Nocturn 29[1][2][3][4] (Spanish:Nocturno 29)[2][4] is a 1968 avant-garde experimental[5] Catalan film in Spanish directed by Pere Portabella i Ràfols and starring Lucia Bosè (Lucía)[6] and Màrius Cabré (Mario).[2][1] It is a prime example of the Barcelona School of Film (1960s-based experimental cinema).[7]

Nocturn 29
Directed byPere Portabella
Written by
Produced by
StarringLucia Bosè
CinematographyLuis Cuadrado
Edited byTeresa Alcocer
Music byJosep M. Mestres Quadreny; Carles Santos (piano); Anna Ricci (voice)
Production
company
Films 59
Distributed byInterarte
Release date
  • 1968 (1968)
Running time
86 minutes
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

Description and commentary

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This film is shot in black and white, primarily in a sort of burnt-out, high-contrast look, until near the end, when it turns color during the section that takes place in a draper's / fabric shop. In the color section, various flags appear from different countries, some of them under dictatorships... The flag of the Spanish Republic is also referenced through the placement of different rolls of fabric.

This film was subject to a great deal of censorship, as it was made in the middle of the fascist Franco Regime. The censors, however, didn't realize the meaning of the name, which Portabella explains as the 29 years of darkness that had transpired under Franco.[2] They also let the (subtle?) reference to the Spanish Republic flag mentioned above get by.

Cast

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The following appear as members of the cast.[1][2][8][9]

Production

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The film was produced by Pere Portabella's production company, Films 59 (Barcelona) and distributed by Inter Arte Films, S.A.

Individuals involved in production were associated producers Jacques Levy and Anne M. Settimó, together with Pere Portabella.[14] Head of production was Jaime Fernández Cid.[1][8]

Crew

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Portabella was the director, with José Luis Ruiz Marcos (?, ca. 1933 - Barcelona, 2018) as assistant director.[8][14]

The script was by Portabella and the experimental poet Joan Brossa, who was responsible for the dialogues, which poet and translator Pere Gimferrer translating them from the Catalan into the Spanish (required during the Franco regime). Anne M. Settimó was responsible for the production script. Photography (cinematography) was by Luis Cuadrado, Lluís Maria Riera was the art director / responsible for decoration, and Teresa Alcocer did the editing, assisted by Margarita Bernet.[8][14][2]

Music

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The music was by experimental composer and musician Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny, with Carles Santos on the piano and soprano / mezzo-soprano Anna Ricci singing.[2]

Poster

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The official poster was made by painter Joan-Pere Viladecans (as his first poster, one of many to come).[15][16]

Filming locations

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The film was shot entirely in Catalonia, with outdoor shots in Barcelona, Portlligat, Les fonts de Sant Hilari Sacalm water springs, Baix Montseny (subcounty around Sant Celoni, near the Montseny Massif), Collformic mountain pass area (in the municipality of El Brull), Arbúcies, Coll de la Pollosa mountain pass (in Collsuspina) and Moià.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Nocturn 29". Pere Portabella - Films 59 (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Bonet i Albero, Eugeni. "Nocturn 29". Diccionari del cinema a Catalunya, Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  3. ^ "Nocturn 29, 1968 | Pere Portabella | MACBA". MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  4. ^ a b "Nocturn 29". Filmin.cat. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  5. ^ "Nocturne 29". Centre Pompidou (in French). 12 April 2003. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  6. ^ Moliterno p.46
  7. ^ "Escola de Barcelona". Diccionari del cinema a Catalunya, Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Llibret de l'acte d'investidura de Pere Portabella (Booklet Honoris Causa Ceremony). Pere Portabella - Doctors honoris causa". Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona - UAB Barcelona (in Catalan). 2009-03-17. p. 43. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  9. ^ a b Romanos Agustín, Juan Pablo; Sanz Ferreruela, Fernando-adv.; Martínez Herranz, Amparo-adv. (2019). Un cine estético de autodestrucción en medio del aperturismo. La obra de Jacinto Esteva en la Escuela de Barcelona. Anexos: Filmografía Escuela de Barcelona (in Spanish). Saragossa: Universidad de Zaragoza. p. 18. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  10. ^ "Ezequiel Vigués i Mauri, 'Didó'". Enciclopèdia de les Arts Escèniques Catalanes (in Catalan). Institut del Teatre (Barcelona). Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  11. ^ "Els nostres mestres". Titelles Guinyol Didó (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  12. ^ "El vilanoví Ramon Sánchez Martí, guanyador del Premi Didó 2018". EIXDIARI (in Catalan). 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  13. ^ "Ezequiel Vigués | enciclopedia.cat". www.enciclopedia.cat. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
  14. ^ a b c "Nocturn 29 technical data". Repository of the Filmoteca de Catalunya (Catalan Film Library) (in Catalan). 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  15. ^ Martin, Helena (2024-07-11). "Joan-Pere Viladecans i l'art del cartell radical". El Crític (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  16. ^ Calzada, Elena (2024-05-16). "Mig segle de cartells de Viladecans, al Museu Historia de Catalunya". Tornaveu (in Catalan). Retrieved 2024-11-03.
  17. ^ Closing credits in the film.

Bibliography

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  • MOLINA FOIX, Vicente: "Reflexiones sobre un film que no persigue nuestra redención ('Nocturno 29', de Pedro Portabella)" (in Spanish), Nuestro Cine, No. 91, 1969, p. 22-33.
  • Moliterno, Gino. The A to Z of Italian Cinema. Scarecrow Press, 2009.
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