José Luis Garci
José Luis Garci | |
---|---|
Born | José Luis García Muñoz (1944-01-20) 20 January 1944 (age 80) Madrid, Spain |
Occupation | Filmmaker |
Years active | 1977–present |
José Luis García Muñoz (born 20 January 1944), known professionally as José Luis Garci, is a Spanish film director, producer, critic, TV presenter, screenwriter and author. He earned worldwide acclaim and his country's first Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award for Begin the Beguine (1982). Four of his films, including also Sesión continua (1984), Asignatura aprobada (1987) and El abuelo (1998), have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, more than any other Spanish director. His films are characterized for his classical style and the underlying sentimentality of their plots.
Early life and work
Born in 1944 in a humble family from Asturias. After completing a pre-university course, Garci began working as an administrative assistant in a bank. His love for cinema from an early age led him to pursue filmmaking as a career. At age twenty he began writing reviews for a number of film magazines such as: Signos, Cinestudio, Aun and Resena, winning an award in 1968 from the Circulo de Escritores Cinematograficos for his work as film critic.
At the same time, he wrote his first literary works, science fiction stories like : Bibidibabibidibú, Adam Blake, and La Gioconda está triste. He also published the essay: Ray Bradbury humanista del futuro and an article about science fiction films in the Encyclopedia Buru-La.
In 1969 he became involved in scriptwriting, receiving his first screen credits for Antonio Giménez Rico The Cronicón (The Chronicle) (1970).
Between 1972 and 1977 he scripted five more films: León Klimovsky La casa de las chivas (The House of the goats); Pedro Olea No es bueno que el hombre esté solo (1972), (A Man Shouldn't be Alone); Eloy de la Iglesia Una gota de sangre para morir amando, (1973) (A drop of blood to die loving); Antonio Drove Mi mujer es muy decente dentro de lo que cabe (1974) o Roberto Bodegas Vida conyugal sana (1973)(Healthy Married Life) and Los nuevos españoles (1974)(New Spaniards). During this same period, Garci also wrote the made for T.V film La Cabina (1972)(The Cabin) directed by Antonio Mercero. He then directed his first short films: !Al Futbol! (!To Football!) Mi Marilyn, (My Marilyn) (both 1975) and Tiempo de gente acobardada (People Cowed Time) (1976).
Feature films
In 1977, José Luis Garci directed his first feature film Asignatura pendiente (Unfinished Business) from a script by Gonzalez Sinde, a love story between an old pair of lovers which runs parallel to the social and political changes lived in Spain after the fall of Francisco Franco's regime. The film was well received by critics and audiences, becoming the most successful representative of the Spanish film of the generation of the Transition from dictatorship to democracy who saw themselves in a social and political limbo. A simple story of an amorous seduction by the film's hero is set around a series of topical references to a generation of Spaniards born in the immediate post-civil war period whose frustrations and nostalgia are embodied in the film's protagonist. Gaci took his narrative cues from the visual patterns followed in the traditional Hollywood narrative.
Garci second film Solos en la madrugada (Alone in the Dark) (1978) became skilled tackling progressive social themes intended for an audience interested neither in elite art cinema nor in the popular style of most Spanish comedies. He used this same pattern in his third film, Las verdes praderas (The Green Meadows) (1979), in which heavy sentimentality, a constant in his films, became more apparent.
The director changed gears with El Crack (1981), in which he used the figure of the hard boiled detective in a story inspired by the novels of Dashiell Hammett, to whom the film is dedicated, and employing elements of the American film noirs of the 1930s and 40s giving it a Spanish flavor. The formula worked so well that two years later Garci made a sequel, El crack II (1983).
Between this two films, Garci made his most emblematic work Volver a empezar, (Begin to Beguine) (1982), a sentimental story of an aging writer who returns to Spain after many years in exiled following the civil war. The film was the first Spanish motion picture to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[1]
Sesión continua (Double Feature), (1984, which also received an Academy Award nomination, and Asignatura aprobada (Course Completed, 1987) gave emphasis to sentimentality. Canción de cuna (Cradle Song, 1994), a film adaptation of the sentimental Gregorio Martinez Sierra play. Garci's subsequently films include La herida luminosa (The Wound of Light, 1997), and El abuelo (The Grandfather, 1998), which was Spain's submission for the Best Foreign Film category of the Academy Awards, getting the final nomination.
Recently, Garci directed Una historia de entonces (You're the One, 2000), Historia de un beso (Story of a Kiss, 2002)), Tiovivo c. 1950 (2004), Ninette (2005), Luz de domingo (2007), Sangre de mayo (2008) and Holmes & Watson. Madrid Days (2012). In addition to filmmaking, he is a popular television and radio sportscaster in his homeland.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Asignatura Pendiente | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
1978 | Alone in the Dark | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
1979 | Las verdes praderas | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
1980 | Viva la Clase Media | No | Yes | Yes | No | |
1981 | El Crack | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
1982 | Volver a Empezar | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film winner, 1982 |
1983 | El Crack II | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
1985 | Bras Fe Fer | No | No | Executive | Yes | |
1984 | Sesión continua | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film nominee |
1987 | Asignatura Aprobada | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film nominee |
1988 | El Tesoro | No | Yes | Executive | No | |
1994 | Canción de cuna | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1997 | La herida luminosa | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
1998 | El Abuelo | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film nominee |
2000 | Una historia de entonces | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | European Film Academy Best European Director nominee |
2002 | Historia de un beso | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2003 | Hotel Danubio | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
2004 | Tiovivo c. 1950 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2005 | Ninette | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
2007 | Luz de Domingo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2008 | Sangre de Mayo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2012 | Holmes & Watson. Madrid Days | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2019 | El Crack Cero | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Writer only
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1966 | Las últimas horas | Uncredited |
1967 | Los chicos de Peru | |
1969 | Las nenas del mini-mini | Uncredited |
1970 | El Cronicón | |
1972 | La casa de las chivas | |
1973 | No es bueno que el hombre esté solo | |
Una gota de sangre para morir amando | ||
Ceremonia sangrienta | Uncredited | |
1974 | Vida conyugal sana | |
Los nuevos españoles | ||
1975 | Mi mujer es muy decente, dentro de lo que cabe | |
La mujer es cosa de hombres | ||
1976 | La noche de los cien pajaros | |
1998 | Yerma |
Producer only
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1985 | Extramuros | |
1986 | La gran comedia | |
1987 | ¡Biba la banda! | |
1989 | El río que nos lleva | Executive producer |
1992 | Las cadenas del deseo | |
1995 | Elisa, de Jean Backer | |
1997 | La furia | Associate producer |
Momentos robados | ||
1999 | La venganza | Associate producer |
Un homo perbene | ||
Shacky Carmine | ||
2000 | Cóndor cux | |
Yoyes | Executive producer | |
Érase otra vez | ||
Leo | ||
2002 | Nowhere | |
2003 | La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón | Uncredited |
Sources
- Emotion pictures. El cine de José Luis Garci, foreword by José Luis Garci, Notorious Ediciones, Madrid, 2018; ISBN 978-84-15606-62-8
- Benavent, Francisco María, Cine Español de los Noventa, ediciones Mensajero, 2000; ISBN 84-271-2326-4
- D'Lugo, Marvin: Guide to the Cinema of Spain, Greenwood Press, 1997; ISBN 0-313-29474-7
- Stone, Rob, Spanish Cinema, Pearson Education, 2002; ISBN 0-582-43715-6
- Torres, Augusto, Diccionario del cine Español, Espasa Calpe, 1994; ISBN 84-239-9203-9
References
- ^ "The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
External links
- José Luis Garci at IMDb
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(Honorary)
- 1947: Shoeshine – Vittorio De Sica
- 1948: Monsieur Vincent – Maurice Cloche
- 1949: Bicycle Thieves – Vittorio De Sica
- 1950: The Walls of Malapaga – René Clément
- 1951: Rashomon – Akira Kurosawa
- 1952: Forbidden Games – René Clément
- 1953: No Award
- 1954: Gate of Hell – Teinosuke Kinugasa
- 1955: Samurai, The Legend of Musashi – Hiroshi Inagaki
- 1956: La Strada – Federico Fellini
- 1957: Nights of Cabiria – Federico Fellini
- 1958: My Uncle – Jacques Tati
- 1959: Black Orpheus – Marcel Camus
- 1960: The Virgin Spring – Ingmar Bergman
- 1961: Through a Glass Darkly – Ingmar Bergman
- 1962: Sundays and Cybèle – Serge Bourguignon
- 1963: 8½ – Federico Fellini
- 1964: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Vittorio De Sica
- 1965: The Shop on Main Street – Ján Kadár & Elmar Klos
- 1966: A Man and a Woman – Claude Lelouch
- 1967: Closely Watched Trains – Jiří Menzel
- 1968: War and Peace – Sergei Bondarchuk
- 1969: Z – Costa-Gavras
- 1970: Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion – Elio Petri
- 1971: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis – Vittorio De Sica
- 1972: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie – Luis Buñuel
- 1973: Day for Night – François Truffaut
- 1974: Amarcord – Federico Fellini
- 1975: Dersu Uzala – Akira Kurosawa
- 1976: Black and White in Color – Jean-Jacques Annaud
- 1977: Madame Rosa – Moshé Mizrahi
- 1978: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs – Bertrand Blier
- 1979: The Tin Drum – Volker Schlöndorff
- 1980: Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears – Vladimir Menshov
- 1981: Mephisto – István Szabó
- 1982: Volver a Empezar ('To Begin Again') – José Luis Garci
- 1983: Fanny and Alexander – Ingmar Bergman
- 1984: Dangerous Moves – Richard Dembo
- 1985: The Official Story – Luis Puenzo
- 1986: The Assault – Fons Rademakers
- 1987: Babette's Feast – Gabriel Axel
- 1988: Pelle the Conqueror – Bille August
- 1989: Cinema Paradiso – Giuseppe Tornatore
- 1990: Journey of Hope – Xavier Koller
- 1991: Mediterraneo – Gabriele Salvatores
- 1992: Indochine – Régis Wargnier
- 1993: Belle Époque – Fernando Trueba
- 1994: Burnt by the Sun – Nikita Mikhalkov
- 1995: Antonia's Line – Marleen Gorris
- 1996: Kolya – Jan Svěrák
- 1997: Character – Mike van Diem
- 1998: Life Is Beautiful – Roberto Benigni
- 1999: All About My Mother – Pedro Almodóvar
- 2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Ang Lee
- 2001: No Man's Land – Danis Tanović
- 2002: Nowhere in Africa – Caroline Link
- 2003: The Barbarian Invasions – Denys Arcand
- 2004: The Sea Inside – Alejandro Amenábar
- 2005: Tsotsi – Gavin Hood
- 2006: The Lives of Others – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
- 2007: The Counterfeiters – Stefan Ruzowitzky
- 2008: Departures – Yōjirō Takita
- 2009: The Secret in Their Eyes – Juan José Campanella
- 2010: In a Better World – Susanne Bier
- 2011: A Separation – Asghar Farhadi
- 2012: Amour – Michael Haneke
- 2013: The Great Beauty – Paolo Sorrentino
- 2014: Ida – Paweł Pawlikowski
- 2015: Son of Saul – László Nemes
- 2016: The Salesman – Asghar Farhadi
- 2017: A Fantastic Woman – Sebastián Lelio
- 2018: Roma – Alfonso Cuarón
- 2019: Parasite – Bong Joon-ho
- 2020: Another Round – Thomas Vinterberg
- 2021: Drive My Car – Ryusuke Hamaguchi
- 2022: All Quiet on the Western Front – Edward Berger
- 2023: The Zone of Interest – Jonathan Glazer