (more particularly, convents and nunneries) and melodrama contributed to the representation of fascism and religiosity in Spanish cinema, and we focused on how the ‘Pedro Almodóvar phenomenon’ became a remarkable example of this representation. We discussed how these two concepts had a bearing in the critique of imperial politics, concretely in the reframing of the honor code, and in the configuration of historical memory as a legal and cultural phenomenon.
For this week’s meditation, write a comment on how Almodóvar’s explosive filmic representation of the religious institution of conventual life and its polar opposite world of prostitution, constitute an early, heavy mix of melodrama, music, iconography, and performance of fascism critique. Post your comment by 5pm on Sunday, please.
Melodramatic film is categorized by sensational plot lines, dramatic outbursts, embellished dialogue and an over-arching embrace of hyperbole. In Dark Habits, Almodóvar manipulates melodramatic tropes and stylizations in his telling of what is at its core, very real and poignant social issues set in the backdrop of post-francoist Spain. Dark Habits discusses Spanish culture in the 1980s and the struggle to reject fascism and religious dogmatism in very overt, on-the-nose fashions. Immediately we are introduced to Yolanda, an exotic dancer who finds refuge from the authorities in a catholic convent. The expected juxtaposition between heroin-shooting Yolanda and her new-found community of nuns is quickly subverted when it is revealed the members of the convent use recreational drugs and participate in otherwise “sinful” activities. Here, Almodóvar puts in the motion the components of a classic melodrama, exchanging them for twists of black comedy and social realism. Likewise the rejection of fascism for modern reform is personified by La Marquesa, the convent’s primary patron, who cuts off support for the home at the death of her fascist husband. From her unwillingness to spend her recent inheritance on the convent and the loss of her daughter to the church, La Marquesa wishes to move on from the religious structures of Franco’s Spain. Ironically, La Marquesa turns her back on a distinctly anti-fascist group of women. Despite their circumstance, the women of the convent also embody rebellion and social liberalism, some more discreetly than others. The nuns remain attached to church however, out of necessity for a decent standard of living. It is not until the end of the film that Yolanda inspires the women to leave the convent, and their respective modest lifestyles.
With the death of Franco and the pivot away from authoritarian fascism, Spain unfortunately experienced some growing pains in the push towards a more democratic society, not the least of which were high unemployment and government corruption. Within the realm of film and movies there seemed to be a tendency to “look back” at the last 40 years of fascism within Spain and Spanish society. While most films of the time adhered to an overly glossy look that ultimately made them somewhat forgettable, Pedro Almodovar’s films were a welcome deviation from that trend. One way in which Almodovar was able to add great humor to his film Entre Tinieblas was through the usage of melodrama. Melodrama is characterized by extremely heightened emotions, and when not handled properly, will cause the film or television show in question to become unintentionally hilarious. Almodovar understands this, and intentionally uses melodrama to create a humorous film. More than that however, mixing the melodrama with the iconography within his film makes for an excellent critique of authoritarianism and fascism. The usage of melodrama makes for an excellent critique of fascism, because unintentionally hilarious melodrama is essentially something attempting to be serious and respected and failing to do so. By associating fascism with the melodrama, fascism becomes foolish and worthy of ridicule. Almodovar’s usage of iconography also adds to his fascism and authoritarianism. Fascism sought to align itself with the church and receive a holy endorsement of sorts. By making the church an instrument for the downtrodden instead of for the authoritarian the way Franco sought to, you are essentially alienating fascism from the church.
Dark Habits uses the tropes of melodramatic films, most notably the dramatic, emotional responses and sensational plot, to address the changing political, social, and economic values in Spain after Franco’s death. Dark Habits recognizes the shift in Spanish culture in the 1980s away from the strict patriarchal rules and fascist regime. Yolanda, a singer, prostitute, and heroin addict rejects all aspects of the honor code. She is a promiscuous, scantily-clad performer who spends her time doing drugs and smoking cigarettes. However, she finds refuge with a community of nuns who are equally sinful. Mother Superior encourages Yolanda’s drug use, takes drugs with her, and is shown to be a lesbian in love with her. Almodóvar takes the components of classic melodrama and uses them to twist audience expectations for how women and nuns should act. These “sinful” traits are a rejection of fascism and they embrace liberalism and modernity. Ultimately, when Yolanda leaves the convent to stay with La Marquesa, it is her final rejection of formal, modest values in favor of her unpredictable, dramatically un-modest lifestyle.
Dark Habits, at its core, represents the Spanish tradition of dueling opposites, paradoxes and contradictions. The film functions as a way of revealing the “underbelly” of Spanish society that was hidden and denied under Franco. His death, and the gradual liberalization of society allowed for the liberation of these facts. The church and state structures could no longer deny the presence of hated immoraility. Importantly, the irreverant nature of the film seems as if it a form of national catharsis. For so long the church was an untouchable arm of the State. Now it could be filled with drugs, homosexuality and crime. I also think this film presents a question about the crimes of the church in Spain. What makes participating in drug trafficking a crime and collaborating with a fascist state not a crime? The essence of the previous social and moral traditions were rooted in oppression. The church has shifted from one type of crime to another.
For this week, you asked us to consider ruins, the physical ruins of the convent but also depictions of ruinous religion, actions, intentions. The film depicts the plights and joys of a group of nuns living in a convent in the middle of the Madrid. The literal ruinous state of the convent mirrors the ruinous and bastardized forms of religion Almodovar depicts in the actions and intentions of the various nuns. Yolanda , a sex worker and drug addict seeking shelter with a nun who is obsessed with her, becomes the last pillar that keeps the convent standing. A symbol of the outside world, decay, decadence, and modernity, brings about the demise of the convent but not in a destructive way; most of the characters find a catalyst in Yolanda’s presence.
The aspect I am interested in is the reference to the dead benefactor of the convent. He is named to be a fascist, and through out the film he is shown to be controlling through his wishes for his family. The creation of a room for Virginia in the style of her room in their house could seem like a sweet gesture of love and affection, an attempt to create a sense of comfort, but simultaneously suffocating and sickly sweet in the dual cloistering of in the home and convent simultaneously. It’s compelling to me to think about the dual nature of male compassion and control that we have seen in many of the father figures in the films we have watched throughout the semester.