The Spanish Earth
The Spanish Earth | |
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Directed by | Joris Ivens |
Written by | |
Produced by | Herman Shumlin |
Narrated by |
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Cinematography |
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Edited by | Helen van Dongen |
Music by | Marc Blitzstein |
Distributed by | Contemporary Historians Inc. |
Release date |
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Running time | 52 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Spanish German |
The Spanish Earth is a 1937
Description
The film opens in the village of Fuentidueña de Tajo (called "Fuentedueña" in the movie), showing the villagers trying to scratch a living from the dry soil and explaining the importance of bringing water to irrigate the fields so more crops can be produced and embattled Madrid can be fed. A map shows the position of the village on the Madrid-Valencia road, which must be kept open at all costs so the capital can be defended. The scene moves to Madrid, with another map showing the front line running west of the city, with a rebel salient in the Ciudad Universitaria, which the loyalists are shown attacking.
The city is the village inverted; while the earth of Fuentedueña is simply upturned, the streets of Madrid look as if they have been maniacally plowed. The blood that stains the streets contrasts painfully with the water that courses through the soil. Ivens planned the documentary as a dialectic, alternating between village and city until the synthesis is reached. Thus rhythm changes with location; anonymous peasants are juxtaposed with historical figures like La Pasionaria and Manuel Azaña, president of the Republic.[1]
At the end of the film, the loyalists have driven off the rebel attack on the bridge over the Jarama, keeping the road open, and the water is shown flowing to the fields: the irrigation has succeeded.[2]
Production
In December 1936, several literary figures, including
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt invited Hemingway and Ivens to show the film at the White House in advance of its premiere.[9] The version screened for the Roosevelts on July 8, 1937, was narrated by Orson Welles.[8]
Reception
A review in The New York Times found Hemingway's narration "a definitely propagandist effort" and preferred the camera work that "argues gently and persuasively, with the irrefutable argument of pictorially recorded fact, that the Spanish people are fighting, not for broad principles of Muscovite Marxism, but for the right to the productivity of a land denied them through years of absentee landlordship."[10] The same reviewer in a longer essay concluded that: "Contemporary Historians, Inc...are Ivens' employers and it is their right to dispose of his product as they see fit. They have used it as a violent outcry against fascism. Ivens might have made it lasting art as well."[11]
Ten years later, Bosley Crowther wrote: "The best film we've yet seen on the Spanish tragedy is still Joris Ivens' long-released The Spanish Earth.[12]
Preservation status
See also
- Spain in Flames (1937)
- España 1936(1937)
References
- ISBN 0813128218), pp. 12-13.
- ^ Dick, The Star-spangled Screen, p. 13.
- ^ Carl Rollyson, Lillian Hellman: Her Legend and her Legacy (NY: St. Martin's Press, 1988), 106
- ^ William Wright, Lillian Hellman: The Image, the Woman (), 136
- ^ Deborah Martinson, Lillian Hellman: A Life with Foxes and Scoundrels (NY: Counterpoint 2005), 120
- ISBN 0-385-26759-2
- ISBN 0-06-016616-9.
- ^ a b "Clash of the Titans: When Orson Welles met Ernest Hemingway to narrate The Spanish Earth (May 1937)". Lawrence French, Wellesnet, July 18, 2007. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
- ^ Martinson, Lillian Hellman, 121
- ^ The New York Times: "'The Spanish Earth', at the 55th St. Playhouse, is a Plea for Democracy," August 21, 1937, accessed December 21, 2011
- ^ The New York Times: John T. McManus, "Realism Invides Gotham," August 22, 1937, accessed December 21, 2011
- ^ The New York Times: Bosley Crowther, "More Grief than Hope," January 21, 1947, accessed December 21, 2011
- ^ "Allegorical War Drama Highlights TCM's Dec. 14 Salute to The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film". Zap2it, December 1, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-12-05. Retrieved 2014-05-06.
- ^ "The Spanish Earth", Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2014-05-06.