French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Quintana, Lorca and the Cinema
Theatre and Performance
Angel Quintana
Lorca and the Cinema
Nouvelles éditions Place, "Le cinéma des poètes" collection, 2019.
EAN13: 376280451.
Published: February 25, 2019
The name of Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) immediately evokes the image of the assassinated poet. Under the Francoist dictatorship, a myth took shape, associated with the idea of an atavistic Spain marked by sexual repression, even though Lorca had embedded the subversive power of desire and the struggle for freedom into his works. For Lorca was a great avant-garde poet. Alongside Buñuel and Dalí, he shared the adventures of youth, experienced all the innovative movements of the early 20th century, and built a body of work that explored artistic pluridisciplinarity. Cinema was essential to him; it can be found in his poetry, his lectures, and his correspondence. He even wrote a screenplay, Trip to the Moon. For Lorca, cinema was a space conducive to the creation of transgressive metaphors, a new medium of expression capable of entering into dialogue with his theater, from which irrepressible voices rise from the solitude and anxiety of modern man.
Àngel Quintana is a professor of Film History and Theory at the University of Girona (Spain). He has published a dozen books on cinema, including Fábulas de lo visible (Acantilado, 2003) and Después del cine (Acantilado, 2011). Two of his essays have already been translated into French: Federico Fellini (Cahiers du cinéma, 2007) and Virtuel? (Cahiers du cinéma, 2008).
The Facebook page for daily updates on the "Le cinéma des poètes" collection: https://www.facebook.com/Le-cin%C3%A9ma-des-po%C3%A8tes-209547129800692/?modal=admin_todo_tour
The Nouvelles éditions Place page for the "Le cinéma des poètes" collection: https://www.nouvelleseditionsplace.com/le-cinema-des-poetes/
As a central figure of the Generation of 27, Federico García Lorca engaged deeply with the artistic avant-gardes of early twentieth-century Europe. While his legacy is often overshadowed by his tragic political assassination under the Francoist regime, his oeuvre remains profoundly modern and multidisciplinary. This volume by film scholar Àngel Quintana illuminates a less-examined facet of the Spanish author's career, positioning cinema not merely as a peripheral interest, but as a vital catalyst for his creative vision and his exploration of transgressive metaphors across poetry and drama.
Readers interested in Hispanic literature, film theory, and the intersections between early cinema and modern poetry will find this study particularly illuminating. It traces how the visual grammar of the screen informed Lorca's lectures, correspondence, and unique screenplay Trip to the Moon. The book serves as an essential resource for scholars seeking to understand how avant-garde filmmaking engaged with theatrical traditions and the broader aesthetic movements shared by Lorca, Luis Buñuel, and Salvador Dalí during their formative years.