Read on Twitter
I was so pleased to find Blood Wedding on youtube. It’s a flamenco ballet/modern dance film that came out in 1981. No idea what possessed a very unhappy teenager living in a B&B to go and see it but it’s stayed with me ever since.
A very long thread ...
A very long thread ...
The film begins with rehearsals … we’ll come to the woman in the second photo in a moment
When they get into the performance proper it’s done in the rehearsal room making fantastic use of the light coming through the windows to create silhouettes. The main protagonists are: the Groom (rather too fond of make-up) …
And his Mother (who appears to be younger than him and wears less make-up) …
… And then the Bride, of course. Looking rather miserable, but to be fair it’s a shocking headdress …
… And then the Cad who wears a Black Hat as all cads should …
… And – finally – my favourite, the dancer noted earlier in the rehearsals, as the Spurned Woman. She has the most stunning eyes. Her look has stayed with me for, good heavens, nearly 40 years.
So we start with the too-old son dancing with his younger mother … Shapes are important – lots of heart shapes throughout …
And then the scene changes. This lady is singing a sad lament (possibly because she’s too hot - that is a massive radiator) …
And we see the Spurned Woman with the Eyes being, well, spurned …
… Lots of spurning … and some rather Bob Fosse moves as the Cad keeps turning his back on her … and the heart shape ...
… More spurning …
…Until she ends up on the floor … twice during the piece she tat-a-tat-tats on the floor at points of high drama. Here with her hand and later with her heels …
… Another scene change… the Cad and the Bride having socially distanced sex… again, the shapes are everything…
Having had enough of socially distanced sex, they finally … erm … “bubble”
Next up, the wedding scene (my favourite). The singer at the wedding appears to be Silvio Bellusconi – he’s hilarious. And he’s being accompanied by Sadam Hussein on the left …
And so they dance and celebrate until the Cad arrives
And the Cad dances with the Bride until they are separated by the Spurned Woman with the Eyes …
With that the Cad leaves and – as I’m sure we all would if our clandestine lover turned up at our wedding – we go into a full flamenco number, all clapping hands, tapping heels and flying skirts …
Eventually the Bride gets upset and runs off … and the Spurned Woman with the Eyes knows where she has gone and tells all (with heel tapping and mime, as you would) …
Next there are laugh-out-loud scenes of the Cad and the Bride riding a pretend horse – very reminiscent of Monty Python's Holy Grail (although no coconut halves were harmed).
And then we have the fight scene … again, look at the shapes (including heart shapes) …
OK, I’m not going to do a spoiler and tell you what happens in the end but it is called BLOOD wedding so you can probably guess. Certainly, the Bride is looking rather concerned.
Well, I have taken the piss (mildly) but I’m thankful to whoever put it on youtube. Brought back some memories – I think I’ve played my favourite scenes (the Spurning and the Wedding) a hundred times since finding it on youtube. [END]
