CULTURE

"We liked to play theatre, it was a way of making an escape from the harsh reality. Thanks to one of the wealthiest families in the village we had the opportunity of visiting Madrid to see a play. The cultural life was returning slowly and those who could afford it were in the vestibule, well-dressed bourgeois, the women with pearl earrings and necklaces. We had made a great effort to get dressed up but our clothes were old-fashioned and we felt like outsiders. When the play ended, the national anthem sounded through loudspeakers, the audience stood and many of them raised their arms in the falangists salute. The national anthem was a symbol of the Falange more than a national identity."

The 50s were the years when a lot of political, social and economic changes took place; changes that affected all cultural activities including cinema, music, literature, sport. At those times the government's aim was to create a catholic, independent and traditional state. Franco’s self-sufficient policy after the war kept the country isolated from foreign cultural influences.Later in the 50s, when cold war happened, Spain began to trade with other international organizations. The growth of commerce and industry made Spanish economy increase a bit and allowed for some life style changes. At the same time some critical attitudes appeared regarding power and the social divisions between the people who had won the war and those whohad lost it. These attitudes were present particulary among builders and university students.

CENSORSHIP DURING FRANCO'S REGIME

Cultural manifestations were closely monitored and controlled by the military authority and the Roman Catholic Church. The control of text production, both native and translated, was exerted by “Juntas de Censura”, committees composed of Church representatives, lower-rank officials and men of letters functioning under the supervision of the authorities. Cultural censorship played a vital role in Franco's regime. It was perhaps the most effective element of the dictatorship, without which Franco would not have been able to control Spanish society. Franco's aim was to preserve his regime's ideology and isolate Spanish culture from foreign influences. In order to achieve that, his censorship had to be concerted and it was thus carried out by three departments: the Book Censorship section, the Cinema and Theatre Department and the Information and Censorship section. All three departments were responsible for banning every artistic work that posed a threat to the regime's ideology. Sexual morality, politics, religion and the use of language were the main sensitive issues with regard to censorship.

LITERATURE

The Spanish novel was interested in the new social concerns, often not paying attention to life in the previous years.
In 1951 Camilo José Cela published "La Colmena" (The Beehive). As years passed by, the social realism was increased and in 1954 many works of this type were published. These works were written by: Ana Mª Matute, Ignacio Aldecoa, Jesús Fernandez Santos, Juan Goytisolo, Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Carmen Martín Gaite, and Juan García Hortelano.
The general topic of the novels in those times were: how difficult life was in the countryside, the difficulties to transform from peasants to industrial workers, the exploitation by employers and the simplicity of life for the bourgeoisie. This style was simple and the politic, symbolic and critical concerns were very important.

PRESS

The control of the press was very strict it was decreed by the law of the1938; this law, that was provisional but remained until 1966, forbade the freedom of speech and the function of the press as a democratic system.According to the law, the state had to guard the organization and the control of the press, Franco’s objective was to present a good image of himself and of the country. As a consequence, for instance:

The “ABC” was penalized by the reduction of 25% of the pages because it published 8 pages more than the legal limit, this was only a front because the political alliance of the newspaper was monarchical..
The director of the newspapers was elected by the Minister of Domestic Affairs .
The control over the journalists was very strict.

CINEMA

Around 1936, both parties of the Civil War began to use cinema as a means of propaganda and censorship. The pro-Franco side founded the National Department of Cinematography, forcing many actors to go into exile.Under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spanish cinema was utilised as a myth-making machine to spin stories about the past.Cinema became a propaganda tool as the government turned out cine cruzada, or civil-war films, which venerated the Church, the family and the state. Juan Antonio Bardem summed up cinema of postwar Spain in a manifesto that has become famous for its harshness: "Real Spanish cinema is politically inefficient, socially false, intellectually infirm, aesthetically void and industrially weak."

It was required to see the NO-DO before the screening of the film, so...click on and have a look to some of the headlines

NO-DO

RELIGION

One of the most famous and successful films of the mid 1950's was Marcelino, pan y vino (Marcelino, Bread and Wine) from Ladislao Vajda. The story is a quietly religious fable whose main character is a young child abandoned as a baby on the steps of a Spanish monastery. He was always getting into trouble, an often given the silent treatment by the monks, Marcelino began to offer bread and wine to a statue of Christ on the Cross which miraculously comes to life, descends from the Cross, and eats and drinks what the boy has brought him. One day, the statue notices that Marcelino is sad so he tells him that he would like to give him a reward for his kindness. Marcelino answers, "I want only to see my mother, [she had died] and to see Yours after that". The statue cradles Marcelino in its arms, tells Marcelino to sleep - and Marcelino dies happy.

POLITICS
Myth-stories about the past

PRIDE AND PASION

The forces of Napoleon are winning through Europe ,and Spain is going to be conquered by the powerful invaders. Only a brave combatant and his guerrilla face the attack. Grant ,Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren give us a brilliant performance in this film of tense war with a lot of suspense. The Spanish combatant Mikel (Sinatra) thinks how to attack the French forces bombarding the walls of Ávila that is occupied by the French. But because Mike is unexperienced with the arms, he presents an opportunity of attack to the captain Trumbell(Grant),a British official of the sea army. But even though both are allies in the combat they are opponents in love because of a woman (Loren )the lover of Mike but who is attracted by the manners of the British oficial.

Pictures of the shooting, 1956. Above Rafael Gómez Montero, Cary Grant and Stanley Kramer

Thanks God they were not allowed to damage the walls as they intended

POLITICS
Criticism

“Welcome Mr. Marshall!”, or “¡Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall!” is a 1953 comedy Spanish film directed by Luis García Berlanga and considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema. Berlanga created both a devastating parody of Francoist mythmaking (particularly of the regime's promotion of Spain to the outside world as a picturesque paradise of bullfighting and flamenco), and a searing commentary on the Economic Recovery Program (better known as The Marshall Plan), of which Spain was never a beneficiary. Made the year before the United States established military bases on Spanish territory, ¡Bienvenido Mister Marshall! manages to lampoon Hollywood, McCarthyism, the Catholic Church and Francoism all at the same time. Remarkably, the Spanish authorities saw little to object in it and the film escaped major censorship. However, the film missed out on a prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year due to the veto of jury member Edward G. Robinson who complained of its anti-Americanism.

The film is the story of a small Spanish town, Villar del Río, which hears of the visit of American diplomats and begins preparations to impress the American visitors in the hopes of benefitting under the Marshall plan. To welcome the Americans the people prepared this song:

Americans come to Spain
handsome and healthy
hurray for the throne
of this great country
olé! Virginia
and Michigan
and Texas that is not bad
and with so many bucks
We welcome
with joy the Americans!
olé my mother !
olé my mother in law!
and olé my aunt!

The Marshall plan arrives from abroad
to help us
and with a lot of bucks
“Villar del Rio”
is going to grow well
They will give money to those who fight bulls
in the best bullfighting
and pants and shirts
for the young vain and conceited girls.

Map of Cold-War era Europe and the Near East showing countries that received Marshall Plan aid. The red columns show the relative amount of total aid per nation.

To know more about the Marshall Plan, visit:

http://www.answers.com/topic/marshall-plan

FOOTBALL

A football team raising their arms in the falangist salute

The first Spanish league was played in 1929, and it was won by the F.C Barcelona. During the civil war the football league stopped, the first league after the war was won by the Atletico Aviación, nowadays the Atlético de Madrid. Football was used as a political tool in order to break frontiers and enhance international relations. They also provided a distraction for manifestations, e.g. once one football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona was advanced to a Friday because that day was a manifestation, and so people were forced to choose between football and the manifestation. In 1964, the European Cup final between Spain and URSS was played in Madrid; the stadium was full of communist who wanted to hear the communist anthem and see the communism flag, which was forbidden at that time.

THE RADIO

The voices and the music of the radio made the post-war life happier. People in the villages gathered to hear the radio. In those times, most families would have liked to buy a radio. On the radio there were also censor controls over the programs and even including some radio stations; for example, to hear Moscow or Bucharest radio was an adventure as these radio stations were communist and therfore forbidden.

BULLFIGHTING

CULTURE			Homepage No-do Bullfighting
"We liked to play theatre, it was a way of making an escape from the harsh reality. Thanks to one of the wealthiest families in the village we had the opportunity of visiting Madrid to see a play. The cultural life was returning slowly and those who could afford it were in the vestibule, well-dressed bourgeois, the women with pearl earrings and necklaces. We had made a great effort to get dressed up but our clothes were old-fashioned and we felt like outsiders. When the play ended, the national anthem sounded through loudspeakers, the audience stood and many of them raised their arms in the falangists salute. The national anthem was a symbol of the Falange more than a national identity."
The 50s were the years when a lot of political, social and economic changes took place; changes that affected all cultural activities including cinema, music, literature, sport. At those times the government's aim was to create a catholic, independent and traditional state. Franco’s self-sufficient policy after the war kept the country isolated from foreign cultural influences.Later in the 50s, when cold war happened, Spain began to trade with other international organizations. The growth of commerce and industry made Spanish economy increase a bit and allowed for some life style changes. At the same time some critical attitudes appeared regarding power and the social divisions between the people who had won the war and those whohad lost it. These attitudes were present particulary among builders and university students. CENSORSHIP DURING FRANCO'S REGIME Cultural manifestations were closely monitored and controlled by the military authority and the Roman Catholic Church. The control of text production, both native and translated, was exerted by “Juntas de Censura”, committees composed of Church representatives, lower-rank officials and men of letters functioning under the supervision of the authorities. Cultural censorship played a vital role in Franco's regime. It was perhaps the most effective element of the dictatorship, without which Franco would not have been able to control Spanish society. Franco's aim was to preserve his regime's ideology and isolate Spanish culture from foreign influences. In order to achieve that, his censorship had to be concerted and it was thus carried out by three departments: the Book Censorship section, the Cinema and Theatre Department and the Information and Censorship section. All three departments were responsible for banning every artistic work that posed a threat to the regime's ideology. Sexual morality, politics, religion and the use of language were the main sensitive issues with regard to censorship.
		LITERATURE The Spanish novel was interested in the new social concerns, often not paying attention to life in the previous years. In 1951 Camilo José Cela published "La Colmena" (The Beehive). As years passed by, the social realism was increased and in 1954 many works of this type were published. These works were written by: Ana Mª Matute, Ignacio Aldecoa, Jesús Fernandez Santos, Juan Goytisolo, Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Carmen Martín Gaite, and Juan García Hortelano. The general topic of the novels in those times were: how difficult life was in the countryside, the difficulties to transform from peasants to industrial workers, the exploitation by employers and the simplicity of life for the bourgeoisie. This style was simple and the politic, symbolic and critical concerns were very important. PRESS The control of the press was very strict it was decreed by the law of the1938; this law, that was provisional but remained until 1966, forbade the freedom of speech and the function of the press as a democratic system.According to the law, the state had to guard the organization and the control of the press, Franco’s objective was to present a good image of himself and of the country. As a consequence, for instance: The “ABC” was penalized by the reduction of 25% of the pages because it published 8 pages more than the legal limit, this was only a front because the political alliance of the newspaper was monarchical.. The director of the newspapers was elected by the Minister of Domestic Affairs . The control over the journalists was very strict.



CINEMA

Around 1936, both parties of the Civil War began to use cinema as a means of propaganda and censorship. The pro-Franco side founded the National Department of Cinematography, forcing many actors to go into exile.Under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco, Spanish cinema was utilised as a myth-making machine to spin stories about the past.Cinema became a propaganda tool as the government turned out cine cruzada, or civil-war films, which venerated the Church, the family and the state. Juan Antonio Bardem summed up cinema of postwar Spain in a manifesto that has become famous for its harshness: "Real Spanish cinema is politically inefficient, socially false, intellectually infirm, aesthetically void and industrially weak." It was required to see the NO-DO before the screening of the film, so...click on and have a look to some of the headlines NO-DO
		RELIGION One of the most famous and successful films of the mid 1950's was Marcelino, pan y vino (Marcelino, Bread and Wine) from Ladislao Vajda. The story is a quietly religious fable whose main character is a young child abandoned as a baby on the steps of a Spanish monastery. He was always getting into trouble, an often given the silent treatment by the monks, Marcelino began to offer bread and wine to a statue of Christ on the Cross which miraculously comes to life, descends from the Cross, and eats and drinks what the boy has brought him. One day, the statue notices that Marcelino is sad so he tells him that he would like to give him a reward for his kindness. Marcelino answers, "I want only to see my mother, [she had died] and to see Yours after that". The statue cradles Marcelino in its arms, tells Marcelino to sleep - and Marcelino dies happy.
POLITICS Myth-stories about the past
		PRIDE AND PASION The forces of Napoleon are winning through Europe ,and Spain is going to be conquered by the powerful invaders. Only a brave combatant and his guerrilla face the attack. Grant ,Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren give us a brilliant performance in this film of tense war with a lot of suspense. The Spanish combatant Mikel (Sinatra) thinks how to attack the French forces bombarding the walls of Ávila that is occupied by the French. But because Mike is unexperienced with the arms, he presents an opportunity of attack to the captain Trumbell(Grant),a British official of the sea army. But even though both are allies in the combat they are opponents in love because of a woman (Loren )the lover of Mike but who is attracted by the manners of the British oficial.
Pictures of the shooting, 1956. Above Rafael Gómez Montero, Cary Grant and Stanley Kramer		Thanks God they were not allowed to damage the walls as they intended
		POLITICS Criticism “Welcome Mr. Marshall!”, or “¡Bienvenido, Mr. Marshall!” is a 1953 comedy Spanish film directed by Luis García Berlanga and considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish cinema. Berlanga created both a devastating parody of Francoist mythmaking (particularly of the regime's promotion of Spain to the outside world as a picturesque paradise of bullfighting and flamenco), and a searing commentary on the Economic Recovery Program (better known as The Marshall Plan), of which Spain was never a beneficiary. Made the year before the United States established military bases on Spanish territory, ¡Bienvenido Mister Marshall! manages to lampoon Hollywood, McCarthyism, the Catholic Church and Francoism all at the same time. Remarkably, the Spanish authorities saw little to object in it and the film escaped major censorship. However, the film missed out on a prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year due to the veto of jury member Edward G. Robinson who complained of its anti-Americanism.
The film is the story of a small Spanish town, Villar del Río, which hears of the visit of American diplomats and begins preparations to impress the American visitors in the hopes of benefitting under the Marshall plan. To welcome the Americans the people prepared this song:
	Americans come to Spain handsome and healthy hurray for the throne of this great country olé! Virginia and Michigan and Texas that is not bad and with so many bucks We welcome with joy the Americans! olé my mother ! olé my mother in law! and olé my aunt! The Marshall plan arrives from abroad to help us and with a lot of bucks “Villar del Rio” is going to grow well They will give money to those who fight bulls in the best bullfighting and pants and shirts for the young vain and conceited girls.	Map of Cold-War era Europe and the Near East showing countries that received Marshall Plan aid. The red columns show the relative amount of total aid per nation.
	To know more about the Marshall Plan, visit: http://www.answers.com/topic/marshall-plan


FOOTBALL
A football team raising their arms in the falangist salute		The first Spanish league was played in 1929, and it was won by the F.C Barcelona. During the civil war the football league stopped, the first league after the war was won by the Atletico Aviación, nowadays the Atlético de Madrid. Football was used as a political tool in order to break frontiers and enhance international relations. They also provided a distraction for manifestations, e.g. once one football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona was advanced to a Friday because that day was a manifestation, and so people were forced to choose between football and the manifestation. In 1964, the European Cup final between Spain and URSS was played in Madrid; the stadium was full of communist who wanted to hear the communist anthem and see the communism flag, which was forbidden at that time.


		THE RADIO The voices and the music of the radio made the post-war life happier. People in the villages gathered to hear the radio. In those times, most families would have liked to buy a radio. On the radio there were also censor controls over the programs and even including some radio stations; for example, to hear Moscow or Bucharest radio was an adventure as these radio stations were communist and therfore forbidden.


		BULLFIGHTING