Cleaning His Mess: Shifting Depictions of Labor and Femininity in the Films of Saura and Almodóvar Anonymous College

Spanish cinema subsists within a complex sociopolitical and historical context. Though certain Spanish filmmakers have chosen to create purposeful “depoliticized” narratives, portraying characters that are distanced from the harsh social realities of fascism, the mere act of separating art from historical trauma is inherently political. In director Carlos Saura’s late-Francoist 1976 drama film, Cría cuervos, the remnants of Francisco Franco’s tight authoritarian grip on Spanish culture are depicted through the eyes of Ana, a young child who has experienced multiple family tragedies. In order to cope with the trauma of losing both of her parents, she reimagines her once-terminally ill mother through memories, and believes that she has intentionally poisoned her father, a recently deceased Fascist military official. Ana receives guidance from her family maid, Rosa who functions as a maternal-figure.

Contrastingly, Pedro Almodóvar’s 1984 movida period comedy What Have I Done to Deserve This? explores the interior life of Gloria, a working-class mother and cleaner, living with her highly dysfunctional family in Madrid. Using two distinct narrative approaches, Saura and Almodóvar examine Spanish national identity through...