World Film Locations: Madrid (Book)

World Film Locations: Madrid is a trip through the urban space conceived as film location. The premise is that these locations must have been protagonist of films shot in Madrid since the silent era to the present. Madrid is the film capital of the Hispanic World from the standpoint of production. Being also one of the most visited cities in the world, this book tries to discover its most imaginative side for the visitor who dares to take this journey. But it is a tour that is not covered in the guidebooks. The different suggestions are explained in a series of essays written by experts, which analyses the role that the city plays in the stories filmed in Madrid. 

Edition

World Film Locations: Madrid is a trip through the urban space conceived as film location. The premise is that these locations must have been protagonist of films shot in Madrid since the silent era to the present. Madrid is the film capital of the Hispanic World from the standpoint of production. Being also one of the most visited cities in the world, this book tries to discover its most imaginative side for the visitor who dares to take this journey. But it is a tour that is not covered in the guidebooks. The different suggestions are explained in a series of essays written by experts, which analyses the role that the city plays in the stories filmed in Madrid. This is a city of contrasts where lives high culture (the best universities, the Museo del Prado, etc.), with the most popular and sparkling nightlife that began with La Movida and Almodóvar.

These essays account for this life contrast, addressing from the corralas (popular architecture) in Egdar Neville’s films, to the underground cinema of Iván Zulueta. Madrid’s spaces and their films are visually discussed as well through 44 microanalysis of sequences, whose selection criteria has been its importance in the plot and its ability to represent the true spirit of the city, rather than its tourist attractive. Casual visitors or permanent inhabitants, and general lovers of Spanish culture in a broad sense, will find in these pages reasons to wander through Madrid’s films and streets.

Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano is a senior lecturer in the Department of Communication Sciences I at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Spain. He is the editor of Directory of World Cinema: Spain, also published by Intellect.

Maps/Scenes

Scenes 1-8 – 1912-1951

Scenes 9-16 – 1955-1965

Scenes 17-24 – 1967-1984

Scenes 25-32  – 1987-1997

Scenes 33-38 – 1997-2002

Scenes 39-44 – 2003-2009

Essays

Madrid: City of the Imagination – Lorenzo J. Torres Hortelano

Madrid in Motion: Squares, Corralas, Markets, Verbenas – José Luis Castro de Paz and José Ramón Garitaonaindía de Vera

Iván Zulueta: Films of Madrid's Underground – Steven Marsh

Embracing Normalcy: Madrid Gay Cinema at the Turn of the New Millennium – Helio San Miguel

Madrid: Unexpected Dream Factory – Helio San Miguel

Beyond the Cliché: Madrid in Twenty-first Century American Thrillers – John D Sanderson

Bright Young Things: Neo-existentialism in Madrid cinema of the 1990's – Rafael Gómez Alonso

'Illuminating' – Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice - Dr Graham Busby

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