Dissonant Voices, Archetypes and Identity in Spanish Cinema

Abstract

Most discussions of archetypes in cinema, especially in relation to female performers, begin with the linkage of physical features with specific film roles. In her pioneering work on female film stars, Molly Haskell writes of the “tyranny of type,” embodied in the figures of the blond and innocent virgin and dark haired, seductive vamp. Less studied in discussions of film stardom and performance is the role of voice and vocal types. In Spain the associations between vocal type and archetypes have long been codified and enforced in the nation’s potent dubbing industry. The result has been the imposition of a strict vocal orthodoxy and demonstrable standardization and typification of voices, especially along gender lines, that extends from dubbed foreign language films to Spanish original productions. In line with normative vocal conventions, female voices in particular were held to a narrow range, with a preference for a smooth and polished sound from which any excess or noise has been eliminated. Nevertheless, the Spanish careers and filmographies of Cecilia Roth from the 1970s through the 1990s and Geraldine Chaplin in the 1960s and 1970s are revealing with respect to the shifting attitudes toward vocal diversity in cinema and its role in the telling of complex stories.