CARLOS SAURA

(4 January 1932 - 10 February 2023)

The Spanish film director, writer and photographer Carlos Saura, who has died aged 91 was, along with Buñuel and Almodóvar, one of the most important Spanish filmmakers. During his career he made some thirty-five features and more than twenty shorts and documentaries. He was rarely away from controversy – political, social or artistic – which at times got him into trouble, particularly during the era of Spain’s dictator General Franco. From his first feature in 1960 until just before he died, he garnered innumerable awards from all the major film festivals.

Carlos Saura Atarés was born in Huesca, Aragon, in north-eastern Spain, to Antonio Saura Pacheco, a civil servant and his concert pianist wife Fermina Atares Torrente. Carlos was brought up during the Spanish Civil War, memories of which he used in his films. Although he studied civil engineering, he began working in films, enrolling at a film institute in Madrid, graduated in 1957 and stayed on to teach, but was eventually sacked for having left-wing views. At 25 he was making documentaries, but by 1960 was in features, his first being Los Golfos (The Delinquents), about youths from Madrid, one of whom dreams of being a bullfighter. It was nominated at Cannes, the first of many awards.

His next feature was Llanto por un bandido (Weeping for a Bandit), starring Lino Ventura and Lea Massari, with a small role for Saura’s friend Luis Buñuel. La Caza (The Hunt, 1966), a thriller about three war veterans, won the Silver Bear at Berlin, and apparently director Sam Peckinpah was influenced by it. While making the thriller Peppermint Frappé (another Silver Bear winner), Saura cast Geraldine Chaplin with whom he had a relationship and a son, Shane. Chaplin was also in Saura’s Ana y los Lobos (Ana and the Wolves) as a governess looking after the children of an eccentric family living during Franco’s regime.

Saura continued working, receiving plaudits from around the world. La prima Angelica (Cousin Angelica, 1974), the tale of a man’s memories of the Spanish Civil War under Franco, was controversial, leading to the bombing of a cinema, but it still won the Jury Prize at Cannes. Cría Cuervos (Raise Ravens, 1976), an allegory about children and loss, also won at Cannes (the Special Jury Prize). With Franco gone, the political situation improved and Saura’s films were lighter and included music and dance. He made biopics of the painter Goya, director Buñuel and Salome, among others.

¡Ay Carmela! (1990), about a troupe of travelling players, was a popular hit, winning no less than thirteen Spanish Goya Awards. Both Carmen and Tango were nominated for Academy Awards and Golden Globes. Carmen won a Bafta and three awards at Cannes and Saura won an Honorary Goya in 2022. His films also took honours at Karlovy Vary, Montreal and San Sebastian. His last film was El Rey de Todo el Mundo (The King of All the World, 2021), a musical drama set in the world of theatre and dance.

Carlos Saura was married three times, first to Adela Medrano, with whom he has two sons, Carlos and Antonio, then Mercedes Parez, with whom he has three sons, Manuel, Adrian and Diego. After his relationship with Geraldine Chaplin, he married Eulalia Ramon, mother of their daughter Anna who became his agent and producer. From the age of eight, Saura was a keen photographer owning over six hundred cameras, including one he made himself.

MICHAEL DARVELL