On dangerous ground: Landscape, gender and genre in La isla mínima/Marshland (Rodríguez 2014)

Luzón Aguado, Virginia (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: La isla mínima/Marshland (Rodríguez 2014) stands as the most successful feature by acclaimed Sevillian director Alberto Rodríguez to date. Rodríguez and other directors of his generation have been considered responsible for the resurgence in popularity of Spanish cinema at the box office in recent years, which to a large extent derives from their transnational artistic influences. Undeniably, the Hollywood film tradition has inspired much of their work, whether in terms of their ‘glocal’ use of popular genres, such as the thriller, or their characteristic cinematic style. In La isla mínima, the Hollywood influence is manifest but the reason for its national and transnational success should also be located elsewhere. Apart from its indigenized use of genre, what seems to have made La isla mínima particularly interesting to a broad spectrum of the audience is its remarkable use of the local landscape, which also situates the film in classic art-house territory. This article will therefore consider Rodríguez’s symbolic use of rural space in a narrative in which international art-house cinema conventions and Hollywood’s global generic influence intermingle with local geographical, historical and social elements in order to produce a story with a broad national and transnational appeal. While the film’s investment in the national is evident, this feminist reading of the film will also contend that La isla mínima’s take on such issues as misogyny and femicide contributed significantly to its transnational legibility.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1386/slac_00128_1

Año: 2024

Publicado en: STUDIES IN SPANISH & LATIN AMERICAN CINEMAS 21, 1 (2024), 81-98
ISSN: 2050-4837

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.105 - Visual Arts and Performing Arts (Q3) - Multidisciplinary (Q4) - Communication (Q4) - Cultural Studies (Q4)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/H23-23R
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/FFI2013-40769-P

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)

Área (Departamento): Área Filología Inglesa (Dpto. Filolog.Inglesa y Alema.)