#20474 - L4 Raza - Literature and Film under Franco - Lecture Notes

Spanish Cinema: 1900s – 1940s

What should we expect from a film made during a dictatorship?

• After the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) Spain entered a dictatorship under Franco, which had profound consequences for its cinema

• During a dictatorship one can expect films that:

• Use older or conservative production styles (due to disruption, resource limits and ideological constraints)

• Present a clear ‘good vs bad’ dualism: regime side as virtuous, opponents as corrupt or foreign

• Emphasise past ‘glories’ (empire, Catholic monarchy) and present the regime as restoring them

• Serve propaganda purposes: legitimising the regime, recasting recent history, promoting moral/spiritual values in line with the regime

• Are shaped by state control, censorship, and ideological re-construction of national identity

• Focus often on family, love, and domestic melodrama as safer vessels for ideological messages

• In early Francoist years the films were particularly “fascistic” and national-Catholic (strong religious element, emphasis on Spanish ‘race’ or unity, strong anti-left/anti-republican tropes)

• The regime also engaged in cultural engineering: reconstructing the narrative of Spain’s past and present, defining the “enemy within”, celebrating Spanishness (or Hispanidad) as a cultural, spiritual and moral ideal

• The influence of foreign cinema was felt: Spanish cinema had to grapple with Hollywood’s dominance, the transition from silent to sound, the influence of genres, star system, and the “costumbrismo” trend (depicting everyday local manners and customs)

• A key feature: heavy censorship. Both the Church and Falangist political apparatus monitored scripts, and filmmakers had to conform (or find subtle ways to navigate)

• Ideological demands: dubbing also became important – changing language/meaning of imported films and reflecting the state’s control over cinematic messages

Influence of Hollywood and other models

• Hollywood influence:

• Hollywood dominated European screens in the early 20^th century, providing both a model and a threat to Spanish filmmakers

• Spanish cinema adopted Hollywood’s techniques – editing, close-ups, star culture – but filtered them through nationalist themes

• Raza borrows from Hollywood melodrama and family sagas, framing ideology within emotionally accessible storytelling

• Fascist Europe’s influence:

• Franco’s regime admired Italian Fascist and Nazi German propaganda cinema, especially the works of Leni Riefenstahl and Italian ‘white telephone’ films

• Early Francoist films shared stylistic traits: choreographed military parades, monumental mise-en-scene, glorification of the leader, and mythic reconstructions of the nation

• Raza’s blending of fictional narrative with archival war footage is reminiscent of Reifenstah’s aesthetic strategies in Triumph of the Will

• Tension between models:

• Spain sought to emulate Hollywood’s technical sophistication but within a moral and ideological framework more aligned with Catholic conversation and European fascism

Propaganda vs entertainment: navigating ideology

• Spectrum of films: not all Spanish films of the 1940s were blatant propaganda. They existed on a spectrum

• Pure propaganda: films like Raza explicitly served the regime, glorifying its values

• Moral escapism: light comedies, musical dramas offered relief from the trauma of war while still endorsing traditional hierarchies

• Quasi-documentaries: reconstruction films that portrayed the rebuilding of Spain, focusing on moral renewal and order

• Entertainment as soft power: by producing seemingly “neutral” entertainment, the regime could normalise its ideology – e.g. idealised motherhood, submissive femininity, heroic masculinity, rural virtue

• Cinema as a mirror of recovery: post-war films often celebrated Spain’s resurrection – not as a modern democracy, but as a spiritual and imperial rebirth. Cinema became both consolation and indoctrination

Censorship Laws

• Dual censorship system: under Franco, all scripts and films were vetted by both

• The Church, ensuring moral purity, absence of blasphemy or sexual indecency

• The Falange, checking for ideological conformity – loyalty to Spain, anti-communism, traditional gender roles, and reverence for authority

• Impact on filmmakers: directors and writers developed strategies to work within or around censorship. Some hid political critique under allegory, symbolism or regionalism. Others embraced escapism to avoid political scrutiny

• Dubbing as Ideological Tool:

• Spain’s 1941 law made dubbing obligatory for foreign films — ostensibly to “protect the Spanish language.” In reality, it was a means ofideological control:

• Foreign films’ dialogues were rewritten to remove any anti-clerical, liberal, or sexually suggestive content

• American or French films were often transformed into “moral” tales by altering lines and toning down behaviour. This process effectivelyre-nationalisedforeign cinema, adapting it to fit Francoist moral codes

• Dubbing also helped shape astandardised Castilian accent

• Cultural Legacy: Dubbing became so widespread that it remains a norm in Spain today — a legacy of censorship as much as convenience

Compañía Industrial Film Española (CIFESA), film company founded in 1933

• Founded in 1933, CIFESA became Spain’s largest film studio, often called “The Spanish Hollywood”

• During the Civil War, it supported the Nationalist side and, after Franco’s victory, became the semi-official film production arm of the regime

• Role in Francoist cinema:

• Produced large-scale historical epics, moral dramas, and patriotic films like Raza

• Emphasised technical polish and traditional narratives – Spain could rival Hollywood in grandeur but without moral “corruption”

• Functioned as the regime’s cultural ambassador, creating a cinema of prestige that projected an image of a “strong, unified Spain”

• Supported by state subsidies and censorship leniency for films deemed ideologically sounds

• Industrial importance: CIFESA developed Spain’s film infrastructure – sound stages, professional crews, star system. It became a laboratory for consolidating Francoist Hispanidad, celebrating imperial nostalgia, Catholic devotion and social order

Costumbrismo and Popular Culture: Roots of Spanish Cinematic Identity

• Definition: Costumbrismo refers to a trend in Spanish literature and art that focused on depicting the everyday customs, manners, and local traditions (costumbres) of ordinary people

• In cinema, it translated into light comedies, musical dramas, and social satires showing recognisable Spanish “types” — from the noble working-class madrileño to the proud Andalusian.

• Early Cinema Example:

• La verbena de la paloma (José Buchs, 1921) and its later sound remake (Benito Perojo, 1935) are classic costumbrista films, rooted in Madrid’s popular culture

• They celebrated the urban folk life and “typical Spaniard” identity through humour, music, and class interactions

• Significance:

• Costumbrismo gave Spanish cinema a home-grown cultural vocabulary that later regimes could exploit. Francoism, which sought to define an “authentic Spain,” adopted similar imagery — the pious mother, the honourable soldier, the loyal servant of faith — to convey traditional values

• In Raza, these archetypes reappear, idealised and stripped of ambiguity.

• Continuity:

• Even during censorship, costumbrismo survived as a “safe” genre. By depicting traditional lifestyles and avoiding political controversy, filmmakers could both entertain and subtly reinforce nationalist ideology.

Evolution of Regime Messaging: From Fascism to National Catholicism

• Early Years (1939–45):

• Strong fascist imagery, militarism, and imperial rhetoric.

• Films like Raza project Spain as the moral heir of its empire — victorious over chaos and moral decay.

The rhetoric of race (raza), purity, and heroism is explicit.

• Post-WWII Shift:

After Axis defeat, Franco distanced Spain from fascism and rebranded as a “Catholic anti-Communist” state.

• In 1950–51, Raza was re-edited and re-released under the title Espíritu de una raza (“Spirit of a Race”), removing fascist gestures (salutes, direct references to Axis powers) and heightening religious and spiritual tones.

• This revisionism reveals cinema’s adaptability as an ideological instrument — reflecting the regime’s survival strategy in changing geopolitics.

Critical Perspective: Reading Raza Today

• When analysing Raza as a historical document rather than just a film:

• Ask whose version of history it tells — and what it erases (e.g., Republican suffering, foreign involvement).

Note the moral binaries — good/evil, loyal/traitor, Spanish/foreign.

• Observe how family drama becomes political allegory — the Churruca brothers symbolise a divided Spain; reconciliation is possible only through submission to the “true” (Nationalist) path.

Consider the use of cinematic form — heroic music, idealised lighting, slow motion, and real war footage — as part of emotional manipulation.

• Recognise its cultural function — not entertainment, but national myth-making, legitimising Franco’s rule by rewriting history as destiny.

The film: ‘Raza’ (1941)

• Basic Facts & Production:

• Directed by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia and released in January 1942

• The screenplay is based on a novel written under the pseudonym "Jaime de Andrade" which was actually Francisco Franco himself

• The film was lavish by Spanish standards: it cost approx. 1,650,000 pesetas, many metres of film were shot, elaborate sets and costumes

• It was supported by state apparatus (including the Council of Hispanidad) and distributed with regime...