Representations of Madrid in the (post-)transition to democracy

Abstract

This essay focuses on a group of films of the late Transition and beginning of the Post-Transition to analyse how they interrelate with the substantial political and social changes occurring in Spain during this key period of its recent history. Specifically, it examines diverse representations of Madrid as a crucial space to account for these transformations. The essay centers on the representational strategies of the filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar, Fernando Trueba, and José Luis Garci to study clashing approaches to the evolving Madrid cityscape: the attempt to move forward through the depiction of transgressive social and cultural behaviours, and the need to hold on to a disappearing past to deal with the drastic changes in Spanish society.