Pomiędzy płótnem a ekranem. Inspiracje twórczością Goi w kinie hiszpańskim
Between canvas and the screen. The inspiration of Goya in the Spanish cinema

Author(s): Joanna Aleksandrowicz
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Film / Cinema / Cinematography, Sociology of Art
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Goya; Spanish cinema
Summary/Abstract: The work depicts artistic output of Francisco Goya y Lucientes as a source of inspirationin the Spanish cinema by basing on the examples of 81 films from the years1926—2011 (among which only 14 were distributed in Poland). Most of them arefeature film, but there are also documentaries, TV series’ as well as animations. Theaim of the book is to show — on the ground of film studies — how the perception ofGoya in his homeland has been changing in consecutive stages of history, and how,also thanks to the cinema, he has been transfromed into an icon of Spanishness.The methods applied by the author are typical for comparative cultural studies,and they can be inscribed in the current of studies on intertextuality in film. A comparativeanalysis gathering the disciplines of cinema and painting, concentrates on boththe meaning of an artwork, functioning in various socio-cultural contexts, and thestructural aspects that are pertained to its aesthetic layer.Contrary to previous research, the book is the first attempt at such a broad depictionof the subject in question. Up until now, only papers on a short-term basis havebeen written. Their authors focused on the renderings of the painter on screen. Whatis dominant among the studies referred to in the book — altogether 350, mainly writtenin Spanish — are works describing the oeuvre and life of Goya and outlining therole of an artist in the Spanish culture as well as socio-political conditions of theepoch he lived in. It was essential to refer to first of Goya’s biographers, and confronttheir relations with survived letters of the painter. The publications on film andpainting correspondence also appeared useful. The same can be said about monographsfrom the field of history of Spanish cinema.The introduction of the film references’ peculiarities would have been impossiblewithout outlining the context of Goya’s works and their reception in the epochs thatfollowed. Therefore, the first of the book’s three parts constitutes an attempt to highlightthose features of oeuvre and life of the artist that became magnetic to filmmakers.The conceptions seeking the origins of film visual imagination in the master’slate works were presented together with the roots of his romantic legend that echoedin all of his on-screen depictions. Also, the issue of national identity has been touchedupon, the complex character of which found its expression in Goya’s paintings and hismajor cycles of graphics. Aside from the map of diverse references that prove constantpresence of the painter in the culture of his country, the inspiration of Goya inthe areas of visual arts, literature and music has also been shown. The purpose of theabove was to depict the references in the films as a part of particular cultural continuity.On thus drawn background the subsequent parts of the work has been presented,which were devoted to film studies research as such. In the second part, three maincurrents according to precise source of inspiration have been distinguished. The firstone concentrates on the figure of Goya himself, recurrent on screen as a main characterof biographical films, but also as a supporting character in historical films. Thesecond one is the war of independence, iconography of which is frequently present intales about other conflicts as well, especially the Spanish Civil War. The third area ofinspiration is constituted by varying social contexts — ranging from the images ofmonarchs and aristocracy to that of poverty and superstition, through bullfighting,scenes of folk’s life, religious motives, Inquisition, marriage, prostitution, and insightfulanalysis and critique of morals.From such a division of film thematic reminiscences result three main functionsof painting inspirations in cinema. Aside from biographical aspect, they are: usingoeuvre in rendering the climate of a given epoch in historical films, and placinga painting or a graphic in another contexts, in which they gain new, often surprisingmeaning and prove the universality of the artistic vision.The analysis of the film material have let us concurrently highlight the changes inperceiving Goya reflected by the cinema largely connected to transfromations in thesphere of politics. In the age of silent cinema, before the civil war, a given artists’works helped to build a colourful image of Spain from the period of the 18th and 19thcenturies, intertwined into national and political threads. The films created after 1939were subdued to Fracoist ideology in both presenting the painter image and selectiveversion of his oeuvre, restricted in that time to pastoral images from the folk’s life andearly religious paintings. On the other hand, Goya’s later works were a source of inspirationto opposition directors who created their films at the twilight of dictatorshipor in the first years after Franco’s death. The period after establishing democracy didnot put down the need to confront works of the great painter from Aragon, stillaccompanying filmmakers in their reflection on past and contemporary Spain.The last part of the book, similarly as in the case of thematic threads, can betreated as kind of general conclusion devoted to aesthetic issues. Thus, the followingtopics have been discussed: utilizing portraits by Goya in depicting historical figures,the role of requisites taken from his paintings and graphics, the scenery functions inthe artist’s oeuvre and its influence on shaping filming space. The question of shotcomposition has been discussed as well as the problem of frame, colour andchiaroscuro nuances, and the particular types of references — the formula of “alivepainting”, intertextual punctum, quasi-quotes and cinema-painting. The above haveundergone metamorphosis in the subsequent decades of the film history — from beingprimarily blatant as a painting re-created on screen, towards less and less literal andmore and more veiled references.The present studies, designed to show Goya as a painter still relevant today —witness of his epoch, at the same time transcending far beyond it with his thoughts —open a field for further, more precise researches, directions of which were marked outin the book’s conclusion.

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