Madrid, a city in the shadows: Cinema and obscurity

Abstract

The city of Madrid is widely depicted in Spanish cinema. This choice has been a constant from the inception of cinema but became especially accentuated after the Second Spanish Republic. The motivations behind this are diverse: sometimes commercial, at other times social, and occasionally even political. While the model for its representation has altered with each historical period and, indeed, many directors offer different visions of the city in their different films, what is true is that farce and comedy have been the most influential genres in its visual construction. Some cinematographers such as José Antonio Nieves Conde, José Luis Garci, and Pedro Almodóvar have achieved such an intensely individualised portrait of the city that we can talk of a Madrid belonging to each one of them.