Blood and Sand, 1/12/13, Best Cinematography, 1941
The movie is set in Spain, maybe late 19th century or early 20th century and it centers around bullfighting and the aspirations of Juan Gallardo, played as an adult by Tyrone Power. I couldn’t tell if bullfighting held some symbolic meaning, I honestly didn’t look that hard. The only commentary on bullfighting came from John Carradine’s character, El Nacional (who was more like a Socialist), who made derisive comments about bullfighting and how poor people are taken advantage, and he kept swearing he was going to give it up. Juan Gallardo leaves Seville as a teenager with his friends to head to Madrid. He eventually returns, sort of successfully (Gallardo is illiterate and asks a man on the train to read an article featuring him; the man is too kind and makes up the content of the article; Gallardo later finds out the article disparages him). He comes back to woo his childhood sweetheart (played by Linda Darnell) and build his reputation as a matador. The rest of the movie follows the rise and inevitable fall of Gallardo, who starts to believe his own press and is drawn to the seductive Dona Sol des Muire, played by Rita Hayworth, who is ruthless in her quest for Gallardo. I honestly didn’t care about any of it; it may have had to do with the fact that I don’t understand the cultural importance of bullfighting or the romance, but I didn’t care about Juan Gallardo. I suppose you have to be arrogant to take on a 2000 pound bull with nothing but a cape, but it would have been nice to see a little humility. The movie won for best cinematography for a color film, and it was beautifully shot, but other than that, I didn’t find much to like about it.
