SPAIN
ISLAM & SPAIN
Abbasid (750-1260) -- al-Mansur (754-775); Abd ar-Rahman I establishes an independent caliphate in Spain (756); Harun al-Rashid (786-809); al-Ma'mun (809-813); Aghlabid Caliph deposed by Shiite Fatimid dynasty (909)
X Abu Zayd al-Hilali (1947) --- 10th century Islamic Egyptian hero leader Abu Zayd al-Hilali; he and his wife break away from his father's tribe; later the two tribes engage in battle and son and father have to fight it out (in Arabic)
El valle de las espadas (The Castilian) (1963) -- Spanish film of the first independent Count of Castile, 931-970, who opposed the Moors
Seljuq Turks (a Muslim Turkish clan moved into Persia) take power (1055):
El Cid (1961) -- 1094, takes Valencia from the Moors
X La Spada del Cid (Sword of El Cid) (1962) -- based on the homonymous poem and other documents from the epoque
X I cento cavalieri (Son of El Cid; Hundred Horsemen) (1964) -- El Cid's son Diego Rodríguez killed fighting invading Muslim Almoravids from North Africa at Battle of Consuegra, 1097
al Massir (aka Le Destin; Destiny) (1997) -- the story of Islamic philosopher Averroes (1126-1198) in Spanish province of Andalusia
CATHOLIC COUNTER-REFORMATION
X Il Diavolo nero (The Black Devil) (1957) -- As Carlos I of Spain (1516-1556) and as Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire (1519-1556) the monarch tries to occupy all of Italy with the help of traitors
X That Lady (1955) -- story of Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Eboli, and Prince Philip (who became Philip II of Spain, 1556-1598)
X La conjura de El Escorial (The El Escorial Conspiracy) (2008) - deceit and betrayal in the court of King Philip II of Spain
X Seville, 1640 (2004) --
SPAIN & PORTUGAL
Muslim Era (8th to 15th century):
X King Conqueror (2009) -- James I the Conqueror (reign 1213-1276), King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier
X Ins de Castro (1944) – loved one of Pedro I of Portugal (1357-1367); she had a tragic ending
X Ins de Portugal (1997) -- ditto
X O Judea (The Jew) (1996) -- the Portugal Inquisition (1497 to l821) tries a converso (i.e., a Jew who had converted to Catholicism)
'Non', ou A V Glória de Mandar (No, or the Vain Glory of Command) (1990) -- Portuguese in Portuguese Colonial War review early history of Portugal
Imperial Spain (16th to 17th centuries): under Habsburg Empire: Kings Charles I (1516-1556); Philip II (1556-1598); Philip III (1598-1621); Philip IV (1620-1665); Charles II (1665-1700)
X Torquemada (1989) -- Spanish Inquisition
Secret Passage (2004) -- two Spanish Jewish sisters and a daughter try to escape the wrath of the Spanish Inquisition
X La conjura de El Escorial (The El Escorial Controversy) (2008) -- deceit and betrayal in the court of 16th century King Philip II of Spain who reigned 1556-1598
X Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien (2005) -- bad relations between King Philip II of Spain and his son Don Carlos
X Cervantes (1980) -- Cervantes (1547–1616), later author of Don Quixote, persuades Philip of Spain to join the Holy League and then becomes a soldier
X Expulsados 1609, la tragedia de los moriscos (2009) -- 1609 Moors expelled from Spain
X El Greco (2007) – a Greek film about the Greek painter (1541–1614) of the Spanish Renaissance
X El Greco (1966) -- about the Greek painter of the Spanish Renaissance
Alatriste (2006) -- heroic Spanish soldier fighting in Flanders in 17th century has to look after a dying friend's son in Madrid; King Philip IV depicted
X Esquilache (1989) -- Spain under troubled reign of Charles II (1665-1700); (specifically ,the Esquilache Riots of March 1766) (Spanish only)
Spain under the Borbons (18th century): Philip V (1700-1724); Louis I (1724); Philip V (1724-1746); Ferdinand VI (1746); Charles III (1746-1788)-; Charles IV (1746-1808); Ferdinand VII (1808)
SPANISH CONFLICT WITH ENGLAND
Elizabeth (1998) -- Elizabeth I, 1558-1603, sister of Mary, Queen of England
Elizabeth I -- HBO drama focusing on the private life of the "Virgin" Queen
Young Bess (1953) Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger
The Virgin Queen (1955) -- Bette Davis
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
Drake of England (or Elizabeth of England) (1935) -- privateer Sir Francis Drake brings lots of money into England
Seven Seas to Calais (1962) -- Sir Francis Drake
The Sea Hawk (1940) -- Spanish Armada
Fire Over England (1937) -- British-Spanish conflict of 1500s
Imperial Spain (16th to 17th centuries): under Habsburg Empire: Kings Charles I (1516-1556); Philip II (1556-1598); Philip III (1598-1621); Philip IV (1620-1665); Charles II (1665-1700)
Apocalypto (2006) -- Mayan Rambo just before the arrival of the Spanish
Kings of the Sun (1963) -- Mayans pursued by Toltec invaders
X La princesa de los ursinos (Princess of the Ursinos) (1947) – French lady (d. 1722) prominent for a decade and a half at the court of the first of the Spanish Borbons, Philip V (reign 1700-1724)
X La espada negra (The Black Sword) (1976) – love story of Ferdinand and Elizabeth of Spain
X Retorno a Aztlan (1991) -- an ancient Indian empire in what became Mexico faces a severe drought and the priest prays for relief
X Christopher Columbus (1949) -- discoverer of America, not a short cut to India (with Fredric March and Francis Sullivan)
X Christopher Columbus (1985) -- mini-series starring Gabriel Byrne, Faye Dunaway, Oliver Reed
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) -- with Marlon Brando, Tom Selleck
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) -- Christopher Columbus
X Alba de América (Dawn of America) (1952) -- account of discovery of America
Captain from Castile (1947) -- serves with Cortez in conquest of Mexico
X El juicio de Martin Cortes (1974) -- mestizo son of Cortez represents fundamental dilemma of Mexican society
La Otra Conquista (The Other Conquest) (1998) -- Aztec resistance to Christianization by the Spanish under Cortez
Nuevo Mundo ( New World) (1978) -- in the future Mexico, the Spanish laity and clergy use torture and fear to try to force the native people to accept Christianity and abandon their pagan beliefs
X Tribu (1935) -- conquest of North America
Cabeza de Vaca (1992) -- 1528, explored parts of the future USA and Mexico
Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969) -- Francisco Pizarro and the conquest of Peru
X Los conquistadores del Pacífico (1963) -- inspired by Balboa, discoverer of the Pacific Ocean
X Juana la loca (Locura de amor; Mad Love) (2001) -- Juana's devotion to her husband of an arranged marriage becomes an obsession; remake of Locura de Amor
X Locura de Amor (Love Crazy) (1948)-- Spanish movie about Joanna the Mad or Joanna of Castile (1479-1555) who ruled jointly with her husband Philip the Handsome ($28)
X Perlas ng silangan (1969) -- Spanish colonization of the Philippines (languages Filipino/Tagalog)
X Damong ligaw (199&) -- Filipino-Spanish War (languages Filipino/Tagalog)
X The Spanish Main (1945) -- the area containing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico was subject to a lot of piracy to get at the gold and other treasures of the New World headed to Spain
Spain under the Borbons (18th century): Philip V (1700-1724); Louis I (1724); Philip V (1724-1746); Ferdinand VI (1746); Charles III (1746-1788)-; Charles IV (1746-1808); Ferdinand VII (1808)
X Sangre de mayo (Blood of May) (2008) -- love story set against reign of Fernando VII of Spain (currently unavailable)
Spanish Opposition to Napoleon: House of Bonaparte: Joseph Bonaparte (1808-1813)
The Pride and the Passion (1957) -- Spanish Revolution Against Napoleon 1810
Goya in Bordeaux (1999) -- Spanish painter Francisco Goya (maja is a pretty woman)
Volavérunt (1999) -- Goya and the Duchess of Alba, Goya's "Naked Maja" starring Aitana Sánchez-Gijón and Penélope Cruz
The Naked Maja (La maja desnuda) (1958) -- Goya and the Duchess of Alba starring Ava Gardner
Goya (1985) -- tv mini-series; lots of history
Goya's Ghosts (2006) -- Goya and the Spanish Inquisition
X Augustina (2010) -- "Spanish Joan of Arc" Agustina de Aragón (1786-1857) defended Spain during the Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814)
X Agustina de Aragón (1950) -- ditto
IMPERIALISM:
Spain: First Spanish Republic (1873-1874):
Spain: House of Borbon (Second Restoration) --1874-1931: Alfonso XII (1874-1885); Alfonso XIII (1886-1931)
Citizen Kane (1941) -- the life of William Randolph Hearst & yellow journalism start a war w/ Spain
X The Hearst and Davies Affair (1985) -- Hearst and actress Marion Davies ($39)
The Cat's Meow (2001) -- movie producer Thomas Ince dies after yachting with William Randolph Hearst, Charlie Chaplin & Marion Davies
Rough Riders (1997) -- 1898, with Theodore Roosevelt
Newsies (1992) -- musical about the 1899 newspaper boy strike against Pulitzer and Hearst in NYC
X Mambí (1998) – the Cubans loyal to Spain called the insurgents the Mambies, named after the black Spanish officer, Juan Ethninius Mamby, who was a freedom fighter in the Dominican Republic
SPANISH CIVIL WAR Back to Chapter XI Back to Contents
Spain: Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939)
Spain: Francoist Spain (1939-1975)
Belle Epoque (1992) -- love blooms for a young man during the early period of the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939)
Land and Freedom (1995) -- Spanish Civil War
Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1997) -- executed; Spanish Civil War
X Little Ashes (2008) -- the friendship of film director Luis Bunuel and the two artists Salvador Dali and Federico Garcia Lorca
Talk of Angels (1998) -- Irish woman flees impending marriage to a political activist only to find political troubles in 1930s Spain
X For Whom the Bell Tolls (1944) -- Spanish Civil War
Hemingway (1988) (miniseries) -- the life and loves of the Nobel Prize winner for Literature
La Niña de tus ojos (The Girl of Your Dreams) (1998) -- Franco's Spain makes movies in Hitler's Germany
Ay Carmela! -- captured republican theatre players search their consciences about performing for the fascists
Soldados de Salamina (The Soldiers of Salamina) (2003) -- a woman reporter chases down the story of fascist poet Rafael Sánchez Mazas who escaped a massacre of 50 fascist prisoners
Butterfly (1999) -- fascism didn't mean much until they started rounding up people
Viridiana (1961) -- parable of the Spanish Civil War by director Luis Bunuel
El espiritu de la colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive) (1973) -- a child's attempts to make sense out of the horrific effects of the Franco dictatorship
Silencio roto (Broken Silence) (2001) -- a young woman loves a Republican rebel which leads to a great many problems for her
Blockade (1938) -- anti-war drama of peasant farmer forced to take up arms to defend his farm during the Spanish Civil War
X Zerkalo (The Mirror) (1975) -- the Spanish Civil War seen with an intermixture of drama and documentary footage
La caza (The Hunt) (1966) -- on a 4-man hunt, bad memories return concerning the Spanish Civil War and lead to big trouble
Vacas (1991) -- following two Basque families from 1875-1936, from the Carlist War to the Spanish Civil War
Una Pasion Singular (2002) -- Blas Infante, "the father of Andalucia," in the Spanish Civil War
Los santos inocentes (The Holy Innocents) (1984) -- a critical look at the terrible inequality in the Spanish country life of the 1960s
Head in the Clouds (2005) -- two women and one man confronted with the growing fascism in Spain & eventual civil war
X Los girasoles ciegos (The Blind Sunflowers) (2008) -- Ourense, Spain, 1940
Las 13 rosas (The 13 Roses) (2007) -- republican women try to keep their republican ideal in the aftermath of Franco's victory
X Salvador Puig Antich (2006) – based on the life of the last person arrested for political reasons under Francisco Franco
X The Anarchist's Wife (2008) -- the anarchist's wife never gives up hope on seeing her husband again after he fought in the Spanish Civil War and then joined the French Resistance
X Operación Ogro (Orgo) (1979) – clandestine Basque organization ETA plans to kill Franco successor, Admiral Carrero Blanco
X Raza (Race) (1942) -- film glorifying the fascist forces defeating the democratic ones in the Spanish Civil War
X Cruzada en la mar (1968) – Spanish Civil War
X Días rojos (2004) -- Spanish Civil War
X 20-N: Los últimos días de Franco (2008) -- the last days of dictator Francisco Franco
X Mirant al cel (2008) – Spanish Civil War
X Alféreces provisionales (1964) -- Spanish Civil War
L'assedio dell'Alcazar (The Siege of Alcazar) (1940) – a piece of fascist propaganda; during the Spanish Civil War the Alcazar of Toledo, 45 minutes from Madrid, is besieged by Republican forces
X Las largas vacaciones del 36 (Long Vacations of 36) (1976) – on a long vacation a family tries to remain neutral in the Spanish Civil War (currently unavailable)
El viaje de Carol (Carol's Journey) (2002) -- Carol is Spanish-American from NYC, but her dad fights in the Spanish Civil War; she & her mother go to Spain
X La Forja de un rebelde (1990) -- autobiographic trilogy of Arturo Barea who became involved in the Spanish civil War; TV series
La buena nueva (The Good News) (2008) -- priest Miguel tries to defend the victims of shootings by the National Front but finds the church is siding with the fascists and not the republic
X L'espoir (Man's Hope) (1945) -- an aerial squadron loyal to Franco needs to wipe out a Republican air field, but don't know it's location; so they take an illiterate peasant up in the air with them
Behold a Pale Horse (1964) -- Spanish republican, Manuel Artiguez, continues to fight Franco's fascist forces even after the Republicans lost the war; a policeman plans to trap him
La hora de los valientes (The Hour of the Brave Ones) (1998) -- a man and a woman try to save a Goya masterpiece amidst the violence of war
X Dragón rapide (1986) -- two weeks before the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936
Post-War Spain & Portugal
Spain: Francoist Spain: 1936-1975
Spain: Third Borbon Restoration 1975-present -- Juan Carlos I (1975-)
X Raza ( Race) (1942) -- Spanish fascist story of Franco family and Franco
X Espérame en el cielo (Wait for me in Heaven) (1988) – a man is grabbed by a group who wants to use him as a model for the Spanish dictator Franco
X ¡Buen Viaje, Excelencia! (2003) -- comic, irreverent treatment of the dictator Franco in his last two years of life
Tiovivo c. 1950 (2004) -- life in post-Civil War Madrid, the city offers entertainment, hope and love, in spite of the many restrictions
Pájaros de papel (Paper Birds) (2010) -- lives of a comic and artistic group in the hard times after the end of the Spanish Civil War
X Operacion Ogro (Ogro) -- a Basque independence group (ETA) vows to stop Admiral Carrero Blanco from becoming the replacement for the dying Franco
Cinco dias, cinco noites (Five Days, Five Nights) (1996) -- Álvaro Cunhal, communist party chief of Portugal, escapes from prison and tells his story
Capitães de Abril (April Captains) (1997) -- military coup of the left overthrows the dictatorship in Portugal, April 25, 1974, that was established by Salazar in 1933
CIVIL RIGHTS - SPAIN
X La pelota vasca: la piel contra la piedra (The Basque Ball: Skin against Stone) (2003) -- problem of Basque region of Spain
X Yoyes (2000) -- fictionalized reconstruction of the life of Dolores "Yoyes" González Catarain a woman member of the Basque liberation group ETA
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