The legendary name of Spanish cinema Carlos Saura passed away
He often spoke in interviews about a life shaped by art and a restless drive to move beyond mere performance. He once tried his hand at dancing, and when that path didn’t become his, he turned to making films. From his first short film Flemish in 1955, the career of the Aragonese director from Huesca, born in 1932, evolved into a lifelong association with flamenco. In a conversation with RTVE, he reflected that perhaps the impulse to make flamenco movies arose from the things he could not dance himself.
His early collaboration with the renowned bailaor Antonio Gades marked a turning point. The trilogy inspired by intense flamenco works began with Blood Wedding (1981), continued with Carmen (1983), and concluded with Love Wizard (1986). These dance-centered films captivated Saura and demonstrated his belief that cinema could elevate dance beyond a folkloric role that had persisted during the Franco era. He mixed fiction with documentary, guiding audiences through a hybrid form that treated flamenco as a living, evolving art.
Carmen, an adaptation of Bizet’s opera, achieved international recognition and earned praise at Cannes, while also being considered for the Academy Awards. This project solidified Saura’s reputation as a filmmaker who could translate stage and ritual into a cinematic language that resonated worldwide.
He returned to the flamenco world through another lens, seeking new forms and content. Sevillanas (1991) captured the genre at a moment of explosive popularity, a time when records sold in the millions and many flamenco artists engaged with the director. Saura did not linger on this film; his next projects continued the approach of documentary-style formats that placed artists in studio settings, while preserving the vitality of their performances. Flemish (1995) and Flamingo, Flamingo (2010) followed along the same path, blending studio aesthetics with the spontaneity of live performance.
Over these years Saura produced a rich tapestry that reflected the diverse currents within flamenco. The films drew on Levantine corraleras popularized by figures like Lorca and La Argentinita, as well as the intimate piano-driven sevillanas of Manuel Pareja Obregón. They also showcased the many ways to dance them and served as records of pivotal artistic moments: a guitar dialogue between masters such as Paco de Lucía and Manolo Sanlúcar, Lola Flores performing a bata de cola, and other unforgettable scenes that highlighted the art’s evolving nature. These works captured the flamenco voice in its prime and preserved it for later generations to study and enjoy.
Saura’s visual language emphasized natural representation and a strong connection between music, dance, and light. The camera’s movement, the craft of set decoration, and the rhythm of editing all supported the performances without overshadowing the artists themselves. His approach allowed the flamenco of the moment to come alive on screen while maintaining a sense of immediacy and authenticity.
Relying on reference figures from the 1990s in flamenco and embracing the 2000s as a living era, Saura demonstrated a unique ability to immortalize the contemporary flamenco scene on each tape. Yet the constant thread through his work remained clear: a deep respect for the evolving, multifaceted nature of this art form. [Citation: Saura’s interviews and filmography, including discussions with RTVE].
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