¡Ay Carmela! (film)
Encyclopedia
¡Ay Carmela! is a 1990
Spanish
film
directed by Carlos Saura
and based on the eponymous play
by José Sanchís Sinisterra
. The film stars Carmen Maura
, Andrés Pajares
, and Gabino Diego
as a trio of traveling players performing for the Republic, who inadvertently find themselves on the Nationalist side during the closing months of the Spanish Civil War
.
as the result of an explosion - are a trio of traveling vaudeville
performers. Among the chaos of the Spanish Civil War, they are in the town of Montejo
, entertaining republican troops with their variety act. They are survivors motivated not exactly by patriotism but by a desire for self-preservation. Their show consists of four acts. It begins with Carmela singing and dancing a traditional song. The audience is enthusiastic during her performance, but the mood changes completely when the sound of approaching Nationalist planes is heard.
When the planes just fly over, the show continues with Paulino reading a poem by Antonio Machado
that introduces a note of patriotic fervor representing the feelings of the Republicans in 1938. The seriousness of the moment is followed by a comic routine in which Paulino twists himself into a variety of ridiculous postures in an attempt to break wind. The fourth and final act is a tableau vivant in which Carmela appears representing justice while Paulino brandishes the republican flag and they sing a song whose theme is freedom.
The dangers and deprivation that they encounter in the Republican side encourage the trio to go to Valencia. To obtain the gasoline needed for the trip Carmela is required to distract a Republican truck driver while Paulino and Gustavete steal the fuel. They take the difficult journey on a misty night ending up running into the nationalist territory. Detained by a nationalist officer, they are incriminated by the Republican flag they carry in their car. Arrested and taken as prisoners, they are placed in the local school, which serves as the prison camp where the republicans are being held. Carmela befriends a fellow prisoner: a Polish
soldier member of the International Brigade and is surprised that he has come to fight in Spain, a strange land whose name he cannot even pronounce. In an atmosphere of mounting tension and terror, some of the prisoners are taken away to be shot. Carmela, Paulino and Gustavete are driven away in an army car. They are convinced that they are also going to be killed, but instead they are taken to the local theater where they meet an Italian
Officer, Lieutenant Amelio di Ripamonte. Surprisingly, the Lieutenant, learning that they are performers, wants them as a part of a show he has planned to entertain the Nationalist troops. They must stage a burlesque of the republic in exchange for their freedom.
For the variety show to be performed for the nationalist, Paulino rewrites their old script. From the outset, the fiery and patriotic Carmela rebels, displaying her true convictions as an anti-fascist. However, Paulino persuades her that being their lives at stake she must go along with the performance.
The day of the show both artists are indisposed as Carmela has her period, Paulino a stomach upset, the result of eating a rabbit which Gustavete, writing on his slate, now confirms was a cat. The presence of the Polish prisoners, who have been brought to watch the mockery of their ideals, greatly upsets Carmela, causing her to refuse to make the number with the flag. The show is similar to the one they performed before for the Republican troops. Musical numbers are followed by a poem, now read by the Lieutenant. The third act is a comic sketch, "The Republic goes to the Doctor", in which Paulino plays a gay Republican doctor who is visited by a female patient, the Spanish Republic, played by Carmela. Claiming that she has been made pregnant by a Russian
lover, played by Gustavete, she invites the doctor to stick his thermoter in, but he is forced to confess that is broken.
Carmela, increasingly irritated by the mockery of the Republic, decides to abandon the skit, throwing the fascist audience into a frenzy by displaying her breast and intoning the Republican party–line. A nationalist officer rises from the audience and shoots Carmela in the forehead. Gustavete, suddenly finding his voice for the first time, calls her out in an anguish, but Carmela falls to the floor dead.
Sometime later, Paulino and Gustavete visit Carmela's rudimentary gravesite to decorate it with flowers and the latter’s chalk board, since Gustavete regained his voice when Carmela was shot. The only words here are spoken by Gustavete – "Come on, Paulino" – as he leads him away. As the two men take the road once again, the song "¡Ay Carmela!
" is heard in the soundtrack.
’s twenty-third feature-length film and, in his own words, the first in which he was able to treat the subject of the Civil War with any kind of humor: "I would have been incapable a few years ago of treating our war with humor… but now it is different, for sufficient time has passed to adopt a broader perspective, and here there is no doubt that by employing humor it is possible to say things that it would be more difficult if not impossible to say in another way".
In Saura’s earlier films, allusions to the war and to its consequences were characterized by violence and brutality, and if there was any humor at all it was grim and ironic. Despite the fact that the action in ¡Ay Carmela! is set fully in the War, Saura’s treatment of it employs comic effects, including farce.
The film is based on the play of the same name by the Valencian dramatist, José Sanchís Sinisterra
. The play was a success in Spain and was translated to English and staged in London
. The play focuses entirely on the two principal characters, Carmela and Paulino, and tells their story largely in flashback. When it begins, Paulino is alone and depressed, for Carmela is already dead, the victim of a fascist bullet at their last performance as variety artist. In the first part of the play Carmela returns as a ghost to converse with Paulino, blaming him for all that has happened, and in the second part evokes in detail the fatal performance. The play contains only two characters and a single setting. Saura adapted the play with the help of scriptwriter Rafael Azcona
who had worked with him many times before but with whom he had broken in 1975 prior to the making of Cria Cuervos
.
Saura opened up the story and presented it not in flashback but in a linear manner. This allowed Saura to follow the journey of Carmela and Paulino during the two days in which they travel from Republican to Nationalist territory, performing their act in both camps. It also allowed much more scope for the relationship and the characters of Carmela and Paulino to evolve and in relation to the events in which they find themselves caught up. It also enable Saura to depict other characters and locations which are mentioned in the play, in particular, Gustavette, the traveling companion of Carmela and Paulino, and the Italian officer and theater director, Lieutenant Amelio di Ripamonte. The town where the action occurs and the theater in which the final third of the film is located are also depicted. Some artistic resonance evoke memories of Ernst Lubitsch
's 1942 comedy To Be or Not to Be
.
The film takes its title from the song "Ay Carmela", which begins and ends the film. It was the favorite song of the Republican soldiers and of the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
for:
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
Spanish
Cinema of Spain
The art of motion-picture making within the nation of Spain or by Spanish filmmakers abroad is collectively known as Spanish Cinema.In recent years, Spanish cinema has achieved high marks of recognition as a result of its creative and technical excellence...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés is a Spanish film director and photographer.-Early life:Born into a family of artists , he developed his artistic sense in childhood as a photography enthusiast.He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research and Studies...
and based on the eponymous play
Ay Carmela (play)
Ay Carmela! is a play by José Sanchis Sinisterra. It is set in the opening months of the Spanish Civil War. Heavily allegorical, it tells the story of travelling players, Carmela and Paulino, who blunder into the wrong place at the wrong time...
by José Sanchís Sinisterra
José Sanchis Sinisterra
José Sanchis Sinisterra is a Spanish playwright and theatre director. He was born in Valencia. He is best known, outside of Spain, for his award-winning play, ¡Ay Carmela!.-Publications:...
. The film stars Carmen Maura
Carmen Maura
Carmen García Maura is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, Maura is best known for her collaborations with noted Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.-Early life:...
, Andrés Pajares
Andrés Pajares
Andrés Pajares is an award-winning Spanish actor born on 6 April 1940 in Madrid, Spain.Credits include: ¡Ay Carmela! 1990.-Awards:* Won 1991 Goya Award for Best Actor: ¡Ay Carmela!...
, and Gabino Diego
Gabino Diego
Gabino Diego is a Spanish actor, born on 18 September 1966 in Madrid. He was educated at Runnymede College, in Madrid.His credits include: ¡Ay Carmela! and Belle Époque.-Awards:*Goya Awards**1999 - Nominated - Best Actor for La hora de los valientes...
as a trio of traveling players performing for the Republic, who inadvertently find themselves on the Nationalist side during the closing months of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Plot
Carmela, Paulino, and Gustavete - who is muteMuteness
Muteness or mutism is an inability to speak caused by a speech disorder. The term originates from the Latin word mutus, meaning "silent".-Causes:...
as the result of an explosion - are a trio of traveling vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
performers. Among the chaos of the Spanish Civil War, they are in the town of Montejo
Montejo
Montejo is a municipality located in the province of Salamanca, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 229 inhabitants.-See also:*Countess of Montijo...
, entertaining republican troops with their variety act. They are survivors motivated not exactly by patriotism but by a desire for self-preservation. Their show consists of four acts. It begins with Carmela singing and dancing a traditional song. The audience is enthusiastic during her performance, but the mood changes completely when the sound of approaching Nationalist planes is heard.
When the planes just fly over, the show continues with Paulino reading a poem by Antonio Machado
Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of '98....
that introduces a note of patriotic fervor representing the feelings of the Republicans in 1938. The seriousness of the moment is followed by a comic routine in which Paulino twists himself into a variety of ridiculous postures in an attempt to break wind. The fourth and final act is a tableau vivant in which Carmela appears representing justice while Paulino brandishes the republican flag and they sing a song whose theme is freedom.
The dangers and deprivation that they encounter in the Republican side encourage the trio to go to Valencia. To obtain the gasoline needed for the trip Carmela is required to distract a Republican truck driver while Paulino and Gustavete steal the fuel. They take the difficult journey on a misty night ending up running into the nationalist territory. Detained by a nationalist officer, they are incriminated by the Republican flag they carry in their car. Arrested and taken as prisoners, they are placed in the local school, which serves as the prison camp where the republicans are being held. Carmela befriends a fellow prisoner: a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
soldier member of the International Brigade and is surprised that he has come to fight in Spain, a strange land whose name he cannot even pronounce. In an atmosphere of mounting tension and terror, some of the prisoners are taken away to be shot. Carmela, Paulino and Gustavete are driven away in an army car. They are convinced that they are also going to be killed, but instead they are taken to the local theater where they meet an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Officer, Lieutenant Amelio di Ripamonte. Surprisingly, the Lieutenant, learning that they are performers, wants them as a part of a show he has planned to entertain the Nationalist troops. They must stage a burlesque of the republic in exchange for their freedom.
For the variety show to be performed for the nationalist, Paulino rewrites their old script. From the outset, the fiery and patriotic Carmela rebels, displaying her true convictions as an anti-fascist. However, Paulino persuades her that being their lives at stake she must go along with the performance.
The day of the show both artists are indisposed as Carmela has her period, Paulino a stomach upset, the result of eating a rabbit which Gustavete, writing on his slate, now confirms was a cat. The presence of the Polish prisoners, who have been brought to watch the mockery of their ideals, greatly upsets Carmela, causing her to refuse to make the number with the flag. The show is similar to the one they performed before for the Republican troops. Musical numbers are followed by a poem, now read by the Lieutenant. The third act is a comic sketch, "The Republic goes to the Doctor", in which Paulino plays a gay Republican doctor who is visited by a female patient, the Spanish Republic, played by Carmela. Claiming that she has been made pregnant by a Russian
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
lover, played by Gustavete, she invites the doctor to stick his thermoter in, but he is forced to confess that is broken.
Carmela, increasingly irritated by the mockery of the Republic, decides to abandon the skit, throwing the fascist audience into a frenzy by displaying her breast and intoning the Republican party–line. A nationalist officer rises from the audience and shoots Carmela in the forehead. Gustavete, suddenly finding his voice for the first time, calls her out in an anguish, but Carmela falls to the floor dead.
Sometime later, Paulino and Gustavete visit Carmela's rudimentary gravesite to decorate it with flowers and the latter’s chalk board, since Gustavete regained his voice when Carmela was shot. The only words here are spoken by Gustavete – "Come on, Paulino" – as he leads him away. As the two men take the road once again, the song "¡Ay Carmela!
Ay Carmela
The lyrics to this Republican song, which is also known as El Paso del Ebro and Viva la XV Brigada, date from the Spanish Civil War. The melody, however, is a folk tune of far greater antiquity, dating back to the early 19th century. For comparative purposes, the links are: , , and -Lyrics:...
" is heard in the soundtrack.
Cast
- Carmen MauraCarmen MauraCarmen García Maura is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, Maura is best known for her collaborations with noted Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.-Early life:...
as Carmela - Andrés PajaresAndrés PajaresAndrés Pajares is an award-winning Spanish actor born on 6 April 1940 in Madrid, Spain.Credits include: ¡Ay Carmela! 1990.-Awards:* Won 1991 Goya Award for Best Actor: ¡Ay Carmela!...
as Paulino - Gabino DiegoGabino DiegoGabino Diego is a Spanish actor, born on 18 September 1966 in Madrid. He was educated at Runnymede College, in Madrid.His credits include: ¡Ay Carmela! and Belle Époque.-Awards:*Goya Awards**1999 - Nominated - Best Actor for La hora de los valientes...
as Gustavete - Mauricio De Razza as Lieutenant Ripamonte
- José Sancho as Captain
Production
Made in 1990, ¡Ay Carmela! was director Carlos SauraCarlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés is a Spanish film director and photographer.-Early life:Born into a family of artists , he developed his artistic sense in childhood as a photography enthusiast.He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research and Studies...
’s twenty-third feature-length film and, in his own words, the first in which he was able to treat the subject of the Civil War with any kind of humor: "I would have been incapable a few years ago of treating our war with humor… but now it is different, for sufficient time has passed to adopt a broader perspective, and here there is no doubt that by employing humor it is possible to say things that it would be more difficult if not impossible to say in another way".
In Saura’s earlier films, allusions to the war and to its consequences were characterized by violence and brutality, and if there was any humor at all it was grim and ironic. Despite the fact that the action in ¡Ay Carmela! is set fully in the War, Saura’s treatment of it employs comic effects, including farce.
The film is based on the play of the same name by the Valencian dramatist, José Sanchís Sinisterra
José Sanchis Sinisterra
José Sanchis Sinisterra is a Spanish playwright and theatre director. He was born in Valencia. He is best known, outside of Spain, for his award-winning play, ¡Ay Carmela!.-Publications:...
. The play was a success in Spain and was translated to English and staged in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The play focuses entirely on the two principal characters, Carmela and Paulino, and tells their story largely in flashback. When it begins, Paulino is alone and depressed, for Carmela is already dead, the victim of a fascist bullet at their last performance as variety artist. In the first part of the play Carmela returns as a ghost to converse with Paulino, blaming him for all that has happened, and in the second part evokes in detail the fatal performance. The play contains only two characters and a single setting. Saura adapted the play with the help of scriptwriter Rafael Azcona
Rafael Azcona
Rafael Azcona Fernández was an awarded Spanish screenwriter and novelist who has worked with some of the best Spanish and international filmmakers. Azcona won five Goya Awards during his career, including a lifetime achievement award in 1998.He was born in the northern Spanish city Logroño on...
who had worked with him many times before but with whom he had broken in 1975 prior to the making of Cria Cuervos
Cria Cuervos
Cría cuervos is a 1976 Spanish film directed by Carlos Saura. The film is an allegorical drama about an eight year old girl dealing with loss. Highly acclaimed, it received the Special Jury Prize Award at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:...
.
Saura opened up the story and presented it not in flashback but in a linear manner. This allowed Saura to follow the journey of Carmela and Paulino during the two days in which they travel from Republican to Nationalist territory, performing their act in both camps. It also allowed much more scope for the relationship and the characters of Carmela and Paulino to evolve and in relation to the events in which they find themselves caught up. It also enable Saura to depict other characters and locations which are mentioned in the play, in particular, Gustavette, the traveling companion of Carmela and Paulino, and the Italian officer and theater director, Lieutenant Amelio di Ripamonte. The town where the action occurs and the theater in which the final third of the film is located are also depicted. Some artistic resonance evoke memories of Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
's 1942 comedy To Be or Not to Be
To Be or Not to Be (1942 film)
To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel...
.
The film takes its title from the song "Ay Carmela", which begins and ends the film. It was the favorite song of the Republican soldiers and of the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War.
DVD release
¡Ay Carmela! is available in Region 2 DVD in Spanish with English and French subtitles.Awards
Winner of the 1990 Goya AwardsGoya Awards
The Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
for:
- Best FilmGoya Award for Best PictureThe Goya Award for Best Picture is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards.In the list below the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees.-1980s:...
- Best DirectorGoya Award for Best DirectorThe Goya Award for Best Director is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards.In the list below the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees.-1980s:...
: Carlos SauraCarlos SauraCarlos Saura Atarés is a Spanish film director and photographer.-Early life:Born into a family of artists , he developed his artistic sense in childhood as a photography enthusiast.He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research and Studies... - Best ActorGoya Award for Best ActorThe Goya Award for Best Actor is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards....
: Andrés PajaresAndrés PajaresAndrés Pajares is an award-winning Spanish actor born on 6 April 1940 in Madrid, Spain.Credits include: ¡Ay Carmela! 1990.-Awards:* Won 1991 Goya Award for Best Actor: ¡Ay Carmela!... - Best ActressGoya Award for Best ActressThe Goya Award for Best Actress is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards....
: Carmen MauraCarmen MauraCarmen García Maura is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, Maura is best known for her collaborations with noted Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.-Early life:... - Best Adapted Screenplay: Carlos Saura, Rafael Azcona
- Best Supporting ActorGoya Award for Best Supporting ActorThe Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards....
: Gabino DiegoGabino DiegoGabino Diego is a Spanish actor, born on 18 September 1966 in Madrid. He was educated at Runnymede College, in Madrid.His credits include: ¡Ay Carmela! and Belle Époque.-Awards:*Goya Awards**1999 - Nominated - Best Actor for La hora de los valientes... - Best Editing: Pablo González del Amo
- Best Sound: Gilles Ortion, Alfonso Pino
- Best Costume Design: Rafael Palmero, Mercedes Sánchez
- Best Make-Up: José Antonio Sánchez, Paquita Núñez
- Best Production Design: Rafael Palmero
- Best Production Supervision: Víctor Albarrán
- Best Special Effects: Reyes Abades
External links
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFZLwsA-Si8