Fata Morgana

Spain 1965. Dir Vicente Aranda.


Aranda’s futuristic thriller Fata Morgana (1965) is an intriguing exploration of violence committed against beautiful women. The plot is centred around the murderous pursuit of Gim, a publicity model, played by one of Spain’s favourite models of the time, Teresa Gimpera. The model-turned-actress was “an ever-present visual fetish of her time in Spain” and a fascination for Gonzalo Suárez who turned the top model phenomenon into a film script. Set in a city evacuated after a thermonuclear catastrophe, the film’s cool aesthetic owes much to the ‘60s pop-art-meets-Cold-War world of comic books, advertising and fashion. With its essayistic approach to filmmaking, Fata Morgana inaugurated the avant-garde School of Barcelona (1965 - 1970), one of Spain’s most distinct film movements.

With grateful thanks to Filmoteca de Catalunya.

 


Ciné lumière Friday 16 May 2008, 20:45