Jose Luis Garcia

José Luis García Muñoz (Madrid, January 20, 1944), known as José Luis Garci, is a producer, critic, television presenter, literary author, Spanish screenwriter and film director.

In 1983, he won the first Oscar for a Spanish production in the category of Best Foreign Language Film for Volver a empezar. He has been nominated for this same distinction three more times, more than any other Spanish film director, for the films Sesión continua (1984), Asignatura aprovada (1987) and Grandpa (1998).

He is a member of the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Biography

Early Years

José Luis Garci was born in Madrid in 1944, into a family of Asturian descent. His discovery of cinema occurs at the age of five, when he accompanies his mother to pick up the bag that had been left behind in a movie theater, which gives him the opportunity to see the first minutes of the film What the wind took away, which left a great mark on him. From that moment on, films occupied an important part of his life, becoming a regular at double sessions, where he immersed himself in what he calls a "spare life". His passion for cinema turns him into a true expert in the field as he grows up, capable of arguing and debating his favorite directors, although he also shows an interest in music and literature., At this time highlighting his interest in crime novels, including authors such as Dashiell Hammett, whom he knows through the collection of the Biblioteca Oro of Editorial Molino, Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain; all of them will end up having a big influence on some of his movies.

When he finished his high school and pre-university studies (at the Instituto Cervantes, in Madrid), Garci got his first job thanks to his father's contacts, starting to work as an administrative assistant at Banco Ibérico, an entity where he he will stay until he is 26 years old. With a stable income and a job that leaves him free time, the young man takes the opportunity to write and attend the main film festivals of the moment.

Professional career

Screenwriter and short films (1963-1976)

Garci began to publish his first articles on cinema in 1963 in the pages of various magazines, such as Signo, Cinestudio, SP and Review, although he himself acknowledges that in many cases these early texts are nothing more than translations of French articles. However, his own writings already show a certain quality, as evidenced by the fact that his stories gain the Puerta de Oro prize and the prize "for the best literary work" from the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos.

Encouraged by Antonio Mercero and José María González-Sinde Garci began writing as a screenwriter in 1969, at the age of 25. On that same date he wrote the script for El cronicón by Antonio Giménez Rico and two years later he made La casa de las chivas by León Klimovsky, although his first great success came in 1972 when he wrote the script for the medium-length film La cabina, together with Mercero. which was awarded an Emmy Award. This award represents an important endorsement that opens the door for him to work for the producer José Luis Dibildos, for whom he wrote the scripts for It's not good for the man to be alone by Pedro Olea and A Drop of Blood to Die Loving by Eloy de la Iglesia, followed the following year by The New Spaniards and Vida conjugal sana by Roberto Bodegas; These last two films are going to be promoters of the "Third Way" cinema characterized by being a cinema that, without losing its commercial character, wants to have quality and show the Spanish social reality. In addition to writing the scripts, Garci also helps with various aspects of production, being a very important experience for his future as a director: "In those three years I learned more than if I had gone to film school".

In 1975, his friend González-Sinde encouraged him to also direct. Garci began with two documentaries, ¡Al fútbol! and My Marilyn; the first is very poorly received by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, but the second earns him an award from the Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos. This success encourages him to create his first short film in 1976, Tiempo de gente intimidated, which, although it goes unnoticed, will serve as inspiration for what will be her first film.

During these years, in parallel to his film career, Garci writes and publishes science fiction stories in various magazines, such as Dracula. He also publishes several essays, including Ray Bradbury, humanist of the future, Adam Blake and a monograph on science fiction cinema in the Buru-Lan Encyclopedia; these works earn him awards such as the Nueva Dimension or the González- Journalism Course.

First stage as director (1977-1993)

In 1977, José Luis Garci wrote his first feature film, Asignatura pending, together with González-Sinde, but they were unable to get any production company interested in the film. In order to carry out the project, the film director José Luis Tafur agrees to take on the role of producer, but his capital is scarce, so instead of getting paid for their work, both Garci and Sinde and the team of actors decide to work as a cooperative, distributing the benefits if there are any, which demonstrates the confidence that exists in the director's talent. The work, which reflects the union struggle in the last moments of Francoism while reflecting on the passage of the time and the impossibility of recovering the experiences never lived, connecting very well with the desires and experiences of the public, which makes the film a great success that yields important benefits.

A year later, in 1978, he premiered Alone at dawn with the same protagonists, where he narrated the life of a nocturnal radio announcer. A kind of "transition trilogy" ended with Las verdes prairies with María Casanova and Alfredo Landa, which tells the story of a married couple who spent their weekends in a chalet on the outskirts of Madrid to isolate themselves from the noise of the city, with the one that tried to show the new affluent class that due to the routine they end up losing quality of life, although it seems that they are progressing.

In 1980 he wrote, produced and acted in the film Viva la clase mediao directed by José María González-Sinde, who had been the producer of his feature films, in which the activity of a cell was recounted. communist who acted in Spain in the last years of the Franco dictatorship. Garci played Antonio, the most radical of the group.In that same year he made the short documentary Alfonso Sánchez about the homonymous critic whom he described as a teacher.

After founding the production company Nickelodeón in 1980 with José Esteban Alenda, separating from González Sinde, he began production on El crack, which would be released a year later. The film was a translation to Spain from that moment of classic film noir. Also to the world of Dashiell Hammett, whose name he placed at the beginning of the film as a tribute. the Gijón of his father and his childhood and other places in Asturias, which was a commercial and critical failure at its premiere. A year later, it became the first Spanish film to be awarded the Hollywood Oscar for best foreign-language film, returning to theaters and enjoying the support of the public. In 1983 he premiered El crack II , a commission that he had to accept due to the poor initial reception of his previous film, whose tribute this time would be directed to Raymond Chandler.

After the success of his Oscar-winning film, his nostalgic cinema returned to itself with Sesión continua in 1984; dedicated to all the greats of classic cinema and which, despite not working in box office, it was nominated for the Oscar for best foreign-language film. Garci then announces his retirement from cinema due to his discrepancies with the then director of TVE José María Calviño and his subsidy policy. Three years later he returns to premiere Subject approved with which Garci won the Goya from the Spanish Academy for best director in the second edition of the awards. The film is once again nominated for an Oscar. In 1988 he began production of his first foray into television as a director with the series Historias del otro lado which began broadcasting its first season in 1991. One of the episodes, Mnemos directed by Garci himself was presented at the Emmy Awards and aired in 1988, but did not win the award.

Second stage as director (1994-2012)

After his experience on TV, he began his new stage with a trilogy of melodramas. This trilogy began in 1992 when he came up with the idea of adapting the play Canción de cuna by Gregorio Martínez Sierra with the eponymous film that premiered in 1994, 7 years after his previous film, with which he began his second period marked by adaptations. The film was well received by both the public and critics, and over the years Garci valued it as the best he has done. Three years later he premiered an adaptation of the play La herida luminosa and, in 1998, in collaboration with TVE, he made a new transposition of the novel The grandfather of Benito Pérez Galdós. With the latter, he had problems because he was presented to the Oscars as a Spanish representative and was accused of buying votes for Pedro Costa for the Goya awards, since, apparently, anonymous letters had been sent saying: «José Luis Garci's messengers announce our next visit, in which we will once again collect the ballots and personally wish you a happy new year». Later the director's innocence was proven, but he was angry because they sent his rectification after the Goya awards and decided to leave the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain. In vain he also tried to adapt the works La malquerida, San Juan and Hoy es fiesta, which could not get ahead for economic reasons.

In 1995 he began broadcasting his film program Qué grande es el cine! on TVE, which began with the tune of Moon River by Henry Mancini, later there was a presentation of the guests who were on the program and, after the film was broadcast, he held a discussion with other critics about the film that had been broadcast that day. He also briefly had How great is the cinema Spanish! but, due to its low audiences, it did not last long. During these years, he also produced his literary tetralogy made up of Morir de cine, Beber de cine, Beating of cinema and Wanting of cinema.

He started with the quarterly magazine Nickel Odeon created with the team from his film show that he had been doing since he saw him in Hollywood, but the financial deficit suffered by the magazine made it disappear. In 2000 he began his diptych on the fictitious Asturian town of Cerralbos del Sella. These two films would be two intimate dramas, the first would be You're the One (a story from that time) (shot in black and white) and the second, Historia de un beso.

In 2004 he shot the choral film Carousel c. 1950, where he wanted to show his experiences in the bank of the Fierro family. It was followed by the adaptation of two comic novels by Miguel Mihura (Ninette y un señor de Murcia and Ninette, Paris Fashions) titled Ninette, about a young and sexy Parisian woman from Galeries Lafayette played by Elsa Pataky. The next film, in 2007, was Luz de Sunday, a drama about the rape of a young woman played by Paula Echevarría as a demonstration of power in which she criticizes caciquismo, reminiscent of a western. The production May Blood is a free adaptation of the National Episodes by Benito Pérez Galdós The Court of Carlos IV and On March 19 and 2 May , filmed with funding from the Community of Madrid at the request of its president, Esperanza Aguirre, on the occasion of the commemoration of the second centenary of the May 2 uprising. This film was expensive but had little return at the box office.

In 2009 Garci premiered the program Cinema en blanco y negro with a structure similar to ¡Qué grande es el cine! on Telemadrid, although he used the tune from the film The Third Man by Anton Karas, just as the second stage of the program Midnight Cowboys began on the radio station esRadio with Luis Herrero and Eduardo Torres-Dulce.

After the economic failure of Sangre de Mayo, it was unable to carry out its projects of El crack 3, Los últimos del Filipinas on the site de Baler, or the 3D adaptations of La Regenta and Tigre Juan.. Madrid Suite 1890 (filming title that would change for its premiere) starring Gary Piquer and José Luis García Pérez. Released in September 2012, it was subsequently investigated for falsifying its box office figures to obtain subsidies. After she announces her retirement from the cinema.

"You can never say, but I don't think I'm going to make any more movies. I am not the age or strength of a 30-year-old boy. It is the law of life”

José Luis Garci.

Last years

After ending his film career, Garci published his book Noir on film noir in 2013.

From 2009 to 2011, a program was broadcast on Telemadrid with a format similar to the program Qué grande es el cine!, also directed and presented by Garci, entitled Cinema en blanco y negro . After its completion, between 2012 and 2014 and also on Madrid's regional public television, the program Querer de cine was launched, which also screened films in color. This program was also broadcast in other regions that they do not have a second official language, through the corresponding channels belonging to FORTA.

In 2016 he made his debut as a theater director with Arte Nuevo (A Hommage), where he adapted the plays Cargamento de sueños, by Alfonso Sastre, and El hermano , by Medardo Fraile.

In 2019 he returned to the cinema with the recording of the prequel to El crack, El crack cero, in which Carlos Santos reincarnated Germán Areta, the private detective who he played the late Alfredo Landa in the two previous films. In this way, the saga became a trilogy.

Currently he collaborates in several COPE radio programs and in Midnight Cowboys, from esRadio.

In November 2021, a new film program called Classics premiered on Thirteen.

Private life

José Luis Garci maintained a sentimental relationship with Ana Rosa Quintana for a long time. In 1998 he began a relationship with Cayetana Guillén Cuervo, whom he met during the filming of El abuelo Since June 10, 2004, he has been married to the Uruguayan actress and Argentine national Andrea Tenuta.

José Luis Garci has been a smoker, consuming an average of 15 cigarettes a day, although he was famous for smoking more due to the great use he made of cigarettes in his television programs, being the last person to appear smoking live on TVE On a political level, he is not a follower of any party and declares himself independent and says that he has never served to have group or party opinions.

A soccer fan, he is a follower of Atlético de Madrid and Sporting de Gijón, of which he was a manager for more than three years.

Style

José Luis Garci does not have a computer, but instead writes all his scripts by hand or on an Olympia brand typewriter. The scripts have always been written in collaboration with other scriptwriters. His first three films are made together with José María González-Sinde, a member of the Spanish Communist Party who transmits a series of social and political nuances that make them marry very well with the political moment that Spain is experiencing at that time, the Transition Most of his subsequent production will be done together with Horacio Valcárcel, beginning with El crack and extending to Sangre de mayo, with the exception of Back a empezar, which he writes with Ángel Llorente. In his last two films, Holmes & Watson. Madrid Days (2012) and El crack cero (2019) collaborate with Eduardo Torres-Dulce and Javier Muñoz, respectively. When writing a script in collaboration, Garci can base himself on his own idea or on that of the other scriptwriter, feeding each other ideas, characters and scenes until reaching the final result.

Despite the importance that his films have had both in terms of content and form, Garci does not consider that they contain a conscious message: "I try to tell a story and that people have a good time", in the same way so that he does not believe that special knowledge is needed to be a good director, pointing out that to be so it is necessary "to have a sense of the look, of what you want to get". When choosing the actors, he does not make any casting and he usually shoots for a maximum of six hours a day, remaining standing the whole time: «I never sit down on set, you will never see a photograph of me sitting down, just as I have never had a sandwich. Because if you sit down you don't get up.” In his filmography, his preference for shots and sequences stands out.

His films are usually divided into two stages, one that goes from Asignatura pending (1977) to Asignatura aprovado (1987), another that begins with Canción crib (1994) and extends to El crack cero (2019). In his first stage, Garci places the action in the present or in the immediate past, showing throughout the film the social and political changes that take place at that time, while in the second stage he focuses on showing the past. in an attempt to understand the present.

Assessment

In 1992 he was awarded the National Cinematography Award and in 1997 with the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts. He also has 4 streets named after him in Spain, just as he has a star on the Paseo of Fame in Madrid. The public values his film career in a mixed way.

Garci affirmed that he had never made a good film, since when he is making it he does not know what the final result is, and, when he observes it carefully later, he observes the numerous flaws it has. For the director, his His best works are his short film Alfonso Sánchez and the feature film Volver a empezar. He also states that the only part of all of them that he likes is the conversation between the character played by Antonio Ferrandis and the one played by José Bódalo, but he affirms that he cannot see her because he is saddened by the death of both actors, since they had been great friends and classmates in acting classes.

The philosopher Agapito Maestre studied an important part of José Luis Garci's filmography in detail in the book Del sentimiento (Notorious Ediciones, ISBN 9788415606123).

Filmography

• Amount outstanding (1977)
• Alone in the morning (1978)
• Green grasslands (1979)
• The crack (1981)
• Go back to start (1982)
• Crack II (1983)
• Continuous session (1984)
• Approved appropriation (1987)
• Cuna song (1994)
• The luminous wound (1997)
• Grandpa (1998)
• You're the One (a story then) (2000)
• Story of a kiss (2002)
• Tiovivo v. 1950 (2004)
• Ninette (2005)
• Sunday light (2007)
• May blood (2008)
• Holmes & Watson. Madrid Days (2012)
• Crack zero. (2019)

Television and radio

• Stories from the other side (TVE, 1988-1996)
• How big is cinema! (TVE 2, 1995 - 2005)
• Querer de cine (Telemadrid, FORTA, 2009−2014)
• Midnight Cowboys (COPE, 2001 - 2009; esRadio, since 2009)
• Classics (13 TV, since 2021)

Awards and nominations

Oscar Awards