With Iberia, Carlos Saura once again signals his position as the master of cinema as performance. The beauty of his method, as displayed in Flamenco (SFIFF 1996) and then Tango (1998), is in the fact that the dance sequences are not merely produced for film; instead, they only exist as film. Rather than taking canned dance numbers and recreating them onstage, Saura brings all of the elements of cinema to bear, incorporating choreography of the camera, sound design, color, perspective and multimedia into his work. Each element has its place but acts in unison to produce a whole movement of stunning beauty. Saura doesn’t just make dance films, he makes films dance. In Iberia, he revisits one of his prime fascinations, the Gypsy life of southern Spain, through the lens of renowned composer Isaac Albéniz. The styles of music and performance run the gamut of traditional and contemporary Spanish forms, ranging from flamenco to ballet to tango to modern dance. Included in this, star-studded ensemble of who’s who in contemporary Spanish music and dance is Aída Gómez, the powerful ballet dancer featured in Saura’s Salomé (2002).

Producers: Alvaro Longoria/Wild Bunch Cinematographer: José Luis López Linares Editor: Julia Juániz Cast: Sara Baras, Antonio Canales, Manolo Sanlúcar, Enrique Morente, Estrella Morente, Aída Gómez, Gerardo Núñez

Language: Spanish