IMDb >
Flamenco (de Carlos Saura) (1995)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at Blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsFlamenco (de Carlos Saura) (1995) More at IMDbPro »
Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Carlos Saura (writer)
Release Date:
25 April 1997 (USA)
more
Tagline:
In the tradition of Riverdance, one of the finest and most stunning performance films ever made.
Plot:
As a hall fills with performers, a narrator says that flamenco came from Andalucia, a mix of Greek psalms...
more
| add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
2 nominations
more
User Comments:
Good Introductory But Not Expository Film
more (6 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| La Paquera de Jerez | ... | Herself (segment "Bulerías") | |
| Merche Esmeralda | ... | Herself (segment "Guajira") | |
| Manolo Sanlúcar | ... | Himself (segment "Alegrías") | |
| Joaquín Cortés | ... | Himself (segment "Farruca") | |
| Manuel Moneo | ... | Himself (segment "Martinete") | |
| Agujeta | ... | (segment "Martinete") | |
| Mario Maya | ... | Himself (segment "Martinete") | |
| Paco Toronjo | ... | Himself (segment "Fandangos de Huelva") | |
| Antonio Toscano | ... | Himself (segment "Fandangos de Huelva") | |
| Fernanda de Utrera | ... | Herself (segment "Soleares") | |
| José Meneses | ... | Himself (segment "Petenera") (as José Menese) | |
| María Pagés | ... | Herself (segment "Petenera") | |
| Enrique Morente | ... | Himself (segment "Siguiriyas") | |
| José Mercé | ... | Himself (segment "Soleá") | |
| Manuela Carrasco | ... | Herself (segment "Soleá") |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Flamenco
more
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
100 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Company:
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (6 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Flamenco (de Carlos Saura) (1995)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| What a beautiful piece of film! | abelmn2000 |
| What did you think of this? | Bronzewolf |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| Sus ojos se cerraron y el mundo sigue andando | The Man Who Cried | El amor brujo | La buena vida | Junior Eurovision Song Contest |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Music section | IMDb Spain section | Add this title to MyMovies |

This film is entirely musical and dancing vignettes, composed and photographed on a sound stage (actually the public space of a train station converted to a stage for this film). It's beautifully, sparely photographed. If your entire conception of flamenco consists of the images of some lithe guy in a toreador outfit and an austere woman in a lacy black dress with castanets or thumb cymbals in her hands, drumming dramatically with their boot heels, this movie will open up a new view of flamenco.
This film shows a world of flamenco -- singing, dancing and guitarplaying melded into an intense, enclosing and dramatic space. The flamenco presented here is jazz-like and interpretive. Song, guitar and dance are blended in surprising and inventive ways. Song and dance are sometimes a cappella, extending the guitarplaying in subtle and intense "solos" accompanied often by hand-clapping or knuckles rapped on a table. This dancing is purely interpretive, as jazzy and individualized as any modern dance. These dancers have learned the technique but they make the flamenco their own. This is not an abstracted art form like a string quartet sitting in the well of a performance hall.
Nor is this flamenco the flared-skirt performance of athletic divas. Here we see children dancing with their parents; and grandparents demonstrating decisively that flamenco imbues the spirit with a graceful power that does not age.
At the end, we see the form of flamenco symbolically passed through a class of aspiring dancers. But the heart of the flamenco, I suspect, cannot be learned.
The only flaw in this film is likely to lie in the beholder. If you are not fluent in Spanish, the lyrics of the songs are meaningless. They are literally translated in the subtitles (the only "dialog" in the film), but I found the translations distracting. Like a lot of such translations, the literalness often made the powerfully sung lyrics seem trite.
Nonetheless, as the credits rolled at the end, I found myself shaking my head in wonder that just spare, rhythmic guitar, singing in an unknown language and dancing that consisted of as much anticipation as movement could leave me feeling that I had just watched something special. Over and over again.