Gabriel García Márquez and the cinema: life and works

230 Pages·2014·6.966 MB·English

by  García Márquez, Gabriel;Rocco, Alessandro

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This book focuses on Gabriel García Márquez’s relations
R A L E S S A N D R O R O C C O
with the world of cinema. Far from being an occasional
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occupation, García Márquez’s film work forms an intrinsic
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part of his overall aesthetic and literary poetics. The A
book’s primary aim is to present a detailed study of García
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Márquez’s wide-ranging filmography, which has never
received a comprehensive, systematic analysis. Rocco Á
argues that it should be recognised as an integral part R
of the author’s narrative output, and brought into the Q
mainstream of studies concerning his literary activity.
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The first part of the book reconstructs the trajectory of E
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García Márquez’s career in cinema and his connections

with the world of film. The second part looks at all A
the screenplays written by García Márquez on which N
actual films have been based. These are examined
D GABRIEL GARCÍA
chronologically, but also analysed according to thematic

and aesthetic concerns and placed in relation to the T
novels and short stories with which they are ‘twinned’ H
MÁRQUEZ
in terms of the film product. E
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ALESSANDRO ROCCO is Researcher in Latin American
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Literature and Culture at the University of Bari, Italy. S
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COVER DESIGN: SIMON LOXLEY andCINEMA
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O L I F E A N D W O R K S
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an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF (GB) and
668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620-2731 (US)
www.boydellandbrewer.com
Colección Tamesis
SERIE A: MONOGRAFÍAS, 339
GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ
AND THE CINEMA
LIFE AND WORKS
Tamesis
Founding Editors
†J. E. Varey
†Alan Deyermond
General Editor
Stephen M. Hart
Series Editor of Fuentes para la historia del teatro en España
Charles Davis
Advisory Board
Rolena Adorno
John Beverley
Efraín Kristal
Jo Labanyi
Alison Sinclair
Isabel Torres
Julian Weiss
ALESSANDRO ROCCO
GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ
AND THE CINEMA
LIFE AND WORKS
TAMESIS
© Alessandro Rocco 2014
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast,
transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Alessandro Rocco to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2014 by Tamesis, Woodbridge
ISBN 978 1 85566 283 4
Tamesis is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or
accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is,
or will remain, accurate or appropriate
Printed on acid-free paper
Typeset by:
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To Bianca, Elio, Emiliano and Gigliola,
with all my love

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgements xi
Preface xiii
1. The Cinema in the Life of García Márquez 1
The Early Years: La langosta azul and Neorealism 1
The 1960s: In Mexico City 12
The 1970s: the Cinema as Political Engagement 30
The 1980s: Film-Making in Havana 38
The 1990s: A Return to the Origins 44
2. Tiempo de morir 47
Tiempo de morir in Colombia: A Remake by Jorge Alí Triana 55
3. Films from the 1970s: The Ghosts of Realism 69
Presagio 69
El año de la peste 75
María de mi corazón 79
4. Screenplay and Revolution: ¡Viva Sandino! 87
5. Magic Realism in the Cinema 93
Eréndira 94
Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes 103
6. Six Episodes for Cinema and Television: Amores difíciles 111
El verano de la Señora Forbes 112
Milagro en Roma 120
Un domingo feliz 126
Yo soy el que tú buscas 129
Cartas del parque and Fábula de la bella palomera 132
7. Con el amor no se juega 139
El espejo de dos lunas 139
Ladrón de sábado 141
Contigo en la distancia 144
8. The Fantastic on Television: Me alquilo para soñar 147
9. History and Tragedy: Edipo Alcalde 153
Afterword: Works by García Márquez Adapted for the Cinema 167
Bibliography 193
Index 203
Illustrations
Fig. 1 Tiempo de morir. Juan Sáyago (Jorge Martínez de Hoyos) close 58
to the cross where he is to meet his end. (Colección Filmoteca
UNAM)
Fig. 2 Tiempo de morir. Pedro (Enrique Rocha) and Julián Trueba (Al- 58
fredo Leal) arguing over their views on vengeance. (Colección
Filmoteca UNAM)
Fig. 3 Tiempo de morir. The escalation in Julián’s (Alfredo Leal) 59
taunting of Juan Sáyago (Jorge Martínez de Hoyos). (Colección
Filmoteca UNAM)
Fig. 4 Tiempo de morir. Mariana (Marga López) retrieves Juan Sáya- 59
go’s (Jorge Martínez de Hoyos) old gun for the inevitable new
duel. (Colección Filmoteca UNAM)
Fig. 5 Presagio. Tomás (David Reynoso) at the head of the outbreak of 60
violence in the village. (Colección Filmoteca UNAM)
Fig. 6 Presagio. The impotence of Padre Angel (Pancho Córdova). 60
(Colección Filmoteca UNAM)
Fig. 7 Presagio. Overcome by hysteria the villagers set fire to the last 61
remaining foodstuffs. (Colección Filmoteca UNAM)
Fig. 8 Presagio. Héctor’s family (Enrique Lucero and Fabiola Falcón) 61
make their peace after the outburst of anger. (Colección Filmoteca
UNAM)
Fig. 9 Presagio. The village women. (Colección Filmoteca UNAM) 62
Fig. 10 El año de la peste. Eva (Rebeca Silva) at the start of the epidem- 62
ic. (Colección Filmoteca UNAM)