Blood Wedding ( Bodas de sangre )

Blood Wedding (DVD) (*)

~~$20.99~~ $14.97

Original Title: Bodas de sangre
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain
Montreal World Film Festival

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
68 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Biographies
Filmographies
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Trailer(s)

Movie filmed in 1981 and produced in:
Spain ( Spain, Portugal )

Directed By:
Carlos Saura

Written By:
Antonio Artero
Antonio Gades

Actors:
Antonio Gades ..... Leonardo
Cristina Hoyos ..... Bride
Juan Antonio Jiménez ..... Groom
Pilar Cárdenas ..... Mother
Carmen Villena ..... Wife
Elvira Andrés ..... Wedding Guest
Lario Díaz ..... Wedding Guest
El Güito ..... Wedding Guest
Enrique Esteve ..... Wedding Guest
Azucena Flores ..... Wedding Guest
Quico Franco ..... Wedding Guest
Cristina Gombau ..... Wedding Guest
Marisa Neila ..... Wedding Guest
Antonio Quintana ..... Wedding Guest
Candy Román ..... Wedding Guest

Synopsis:

Blood Wedding (Bodas de Sangre) is a 1981 Spanish musical film written and directed by Carlos Saura. It is the first part of Saura's 1980s flamenco trilogy, and is followed by Carmen (1983) and El Amor Brujo (1986). Backstage in a theatre, the camera follows the arrival, make-up and rehearsal of a dance company. They perform the flamenco ballet, Blood Wedding: Leonardo, a married man, is in love with the bride to be. At the end of the ceremony he runs off with the bride but the bridegroom chases after them and challenges his rival.

Presented in almost a documentary fashion, Bodas de Sangre combines cinema and dance in a seamless manner that few films have achieved. The basic idea of the film - a simple dress rehearsal in a bare hall - does not sound like it has much cinematic potential, but director Carlos Saura turns the film into a beautiful cinematic tour de force, moving his camera with as much grace and rhythm as the dancers themselves (with, of course, the invaluable aid of cinematographer Teo Escamilla). Saura strikes just the right balance of using the camera to enhance the experience, while at the same time allowing the dance to speak for itself. He never intrudes on or competes with the dance, and indeed his touch is so light and subtle that at times the camera almost disappears. Only once does he noticeably misstep, when he makes the mistake of shooting a scene from a bird's-eye view, which is so distracting it temporarily shatters the illusion. He soon regains his footing. Saura has stripped the film of all of its inessentials, and created a perfect unity of dance and the cinema, the two art forms complementing each other. And in the climactic knife fight of Leonardo and the groom, Saura brings all of his techniques together, in a beautifully staged focus on pure dance and movement; at that moment, only movement is relevant and even music is insufficient to convey the passion of the scene. It almost goes without saying that the dancing is fantastic, and the contribution of choreographer and lead dancer Antonio Gades cannot be overstated. Saura went on to direct several other dance films, from Carmen (1983) to Tango (1998), frequently in collaboration with Gades.

The film depicts Antonio Gades and his dance company performing a flamenco adaptation of Federico García Lorca's play Blood Wedding. As with all Saura's flamenco films, the film is overtly theatrical: it begins with the company arriving at the studio and putting on costumes and makeup. The dance is then performed in a bare windowed space with a minimum of props and no set. There are no elaborate costumes and many of the actors wear only their rehearsal clothes.

This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 15 August, 2006.

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