André Bazin on Mars: The Exasperation of Ontological Realism as a Critical Paradigm in the Magazine 'Film Ideal' and the Films of Pedro Lazaga

Abstract

The 1960s could be considered one of the more fruitful periods of Spanish film criticism, due mainly to the rivalry between the magazines Film Ideal and Nuestro Cine, each of which posited very different views on the nature and role of cinema. The aim of this article is to explore one of the key points of this rivalry: French critic André Bazin’s conception of realism as developed in the mid-1960s by the Spanish critics referred to as the “marcianos” (“Martians”)—particularly Marcelino Villegas, José María Palá and Ricardo Buceta—in the magazine Film Ideal, turning it into a critical paradigm that would lead to a reappraisal of films left out of the canon of the day, and even out of the annals of film history in subsequent years. Notable among these is the work of director Pedro Lazaga.