Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Spawn (Motion picture)'

This study sets out to determine the interrelationship between meaning(s), form (specifically framing and composition), cinematic technology and the surrealist ideology with specific reference to Luis Buñuel’s film, Un Chien Andalou (1929). The study utilises a semiotic framework to analyse the seminal film, as well as the researcher’s short film Facebrick (2012). The semiotic reading is conducted according to key surrealist tenets namely, spatio-­‐temporal disruption, the use of free-­‐association and the inclusion of cultural, religious and sexual symbols as a revolutionary tool. Gillian Rose’s (2007) semiotic framework underpinned by James Monaco’s (1977) schema for analysing the moving image, was utilised to read the selected film texts. A comparative analysis reveals that although the researcher employed different cinematic technology to construct the short film than that available to Buñuel in the 1920s; similar cinematic techniques could be recreated, as the analysis shows, through the use of key surrealist characteristics. Not only did this allow mere reproduction of these techniques, but rather a full appropriation of these techniques within a contemporary context. Thus the techniques, communicate the surreal, both aesthetically and intellectually. The theoretical study provides the foundation for the practical output, creating a conceptual framework that guides the creation of a short film. The practical research component relies on the parameters identified in the semiotic reading. This was facilitated by the characteristics of Surrealism: the disruption of time and space, the inclusion of archetypal symbols and the use of free association. The short film, Facebrick (2012), follows a voyeur obsessed with gazing at three characters. The film explores the human condition in an urban environment drawing from themes such as Jean-­‐Paul Sartre’s gaze theory as well as Freudian themes of identity and sexuality.

In this thesis I present a case study of the Spanish civil war in cinema. I examine how this period has been represented in cinema through time, in different countries and in various cinematic forms. I reject the postmodern prognosis that the past is a chaotic mass, made sense of through the subjective narrativisation choices of historians working in the present. On the contrary, I argue that there are referential limits on what histories can be legitimately written about the past. I argue that there are different, often contradictory, representations of the Spanish civil war in cinema which indicates a diversity of uses for the past. But there are also referential limits on what can be legitimately represented cinematically. I argue that the civil war setting will continue to be one which filmmakers turn to as the battle for the future of Spain is partially played out in the cinematically recreated battles of the pas

This thesis investigates the Spanish identity crisis through structural, political and representational intersectionality by means of the Law of Historic Memory, also known as LEY 52/2007 del 26 de diciembre. This work, written in Spanish, explores relational aspects of various contemporary themes within four post-Franco novels and four Spanish films: Réquiem por un campesino español by Ramón J. Sender and its corresponding film directed by Francesc Betriu; Soldados de Salamina by Javier Cercas and its corresponding film directed by David Trueba; La voz dormida by Dulce Chacón and its corresponding film directed by Benito Zambrano; and Los girasoles ciegos by Alberto Méndez and its corresponding film directed by José Luis Cuerda. Linked by a variety of human elements that affect the individual as much as the collective, the works explore sacrifice, betrayal, indifference and injustice. Each novel and movie pair offers a glimpse of individual memory that, at the same time, belongs to collective memory. Delving into the effects of LEY, this thesis considers the role of the Catholic Church, the general atrocities of war, the role of women in the Spanish Civil War, and the fractured family unit. Lastly, this thesis delineates how these effects apply to the healing of individual and collective memories so as to recover what it means to be Spanish.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009.<br>Includes abstract. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 31, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-283). Also issued in print.

La presente investigación tiene como objeto de estudio el cine del destape, un cine que se define por la irrupción en la pantalla de cuerpos desnudos, mayoritariamente femeninos; un fenómeno que adquirió gran trascendencia social y política en España y que no tiene parangón en cinematografías de otros países. Para analizar el cine del destape desde una perspectiva histórica, hemos establecido el inicio de la investigación en las comedias sexy celtibéricas del tardofranquismo. Se trata de comedias de gran popularidad en las que encontramos las raíces de esa necesidad de liberación sexual que, una vez acabada la censura, se mostrará para dar forma al fenómeno del destape. Si consideramos que ahí se encuentra su origen, su final lo establecemos con la aprobación en 1984 de la exhibición del cine X, un factor que indica la normalización de la vida de los españoles respecto al sexo y que coincide con la consolidación democrática. Durante los aproximadamente veinte años que abarca la presente investigación, veremos como a través del cine más consumido se fueron destapando discursos en torno al cuerpo femenino, muy vinculados al peso de la moral franquista y al orden de género establecido. De ahí que hayamos centrado, principalmente, nuestra investigación en analizar la construcción discursiva de los arquetipos masculinos y femeninos, poniendo el foco en observar las continuidades y fisuras del orden de género, utilizando como pretexto el destape femenino. Hemos analizado este cine como una fuente a través de la que hacer una relectura de un período histórico muy analizado pero sobre el que se pueden verter nuevas y complejas lecturas. De esta forma, hemos diferenciado las películas con desnudo de las películas que destapan comportamientos, emociones y deseos frustrados, sobre todo en el terreno sexual. El cine popular de esos años tuvo una enorme capacidad de entretener y emocionar a millones de españoles y así fue utilizado como medio de trasmisión del discurso oficial franquista, tanto para perpetuar al régimen y su ideología como para adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos. Este cine de ficción con apariencia superflua e inofensiva representa los mecanismos de poder y sus vertebraciones en el campo de los comportamientos sociales. Pero, a su vez —y ese ha sido uno de los objetivos de esta investigación—, presenta desvíos en la forma de actuar de sus arquetipos que avanzan el cambio que se está produciendo, lo que hace de este cine agente y testigo de un relevante momento histórico.<br>The present investigation centers on the cinema known as “the uncovering” (“el destape”), which is defined by the eruption of naked bodies, mainly female, on cinema screens; a phenomenon that acquired great social and political significance in Spain and which is unparalleled in the cinema history of other countries. To analyse the cinema of “the uncovering” from a historical perspective, we have established the beginning of our investigation in the “celtiberic sexy comedies” that appeared in the last stages of Franco's dictatorship (tardofranquismo). A collection of very popular comedies which started to appear once the regime´s censorship was over, and where we find the roots of the need for sexual liberation, something that started to shape the phenomenon of “the uncovering”. Therefore if we consider that as its origin, we also need to consider the legalisation of porno films in 1984 as the end of the process, a factor that indicates the normalisation of sex in the lives of the Spanish people precisely when the democratic consolidation took place. During the approximately twenty years that covers our present investigation, we will see how the most consumed films were unveiling discourses around the female body which were closely linked to the weight of Francoist morality and the established gender order. Hence, we have mainly focused our research on analysing the discursive construction of male and female archetypes, homing in on the continuities and fissures of the gender order, using the revelation of the female form as a pretext. We have studied this cinema as a new source for a rereading of an arguably over-analysed historical period, but one where new and complex readings can certainly be made. In this way, we have differentiated films with nudity from films that uncover frustrated behaviours, emotions and desires, especially in the area of sexuality. The popular cinema of those years had an enormous capacity to entertain and thrill millions of Spanish people and thus was used as a means of transmitting the official Franco discourse, both to perpetuate the regime and its ideology, and to adapt to the new times. This fictional cinema, with its superfluous and harmless appearance, represents a mechanism of power and its presence as a backbone in the field of social behaviour. But, in turn, it shows deviations in the way these archetypes act, and how these archetypes foretold the changes taking place and that has been one of the objectives of this investigation, something that indeed makes this cinema both agent and witness to a crucial historical moment.

La época de la dictadura del general Primo de Rivera no ha sido aún suficientemente estudiada especialmente en el terreno cinematográfico. Sólo en estos últimos años se ha detectado un mayor interés por analizar más a fondo su naturaleza y características. Uno de los objetivos del trabajo es comprobar si el cine del momento es o no un reflejo de la sociedad española y por otra parte, si ese mismo cine tiene la capacidad de modelar esa sociedad. Por otro lado, también se intentará comprobar si se usaba como herramienta para transmitir contenidos ideológicos. Para conseguir esos objetivos, se acomete el análisis de veintitrés películas. El sistema empleado supone diversas fases. Primero una ficha técnico artística completa de la película. A continuación una síntesis argumental. En tercer lugar una breve reseña biográfica del autor del filme. Más adelante se procede a analizar la película en el contexto del momento en que fue realizada. Por último una valoración crítica de la película sobre todo en relación a los aspectos que se han tratado en el presente trabajo. Las películas suponen una buena muestra de la filmografía de la época. Para saber si el cine es capaz de modelar la sociedad conviene tener claro si se realiza mucho o poco cine español, dónde se hace, si va mucha gente a ver esas películas y si tratan de temas susceptibles de influir en los espectadores. Si hay poco cine, va poca gente, y los temas son superficiales, es lógico pensar que su influjo será nulo. En España se hicieron en esos años alrededor de 240 películas. Sin embargo hay dos datos cruzados que pueden influir en las respuestas. Por una parte, que de las películas hechas en España se solían hacer pocas copias, y por otro lado, que siendo el cine de esa época un espectáculo de masas, el interés de los espectadores iba especialmente al cine de Hollywood. De ahí que la capacidad del cine español de modelar la sociedad es escasa, por más que en sus películas se lo proponga. En cuanto a si reflejan la sociedad del momento, algo más de la mitad de los filmes estudiados reflejan aspectos de esa sociedad, por lo que se pueden convertir en herramienta en manos del historiador. Todo lo anterior se refiere a si eran o no un reflejo de la sociedad. Cuando nos preguntamos si pueden llegar a modelarla, la respuesta será diferente. Para poder modelar la sociedad hacen falta dos factores a la vez: que la película lo pretenda y que ese film tenga éxito y por tanto mucha gente lo vea y además quede impactada por lo que ha visto. Encontramos cinco películas que aúnan las dos condiciones. Las otras películas estudiadas, o no tuvieron buena recepción por parte del público, o no tenían posibilidad de modelar la sociedad por los temas que trataban o el modo como los trataban. Incluso algunos filmes no cumplían ninguna de las dos condiciones. El otro objetivo que se pretende es ver el poder del cine como herramienta ideológica a favor o en contra del gobierno de la Dictadura. Casi la mitad de las películas estudiadas transmiten algunas ideas que podrían entrar dentro del campo ideológico. Hay un grupo de películas que comparte los ideales de la Dictadura. Otro grupo que en una gran parte también los comparte. Por último encontramos dos películas que se posicionan en contra. Finalmente, se aporta en forma de apéndices un conjunto de fichas técnico-artísticas, puestas por orden cronológico de año de producción, de las películas realizadas durante los años de la dictadura de Primo de Rivera.<br>The dictatorship of general Primo de Rivera has yet to be studied in detail. Recently, there is an increased interest in a deeper analysis of his nature and character. The aims of this research are to verify whether or not the cinema of that time was a reflection of Spanish society and whether it had the capacity to influence that society. Also, it will attempt to establish whether it was used as a tool to transmit ideological content. To ascertain whether cinema is capable of influencing society, it is useful to have an idea of the number of this films produced, where they were produced, whether screenings were well attended, and whether the content of the films was the type of material likely to influence audiences. In Spain, around 240 films were made. However, there are two things to bear in mind which can influence our findings: that of the films made in Spain, usually few copies were made, and in addition, the cinema of this era being a mass-medium, the interest of the audiences was primarily in the films of Hollywood. Consequently the capacity of Spanish cinema to influence society is limited. As regards whether the society of that time was reflected, this is the case for more than half of the films studied. When we ask whether they can go as far as to influence society, the answer will be different. To achieve this, it is necessary to meet three conditions: that the film attempts to have influence, that the film is a success –and, accordingly, many people see it- and that the film has an impact on audiences. We find only a few films which meet these conditions. The last objective is to examine the power of cinema as an ideological instrument in favour of or against the Dictatorship. Almost half of the films studied transmit some ideas which could be considered ideological. There is a significant body of material which shares some or all of the ideals of the Dictatorship. We only find two films which position themselves against it. Finally, the credits of all the films produced during the Primo de Rivera dictatorship are provided as an appendix.

Un dels més reeixits descobriments nascut a les acaballes del segle XIX, el cinema, marcà definitivament la societat aportant noves formes de comunicació i de relació social. Aquest nou art esdevindria no sols una font de distracció i coneixement sinó que, com qualsevol producció artística de l’ésser humà, deixaria una empremta que amb el temps mostraria la seva magnitud com objecte patrimonial. Néta i filla de músics vaig aprendre a estimar la música, sense distinció. Per aquest motiu, lamentava el rebuig vers el conjunt d’un gènere centenari, la sarsuela, que tants esforços i lluita va comportar als seus autors, músics tan lloables com els que més, músics que s’hagueren de sentir-se titllats en to despectiu de “sarsueleros”. Hom pot comprovar que hi ha música de sarsuela de tan bona qualitat com la de les òperes; hi ha arguments de sarsuela absolutament refusables o excel·lents, com també n’hi ha d’òperes. Per aquests motius, el meu objectiu bàsic va ser l’intent de dignificar el gènere, reivindicar-lo com a espectacle popular, transformat i manipulat segons arbitri del poder dominant, com intentaré demostrar al llarg de la meva exposició. Per què una societat que encara avui conserva aspectes que provenen de l’assimilació interna generada a través de molts anys rebutjava aquest espectacle? Per què aquest sentiment que la música feta a l’estranger és millor? Quins havien estat els mecanismes que havien arribat a generar en el subconscient col·lectiu aquesta afirmació? Pel que fa al cinema, l’enorme interès desvetllat vers aquest camp d’investigació, de la que aquesta Facultat és un exemple, iniciat pel Dr. Miquel Porter i admirablement seguit per un important nombre de distingits professors i professores, alumnes ensems del doctor Porter, es presentava més planera. Però el problema es presentà en el moment en què vaig voler aprofondir a l’apartat de les sarsueles cinematogràfiques: en primer lloc –apart d’algun estudi posterior sobre una obra concreta – a la majoria de llibres d’història del cinema espanyol se solventava l’apartat dedicat a les sarsueles amb unes quantes línies. Hi havia una confusió enorme en relació a algunes obres que eren sarsueles, tipificades com a sainets, comèdies, musicals... Algunes d’elles, que provenien de sarsueles, ni tan sols hi figurava aquest origen. De moltes obres hi havia poques dades, només el títol i l’any de rodatge o estrena, amb unes línies sobre el contingut, però la majoria de vegades, res... En resum: la sarsuela hi era de pas. Vist l’estat de la qüestió, calia emprendre la tasca en vàries vessants: la investigació de la sarsuela en si, dels seus orígens i producció, i dels films que es feren d’elles, amb els mateixos objectius i la interrelació entre ambdós gèneres populars. La primera part de la investigació, la recerca dels llibrets originals, suposà una gran inversió de temps, donada la dispersió dels materials. Per a la segona part, calia cercar les realitzacions cinematogràfiques que es feren de les sarsueles, buscant-les a diverses filmoteques de l’Estat espanyol, feina gens fàcil, o cercar-les en col·leccions del mercat. La realitat fou molt colpidora: les obres dels primers anys del cinema s’havien perdut en la seva immensa majoria, ja no existien. Segons les dades que es donen a totes les estadístiques del cinema espanyol, de la primera etapa, corresponent al cinema primitiu, s’ha perdut prop del 98 % de la producció, dades susceptibles de desencoratjar vers l’obtenció d’una recerca acurada. Era necessari, doncs, fer un cens del que quedava a les filmoteques de l’Estat espanyol. Va ser enviada la demanda d’informació a totes elles i a les distribuïdores de cinema. Conseqüència d’aquesta tesi ha estat l’estudi de totes les productores i directors que es dedicaren a filmar sarsueles a l’Estat espanyol, així com també a l’estranger. La tesi albira proporcionar una relació de la gran quantitat de films que les productores dedicaren a aquest camp, analitzar les sarsueles produïdes, quina fou la versió escollida per a la seva versió cinematogràfica i esclarir els films que són en realitat sarsueles, no comèdies, ni sainets, ni musicals, qualificatius genèrics emprats habitualment a les filmografies de cinema espanyol. Una altra aportació de la tesi pretén destacar la primordial importància del teatre líric en la primera etapa del cinema primitiu espanyol deixant palès quines són les favorables interrelacions de dos gèneres populars, amb recursos a l’hora tan diversos, com són el teatre líric i el cinema que, no cal oblidar-ho, en els seus orígens no tenia so imprès al suport i per tant, depenia del so afegit, en directe o enregistrat.

This dissertation investigates the transformation undergone by the Francoist dictatorship (1939-1978) in Spain in the 1950s and 1960s, which occurred under conditions of neoliberal rationalities and petroleum toxicity –petrotoxicty. It addresses the transformation at three levels: the dictatorship’s criminalized bodies; the Francoist national political project; and early transnational attempts for European unification. By exploring an archive of laws, mass media, and intellectual dialogues, the dissertation contends that there was a shift in regimes of criminality that allowed the dictatorship in the south and Europe in the north to establish the initial form of their coalition. The dissertation addresses processes of recognition of criminality by establishing a critical framework that examines the transition from a dominant paradigm of disease toxicity to one of petrotoxicity. In proposing that this transition took place together with the development of neoliberalism, the dissertation argues that the neoliberal regime operated during its period of consolidation by generalizing, at national and transnational scales, forms of exclusion and inclusion that were characteristic of what the text presents as the “petrotoxic regime of criminality.” By conducting the analysis through the lens of the petrotoxic regime of criminality, the dissertation offers a fresh perspective to the debate within Spanish Peninsular Cultural Studies about the seemingly contradictory nature that the Francoist dictatorship acquired during this period; both anti-modern and modern; both Catholic fundamentalist and neoliberal capitalist. It allows us to shed light on a process of revaluation of the regime’s toxic nature that resulted in a Catholic Fundamentalist Capitalist dictatorship.

This thesis analyses the films of Pedro Almod{u00F3}var to identify what they express about time, history and memory. It situates Almod{u00F3}var's films in their historical and cultural context in order to detect traces of and breaks with the past within the films. It identifies a trajectory in Almod{u00F3}var's attitude towards the past: from disinterest and disavowal of the relevance of history in his earliest films that encapsulate the spirit of the movida, to a growing preoccupation with time and memory in the films from Live Flesh onwards. The thesis demonstrates that this trajectory reflects broader changes in Spain's attitude to its historical past, from the 'pact of oblivion' in the 1980s that sought to erase memories of the Franco period, to the Historical Memory Law that was enacted in the Spanish Parliament in 2007. Since Almod{u00F3}var's films reflect on the past more often through personal stories than direct reference to historical events, this thesis identifies where these personal stories can be read as allegories or at least allusions to historical circumstances, but also what the films are saying about the human experience oftime. To do this it draws on the work of Paul Ricoeur who, in Time and Narrative, elaborated on fiction's potential for ruminating on lived time. In particular, the thesis shows how in Almod{u00F3}var's recent cinema the past and future coincide with the present through memory and anticipation. Gilles Deleuze's Cinema books and relevant scholarship on Deleuze are also drawn on to argue that Bad Education and Talk to Her incorporate aspects of both the time-and movement-images, employing non-linear narrative structures that foreground time and at first confound understanding, but that ultimately work to restore coherence. Bad Education, in particular, fits within a cycle of films identified by David Martin-Jones: hybrid time-/movement-images that employ variations of non-linearity to produce, comment on or criticise national narratives. The thesis identifies interplay between the agency of characters and coincidence and chance events that undermines simplistic causal relationships in many of Almod{u00F3}var's films, arguing that this suggests a model of agency that underscores the crisis of the movement-image, yet ultimately seeks to retain it. It also demonstrates how repetition, music, colour and visual techniques contribute to the films' explorations of time, history and memory.

Within Spanish cultural studies, urban studies have become increasingly popular in the last twenty years. While this literature covers a wide range of Spanish locales and historical periods, there are still few comprehensive analyses of the production of Madrid's urban space between the Civil War and the economic boom of the 1960s. This dissertation contributes to the field through the examination of the symbolic production and use of Madrid during the first decades of the Franco dictatorship. I argue that the disciplining of Madrid's urban space was a means of organizing the capital's citizens into ordered subjects during a time of transition. This process was carried out primarily through the creation of expectations of how the spaces around the urban subject were best lived. My analytical approach is based on case studies and close readings of films, novels, and official documents such as speeches, maps, laws, and urban policies that were produced during the 1940s and 50s. It is an interdisciplinary study of the disciplining of Madrid and its inhabitants. The dissertation is organized spatially; each chapter focuses on a different aspect of Madrid's urban fabric, which extends outward in a series of concentric circles. My first chapter, "Home Life: Domestic Struggles in Comedic Film," deals with the most intimate human space, the home. Four films, Esa pareja feliz (dir. Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga, 1951), El inquilino (dir. José Antonio Nieves Conde, 1957), La vida por delante (dir. Fernando Fernán Gómez, 1958), and El pisito (dir. Marco Ferreri, 1959) illustrate how pressures of ownership transformed the home into a powerful tool of control and homogenization by blurring the lines between public and private space. In Chapter 2, "A Wandering Man: Fragmentation and Discipline in La colmena," I show that this tension spread to the city streets portrayed in Camilo José Cela's novel (1951), where fragmentation and separation worked to break down the threat of collective action and caused individuals to search for a productive role in society. In the 1950s, the push of hunger and the pull of industrialization drew migrants to Madrid in search of jobs and material comforts, only to find themselves displaced to the periphery of the capital, reinforcing their marginal status. This demographic transformation forms the basis for my third chapter, "No Limits! The City in Surcos and Los golfos," in which I analyze two key films from the decade, José Antonio Nieves Conde's Surcos (1951) and Carlos Saura's Los golfos (1959). Finally, Chapter Four, "'Ya se aburren de tanta capital': Leisure, Language, and Law in El Jarama" examines Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio's novel (1956) to explore how citizens looking for relief from the pressures of city life in the surrounding countryside only found that this leisure space was under the control of its own disciplinary forces. The novels and films that I include in this study demonstrate how the discipline of the Spanish capital extended to all of the city's zones to create a model of urban citizenship that blurred the lines between pubic and private space and between individual and collective subjects.

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2007.<br>Title from screen (viewed on June 6, 2007) Department of World Languages and Cultures, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-79)