''El jardín de las delicias'', also known as ''The Garden of Delights'' in English language cinema, is a

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

co-written and directed by

Carlos Saura Carlos Saura Atarés (born 4 January 1932) is a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. Along with Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be one of Spain’s most renowned filmmakers. He has a long and prolific career th ...

. The film was censored by contemporary Spanish censorship because of its

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

bourgeois satire and

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

references.

Plot summary

Antonio Cano, 45 years old, is an important businessman who was severely injured in a car accident. Because of this, he is temporarily paralyzed and suffers memory loss. His family, friends and business associates all try to recreate scenes from his life in order to revive his memory which, little by little, does begin to return. Each day Antonio is placed in his beautiful garden where he relives many memories, both real and imagined. The name is a reference to the

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...

painting ''

The Garden of Earthly Delights ''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panel painted by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch, between 1490 and 1510, when Bosch was between 40 and 60 years old. It has bee ...

''.

Cultural significance

All of the striking scene changes and radical imagery are metaphors for the suppression and suffering of Spanish people in

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

, who could only speak out about their plight by means of allegorical films/stories such as ''El jardín de las delicias''.

Cast

José Luis López Vázquez José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre MML (11 March 1922, in Madrid – 2 November 2009, in Madrid) was a Spanish actor. Career José Luis López Vázquez was born in Madrid, Spain, on 11 March 1922. He originally worked in theater as a costume ...

as Antonio *

Luchy Soto Lucía Soto Muñoz (1919–1970), known professionally as Luchy Soto, was a Spanish film and television actress.D'Lugo p.261 She was the daughter of the actors Guadalupe Muñoz Sampedro and Manuel Soto. She married actor Luis Peña in 1946. Ca ...

as Luchy *

Francisco Pierrá Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

as Don Pedro *

Esperanza Roy Esperanza Fuentes Roy (born 22 November 1935) is a Spanish actress. Career Roy began acting with revue shows before she debuted in film in 1962. Prior to acting, Roy had trained professionals as a dancer. In the 1970s, Roy would appear in seve ...

as Nicole *Antonio Acebal *Alberto Alonso as Tony *Eduardo Calvo *Antonio Canal as Friend 3 *Lina Canalejas as Tía *Roberto Cruz *Ignacio de Paúl *Luisa Fernanda Gaona *José Nieto as Friend 1 *Yamil Omar *Mayrata O'Wisiedo as Nurse *Julia Peña as Julia *Luis Peña as Friend *Marisa Porcel *Porfiria Sanchíz as (voice) (as Porfiría Sanchís) *Charo Soriano as Actress *Gloria Berrocal as (uncredited) *

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress. She is the daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of eight children with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neill. After beginnings in dance and modeling, she turned her attention to act ...

as (uncredited), she appears on church *Luis de Pablo as (uncredited)

Reception

John Simon described The Garden of Delights as a 'near masterpiece'.

References

External links

* 1970 films Spanish drama films 1970s Spanish-language films 1970 drama films Spain in fiction Films directed by Carlos Saura Films produced by Elías Querejeta Films scored by Luis de Pablo Films with screenplays by Rafael Azcona 1970s Spanish films {{1970s-Spain-film-stub