Themes: Inheritance at Stake, Eccentric Families, Amnesia
Main Cast: Francisco Pierra, Luchy Soto, Lina Canalejas
Release Year: 1970
Country: ES
Run Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Jose Luis Lopez Vasquez stars as a millionaire industrialist who is involved in an auto accident. When he comes to, Vasquez has completely forgotten who he is and how much money he has. His greedy relatives would love to put Vasquez away and claim his fortune. But there's a fly in the ointment: the money is in a secret Swiss bank account, and the only one who knows (or who knew) the account number is the amnesiac Vasquez. Those familiar with the work of Spanish director Carlos Saura know for darn sure that he's not about to go the expected route with this surefire material: Garden of Delights, is just that, a bountiful garden of the surreal, the symbolic, the illusory, and at times the hilarious. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Alberto Alonso - Tony; Charo Soriano - Actress; Esperanza Roy - Nicole; Mayrata O'Wisiedo - Ana; José Luis Lopez Vasquez - Antonio
Credit
Carlos Saura - Director, Pablo Gonzalez del Amo - Editor, Luis de Pablo - Composer (Music Score), Luis Cuadrado - Cinematographer, Elias Querejeta - Producer, Rafael Azcona - Screenwriter, Carlos Saura - Screenwriter
El jardín de las delicias , also known as The Garden of Delights in English language cinema, is a 1970Spanishdrama film co-written and directed by Carlos Saura.
The film was censured by contemporary Spanish Censorship because of its Franco bourgeois satire and Spanish Civil War references.
Antonio Cano, 45 years old, is an important businessman who was severely injured in a car accident. Because of this, he is temporarily paralyzed and suffers memory loss. His family, friends and business associates all try to recreate scenes from his life in order to revive his memory which, little by little, does begin to return. Each day Antonio is placed in his beautiful garden where he relives many memories, both real and imagined.
Cultural Significance
All of the striking scene changes and radical imagery are metaphors for the suppression and suffering of Spanish people under the Franco regime, who could only speak out about their plight by means of allegorical films/stories such as El jardín de las delicias.
