The film ‘Sevillanas’
by Carlos Saura
is released for the first time on DVD
Camarón, Paco de Lucía,
Lola Flores and Manuela Carrasco perform in the film,
which comes out together with a re-release of ‘Flamenco’
in PAL system
Photo
gallery. 'Sevillanas' and 'Flamenco' by Carlos Saura
Flamenco-world.com, May 2008
More than fifteen years after
its premiere, the praised film ‘Sevillanas’
by Carlos
Saura is released for the first time on DVD. Camarón,
Paco de Lucía, Manolo Sanlúcar, Lola Flores,
Manuela Carrasco, Matilde Coral, Merche Esmeralda, Salmarina,
Las Corraleras de Lebrija... are part of a historic lineup
in this film, a musical documentary which portrays the
stylistic variety of this style halfway between flamenco
and Andalusian folklore. At the same time, another of
the top works by the Aragonese filmmaker is re-released;
the movie ‘Flamenco’, the most valuable audiovisual
document in the jondo art’s recent history.
Frame from 'Sevillanas',
by Carlos Saura
One of the last cantes Camarón
recorded is included in the film ‘Sevillanas’
by Carlos Saura, with Tomatito on guitar and Manuela Carrasco
on baile. But it isn’t the only magical moment in
the movie by the Aragonese filmmaker. Paco
de Lucía and Manolo Sanlúcar have a
face-off on two guitars, Lola Flores makes her image and
her bata de cola fly to the sound of the rociero flute
and drum, Rocío Jurado evokes La Niña de
los Peines amidst a crowd of sevillanas dancers... And
the thing is that the musical documentary tries to differentiate
between the different varieties of this borderline style
which draws on flamenco and popular folklore.
There are biblical sevillanas, dances,
rocieras, classic ones, ones of personal creation, corraleras,
boleras... and they are presented wrapped up in the minimalist
stage design typical of the author, exalting the musical
and dance contents. That’s what happens, for example,
when the family consisting of Matilde
Coral, Rafael el Negro and Rocío Coral gather
together with the piano and vocals of Pareja Obregón
to tackle the classic sevillanas; or when Merche
Esmeralda dances between mirrors the sevillanas played
for her on guitar by Manolo Sanlúcar. The truth
is that the film, nearly one hour in length, is a fundamental
document which is finally available to enthusiasts on
DVD.
Lola Flores. Frame from 'Sevillanas',
by Carlos Saura
And also ‘Flamenco’
‘Sevillanas’ comes out at
the same time as a new re-release of ‘Flamenco’
on DVD, for the time being, only available in PAL system.
As Carlos Saura himself recalled in the photo book ‘Flamenco’,
“the idea was to make a film-document, without any
storyline or concessions, which brought together the best
in the genre: today’s artists and old-time artists,
orthodoxy and heterodoxy, classic flamenco and flamenco
to come, different categories, styles, possibilities,
etc. had to be represented with dignity in our work”.
Carlos Saura remembers in the photo book ‘Flamenco’
how the film was developed which has become an international
reference for the spread of this art form of Andalusian
origin. None other than Joaquín Cortés,
La Paquera, Fernanda de Utrera, Enrique Morente, Remedios
Amaya, Farruco, María Pagés, Belén
Maya... are the stars of this cult film.
