''Clara is the Price'' ( es, Clara es el precio) is a

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Spanish film directed by

Vicente Aranda Vicente Aranda Ezquerra (; 9 November 1926 – 26 May 2015) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. Due to his refined and personal style, he was one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a f ...

. It stars

Amparo Muñoz Amparo Muñoz Quesada (Vélez-Málaga, 21 June 1954 – Málaga, 27 February 2011) was a Spanish actress, model and beauty queen who won the Miss Universe 1974 competition in Manila, Philippines, being the first and only Spaniard titleholder in ...

Máximo Valverde Máximo Valverde (born 16 November 1944) is a Spanish actor. He appeared in more than sixty films since 1968. Selected filmography * 1970: ''The Wind's Fierce'' * 1971: ''Una chica casi decente'' * 1971: '' The Rebellious Novice'' * 1971: ''Spani ...

and

Juan Luis Galiardo Juan Luis Galiardo Comes (2 March 1940 – 22 June 2012) was a Spanish television, theater and film actor. Life The eldest of six children, Juan Luis Galiardo Comes was born in San Roque, Cádiz, but spent most of his childhood and youth in ...

. It was shot in Cadaques,

Empuriabrava Empuriabrava ( es, Ampuriabrava) is a community in the municipality of Castelló d'Empúries, in the Alt Empordà (Costa Brava, province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain). It is located in the Gulf of Roses, surrounded by the Natural Park of the Ai ...

(

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

), Delta del Ebro (

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

) and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Synopsis

In a city on Spain's

Costa Brava The Costa Brava (, ; "Wild Coast" or "Rough Coast") is a coastal region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Whilst sources differ on the exact definition of the Costa Brava, it can be regarded as stretching from the town of Blanes, northeast o ...

, Clara Valverde, a beautiful young woman, lives with her husband Juan. They seem to have a perfect marriage. Juan is an architect and has planned a daring urbanistic project. In reality, the project is not viable. Clara, to keep her marriage and finances afloat, works as a porno actress in an underground film industry. In spite of her job and her marriage, Clara is still a virgin. Her marriage has never been consummated because her husband is impotent for which she blames herself. In her work she does not allow to be penetrated. One day she goes to a meeting with Kellerman, an American millionaire who seems to be interested in bringing Juan's project into fruition. However, Clara soon learns that what he really wants is to blackmail her. The owner of the house, Jorge, finds out Claras's real occupation and threatens to tell the truth to her husband if she does not have sex with the American. Clara is brutally raped by Kellerman. She then finds out that not only her husband is not impotent as she had thought, he has had sex with other women including Clara's friend. Juan also has a homosexual relationship with Miguel, the director of the pornographic films. She finally realizes that she has been only a coin exchanged in the hands of the men around her. Armed with a gun, Clara takes revenge killing Kellerman, humiliating Jorge and Miguel shooting them too.

Cast

as Clara Valverde *

as Juan *

as Jorge *

Alejandro Ulloa Alejandro Ulloa (22 October 1910 – 27 April 2004) was a Spanish actor. He was born in Madrid on 22 October 1910. He owned a theater company and in 1943, while working as a voice actor, he was the director of Metro Goldwin Mayer in Barcelona. Hi ...

as Kellerman *

Carmen de Lirio Carmen de Lirio (31 October 1926 – 4 August 2014) was a Spanish film actress.Cowie & Elley p.496 Selected filmography * ''The Evil Forest'' (1951) * ''It Was She Who Wanted It!'' (1953) * ''Peace Never Comes'' (1960) * ''The Two Rivals (1960 fi ...

as Kellerman's wife *Mario Pardo as Miguel *Ivonne Sentís as Marta

Production

The idea behind the film came from Pedro Carvajal who wrote the screenplay. From Madrid he went to Barcelona and persuaded director Vicente Aranda to take on the project.Vera, ''Vicente Aranda'', p. 84 Aranda was initially reluctant, but accepted to direct the film after making substantial changes to the script. However this is the only film in Aranda's long career in which he did not sign the script. For the leading role of Clara, Aranda cast Amparo Muñoz, who was then not yet eighteen and had recently been elected Miss Spain. She was not a trained actress and this was her first film.Vera, ''Vicente Aranda'', p. 86 Juan Luis Galiardo and Maximo Valverde, two popular heartthrobs of Spanish cinema during the 1970s, were chosen for the male leads playing against type, one as a homosexual and the other as an impotent husband.Vera, ''Vicente Aranda'', p. 92 With a budget of 9 million pesetas, the film was shot in studios in Barcelona and exteriors in Cadaques,

(

) and Delta del Ebro (

).Cánovas, ''Miradas sobre el cine de Vicente Aranda'', p. 56 The original title of the film, Pornografia (pornography), was banned by censors and was changed to ''Clara es el precio'' (Clara is the price).

External links

Notes

References

*Cánovás, Joaquín (ed.), Varios Autores: ''Miradas sobre el cine de Vicente Aranda'', Murcia: Universidad de Murcia, 2000, *Vera, Pascual: ''Vicente Aranda'', Ediciones J.C, Madrid, 1989, {{Vicente Aranda 1975 films 1970s Spanish-language films 1975 drama films Films directed by Vicente Aranda Films about pornography Spanish drama films