Wikipedia

José Luis Garci

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is García and the second or maternal family name is Muñoz.

José Luis García Muñoz (born 20 January 1944), known professionally as José Luis Garci, is a Spanish film director, producer, critic, TV presenter, screenwriter and author. One of the most influential film personalities in the history of film in Spain, he earned worldwide acclaim and his country's first Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award for Begin the Beguine (1982).[1] Four of his films, including also Sesión continua (1984), Asignatura aprobada (1987) and El abuelo (1998), have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, more than any other Spanish director.[2] His films are characterized for his classical style and the underlying sentimentality of their plots.[3]

José Luis Garci
Garci in 2013
Born
José Luis García Muñoz

(1944-01-20) 20 January 1944 (age 80)
Madrid, Spain
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
  • producer
  • critic
  • TV presenter
  • author
Years active1977–present
Spouse
Andrea Tenuta
​
(m. 2004)​

Early life and work

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Born in 1944 in a humble family from Asturias. After completing a pre-university course, Garci began working as an administrative assistant in a bank.[4] His love for cinema from an early age led him to pursue filmmaking as a career. At age twenty he began writing reviews for a number of film magazines such as Signos and Cinestudio, winning an award in 1968 from the Circulo de Escritores Cinematograficos for his work as film critic.

In 1969 he became involved in scriptwriting, receiving his first screen credits for Antonio Giménez Rico El Cronicón (The Chronicle, 1970). Between 1972 and 1977 he scripted five more films: León Klimovsky's La casa de las chivas (The House of the goats); Pedro Olea's No es bueno que el hombre esté solo (A Man Shouldn't be Alone, 1973); Eloy de la Iglesia's Una gota de sangre para morir amando, (A drop of blood to die loving, 1973); Antonio Drove's Mi mujer es muy decente dentro de lo que cabe (1974) or Roberto Bodegas' Vida conyugal sana (Healthy Married Life, 1973) and Los nuevos españoles (New Spaniards, 1974). During this same period, Garci also wrote the made for T.V film La Cabina (The Telephone Box, 1972) directed by Antonio Mercero. He then directed his first short films: !Al Futbol! (!To Football!) Mi Marilyn (My Marilyn), both in 1975, and Tiempo de gente acobardada (People Cowed Time, 1976).[5]

At the same time, he wrote his first literary works, science fiction stories like: Bibidibabibidibú (1970), Adam Blake (1972), and La Gioconda está triste y otras extrañas historias (1976). He also published the essay: Ray Bradbury humanista del futuro (1971).[6] In 1981 he obtained the Puerta de Oro Prize for his story Los mejores años de nuestra vida.[7]

Feature films

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In 1977, José Luis Garci directed his first feature film Asignatura pendiente (Unfinished Business) from a script by Gonzalez Sinde, a love story between an old pair of lovers which runs parallel to the social and political changes lived in Spain after the fall of Francisco Franco's regime. The film was well received by critics and audiences, becoming the most successful representative of the Spanish film of the generation of the Transition from dictatorship to democracy who saw themselves in a social and political limbo. A simple story of an amorous seduction by the film's hero is set around a series of topical references to a generation of Spaniards born in the immediate post-civil war period whose frustrations and nostalgia are embodied in the film's protagonist. Garci took his narrative cues from the visual patterns followed in the traditional Hollywood narrative.[8][9]

Garci second film Solos en la madrugada (Alone in the Dark, 1978)[10] became skilled tackling progressive social themes intended for an audience interested neither in elite art cinema nor in the popular style of most Spanish comedies. He used this same pattern in his third film, Las verdes praderas (The Green Meadows, 1979),[11] in which heavy sentimentality, a constant in his films, became more apparent.

After founding the production company Nickel Odeon with José Esteban Alenda in 1980,[12] the director changed gears with El Crack (1981),[13][14] in which he used the figure of the hard boiled detective in a story inspired by the novels of Dashiell Hammett, to whom the film is dedicated, and employing elements of the American film noirs of the 1930s and 40s giving it a Spanish flavor. For this film Garci won the CEC Award for Best Screenplay from the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos.[15] The formula worked so well that two years later he made a sequel, El crack II [es] (1983).

Between this two films, Garci made his most emblematic work Volver a empezar, (Begin to Beguine, 1982), a sentimental story of an aging writer who returns to Spain after many years in exiled following the civil war. The film was the first Spanish motion picture to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[16]

 
Garci signing books at the Madrid Book Fair in 2024

His films Sesión continua (Double Feature, 1984) and Asignatura aprobada (Course Completed, 1987), which also received Academy Award nominations,[17][18] gave emphasis to sentimentality. He won the Goya Award for Best Director for Asigantura aprobada in 1988.[19] Canción de cuna (Cradle Song, 1994), a film adaptation of Gregorio Martinez Sierra play, was awarded with the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 18th Montreal World Film Festival.[20] Garci's subsequently films include La herida luminosa (The Wound of Light, 1997), and El abuelo (The Grandfather, 1998), which was Spain's submission for the Best Foreign Film category of the Academy Awards in 1999, getting the final nomination.[21]

Recently, Garci directed Una historia de entonces (You're the One, 2000), which was entered into the 51st Berlin International Film Festival,[22] Historia de un beso (Story of a Kiss, 2002), Tiovivo c. 1950 (2004), Ninette (2005), Luz de domingo (2007), Sangre de mayo (2008), Holmes & Watson. Madrid Days (2012), and the prequel El crack cero [es] (2019), the third part of the crime film saga El crack.[23] In addition to filmmaking, he is a popular television presenter in his homeland. His television program ¡Qué grande es el cine! [es], which was broadcast on Televisión Española between 1995 and 2005 on the occasion of the first centenary of the history of cinema, presented a feature film weekly and was attended by three experts, who debated after the screening of the chosen film.[24]

Style

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Garci does not have a computer, but writes all his scripts by hand or on an Olympia brand typewriter. When writing a collaborative script, Garci can base it on his own idea or that of the other scriptwriter, providing mutual feedback with ideas, characters and scenes until reaching the final result.[25] In his films his preference for the shot and sequence stands out[26] and are usually divided into two stages, one that goes from Asignatura pendiente (1977) to Asignatura aprobada (1987), another that begins with Canción de cuna (1994) and extends until El crack cero (2019). In its first stage, Garci places the action in the present or in the immediate past, showing throughout the film the social and political changes that occur at that moment,[27] while in the second stage it focuses on showing the past in an attempt to understand the present.

Personal life

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Garci maintained a long-time relationship with Ana Rosa Quintana. In 1998 he began a relationship with Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, whom he met during the filming of El abuelo.[28] Since June 10, 2004, he has been married to the Uruguayan actress Andrea Tenuta.[29]

A fan of football, he is a follower of Atlético de Madrid and Real Sporting de Gijón, of which he was a manager for more than three years.[30]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Director Writer Producer Editor Notes
1977 Asignatura Pendiente Yes Yes No No
1978 Alone in the Dark Yes Yes No No
1979 Las verdes praderas Yes Yes No No
1980 Viva la Clase Media No Yes Yes No
1981 El Crack Yes Yes Yes No
1982 Volver a Empezar Yes Yes Yes No Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film winner, 1982
1983 El Crack II Yes Yes No No
1985 Bras Fe Fer No No Executive Yes
1984 Sesión continua Yes Yes Yes No Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film nominee
1987 Asignatura Aprobada Yes Yes Yes No Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film nominee
1988 El Tesoro No Yes Executive No
1994 Canción de cuna Yes Yes Yes Yes
1997 La herida luminosa Yes Yes Yes No
1998 El Abuelo Yes Yes Yes No Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film nominee
2000 Una historia de entonces Yes Yes Yes No European Film Academy Best European Director nominee
2002 Historia de un beso Yes Yes Yes Yes
2003 Hotel Danubio No No Yes Yes
2004 Tiovivo c. 1950 Yes Yes Yes Yes
2005 Ninette Yes Yes Yes No
2007 Luz de Domingo Yes Yes Yes Yes
2008 Sangre de Mayo Yes Yes Yes Yes
2012 Holmes & Watson. Madrid Days Yes Yes Yes Yes
2019 El Crack Cero Yes Yes Yes Yes

Writer only

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Year Title Notes
1966 Las últimas horas Uncredited
1967 Los chicos de Peru
1969 Las nenas del mini-mini Uncredited
1970 El Cronicón
1972 La casa de las chivas
1973 No es bueno que el hombre esté solo
Una gota de sangre para morir amando
Ceremonia sangrienta Uncredited
1974 Vida conyugal sana
Los nuevos españoles
1975 Mi mujer es muy decente, dentro de lo que cabe
La mujer es cosa de hombres
1976 La noche de los cien pajaros
1998 Yerma

Producer only

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Year Title Notes
1985 Extramuros
1986 La gran comedia
1987 ¡Biba la banda!
1989 El río que nos lleva Executive producer
1992 Las cadenas del deseo
1995 Elisa, de Jean Backer
1997 La furia Associate producer
Momentos robados
1999 La venganza Associate producer
Un homo perbene
Shacky Carmine
2000 Cóndor cux
Yoyes Executive producer
Érase otra vez
Leo
2002 Nowhere
2003 La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón Uncredited

Awards and nominations

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Academy Awards

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Main article: Academy Awards
Year Category Film Result
1983 Best Foreign Language Film Volver a empezar Won
1985 Best Foreign Language Film Sesión continua Nominated
1988 Best Foreign Language Film Asignatura aprobada Nominated
1999 Best Foreign Language Film El abuelo Nominated

Goya Awards

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Main article: Goya Awards
Year Award Film Result
1988 Best Director Asignatura aprobada Won
1995 Best Adapted Screenplay Canción de cuna Nominated
1995 Best Director Canción de cuna Nominated
1999 Best Adapted Screenplay El abuelo Nominated
2001 Best Director You're the One Nominated
2001 Best Adapted Screenplay You're the One Nominated
2006 Best Adapted Screenplay Ninette Nominated

Berlin International Film Festival

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Main article: Berlin International Film Festival
Year Category Film Result
2000 Golden Bear You're the One Nominated

Montreal World Film Festival

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Main article: Montreal World Film Festival
Year Category Film Result
1982 Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Volver a empezar Won
1994 Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention Canción de cuna Won
1994 Best Director Canción de cuna Won
1994 Special Grand Prize of the Jury Canción de cuna Won
1997 Grand prix des amériques La herida luminosa Nominated

Chicago International Film Festival

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Main article: Chicago International Film Festival
Year Category Film Result
1999 Gold Hugo El abuelo Nominated

Cartagena Film Festival

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Main article: Cartagena Film Festival
Year Category Film Result
2002 Golden India Catalina for Best Director You're the One Won
2002 Golden India Catalina for Best Film You're the One Nominated

Toulouse Spanish Film Festival

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Main article: Toulouse Spanish Film Festival
Year Category Film Result
2020 Audience Award El crack cero Won
2020 Golden Violet El crack cero Nominated

Argentine Film Critics Association

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Main article: Argentine Film Critics Association
Year Category Film Result
2002 Silver Condor You're the One Nominated

European Film Awards

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Main article: European Film Awards
Year Category Film Result
2001 European Director You're the One Nominated

New York Latin ACE Awards

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Main article: Association of Latin Entertainment Critics
Year Award Film Result
1982 Cinema - Best Director Volver a empezar Won

Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos

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Main article: CEC Awards
Year Award Film Result
1976 Best Short Film Mi Marilyn Won
1982 Best Screenplay El Crack Won
1995 Best Director Canción de cuna Won
1999 Best Adapted Screenplay El abuelo Won
2001 Best Original Screenplay You're the One Nominated
2001 Best Director You're the One Won
2003 Best Original Screenplay Historia de un beso Nominated
2003 Best Director Historia de un beso Nominated
2005 Best Original Screenplay Tiovivo c. 1950 Nominated
2005 Best Director Tiovivo c. 1950 Nominated
2005 Best Editing Tiovivo c. 1950 Nominated
2006 Best Adapted Screenplay Ninette Nominated
2008 Best Adapted Screenplay Luz de Domingo Won
2009 Best Adapted Screenplay Sangre de mayo Nominated
2009 Best Director Sangre de mayo Nominated
2020 Best Film El crack cero Nominated
2020 Best Director El crack cero Nominated

Sant Jordi Awards

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Main article: Sant Jordi Awards
Year Award Film Result
1982 Best Short Film Alfonso Sánchez Won
1995 Best Spanish Film Canción de cuna Won
2023 Career Award — Won

Iris Awards

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Main article: Iris Awards (Spain)
Year Award Film Result
2001 Best Screenplay EL abuelo Won
2001 Best Direction El abuelo Nominated

Antena de Oro

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Main article: Antena de Oro
Year Award Film Result
2004 Cinema — Won

Honours

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Garci was honoured with the National Cinematography Award [es] in 1992, the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 1996 and the Ciudad de Alcalá Award for Arts and Letters  [es] in 2013, among many others. He is a member of the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[31]

In 2024 he received the EGEDA Gold Medal at the 30th edition of the Forqué Awards, recognizing his career as a director, producer and screenwriter in Spanish cinema and his role as a disseminator.[32]

Sources

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  • Moret, Andrés, Una vida de repuesto. El cine de José Luis Garci, Hatari Books, Sociedad Limitada, 2022; ISBN 978-84-94788-55-0
  • Emotion pictures. El cine de José Luis Garci, foreword by José Luis Garci, Notorious Ediciones, Madrid, 2018; ISBN 978-84-15606-62-8
  • Benavent, Francisco María, Cine Español de los Noventa, ediciones Mensajero, 2000; ISBN 84-271-2326-4
  • D'Lugo, Marvin: Guide to the Cinema of Spain, Greenwood Press, 1997; ISBN 0-313-29474-7
  • Stone, Rob, Spanish Cinema, Pearson Education, 2002; ISBN 0-582-43715-6
  • Torres, Augusto, Diccionario del cine Español, Espasa Calpe, 1994; ISBN 84-239-9203-9

References

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  1. ^ "José Luis Garci". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  2. ^ Claudia Santana (13 March 2023). "Las 8 películas españolas más destacadas de los Oscars". The Showroom Mag. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  3. ^ Valeriano Durán Manso (2019). "Nostalgia y melodrama en el cine de José Luis Garci (1982-1996)". Revista de comunicación audiovisual y publicitaria. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. 19 (1): 105–120. doi:10.5209/ARAB.60729. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  4. ^ "José Luis Garci". Feria del Libro de Badajoz. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  5. ^ "Biografía de José Luis Garci". Decine21. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  6. ^ "José Luis Garci (España)". La Tercera Fundación. Retrieved 2024-11-06.
  7. ^ "José Luis Garci gano el concurso Puerta de Hierro de cuentos". El País. 24 June 1981. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  8. ^ Faulkner, Sally (2013-04-11). A History of Spanish Film: Cinema and Society 1910-2010. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 9781623567422.
  9. ^ "Pix Rang Up $210-Mil At Spain's Boxoffice in 1977". Variety. November 8, 1978. p. 29.
  10. ^ "Solos en la madrugada". City of Madrid Film Office (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  11. ^ 40 años de Las verdes praderas (1979), de José Luis Garci. FilaSiete 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2024
  12. ^ Ángeles González-Sinde (June 16, 2013). "José Luis Garci: «No volveré a hacer cine»". Jot Down. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  13. ^ "23 Breathtaking Spanish Thriller Movies You Must Watch Now!". April 17, 2023.
  14. ^ "El Crack (1981)" – via www.blu-ray.com.
  15. ^ "Premios CEC a la producción española de 1981". Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  16. ^ "The 55th Academy Awards (1983) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2013-10-13.
  17. ^ "The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  18. ^ "The 60th Academy Awards (1988) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  19. ^ "Asignatura aprobada". Premios Goya. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  20. ^ "18th World Film Festival Montreal". Interfilm. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  21. ^ "The 71st Academy Awards (1999) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  22. ^ You're The One (Una historia de entonces). Berlinale Competition 2001. Retrieved 9 November 2024
  23. ^ Mikel Zorrilla - Espinof (2 October 2019). "'El crack cero': una estimable precuela donde José Luis Garci rinde homenaje al cine negro y el Madrid de los 70". Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  24. ^ "¡Qué grande es el cine!". RTVE. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  25. ^ "Cowboys de Medianoche, 8/10/2011". EsRadio. 8 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  26. ^ Horacio Valcárcel (8 June 2005). "El guionista Horacio Valcárcel escribe sobre su amigo Garci". Abc guionistas. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  27. ^ "No tengo la sensación de ir a contracorriente". El Cultural. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  28. ^ "Líos, amores... Más que cine de pareja, parejas de cine. La última, Cayetana Guillén y Garci". El Mundo. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  29. ^ "El director de cine José Luis Garci se casó con su novia Andrea". Hola. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  30. ^ "Garci: «Fui directivo del Sporting 3 años y pico»". La Voz de Asturias. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  31. ^ "José Luis Garci en diálogo con Eduardo Torres-Dulce". Fundación Juan March. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
  32. ^ "José Luis Garci, Medalla de Oro de los 30 Premios Forqué". Infobae. 4 November 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
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