<P>From the surrealist films of Luis Buñuel to the colourful melodramas of Pedro Almodóvar, Spain has produced a wealth of exciting and distinctive film-makers who have consistently provided a condoning or dissenting eye on Spanish history and culture. </P>
<P>For modern cinema-goers, it has often been the sexually-charged and colourful nature of many contemporary Spanish films, which has made them popular world-wide and led directors and stars such as Almodóvar, Banderas and Penélope Cruz to be welcomed by Hollywood. </P>
<P>Using original interview material with Spanish Cinema luminaries such as Carlos Saura, Julio Medem, Imanol Uribe and Elías Querejeta, Rob Stone charts a history of Spanish Cinema throughout the turbulent Francoist years and beyond. The book aims to provide a broad introduction to Spanish Cinema, the nine chapters divided into four types:</P>
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<LI>chapters on Spanish Cinema during the Dictatorship and following the transition to democracy survey current debate and opinion while tracing the development of themes and film movements throughout those periods. </LI>
<LI>chapters on early Spanish cinema and Basque cinema present vital and fascinating aspects of Spanish cinema that have previously been ignored </LI>
<LI>chapters on childhood in Spanish cinema, and sex and the new star system offer new pathways into the study of Spanish cinema </LI>
<LI>chapters on Carlos Saura, Elías Querejeta and Julio Medem offer specific case studies of film-makers who are emblematic of different periods in Spanish cinema and, indeed, Spanish history </LI></UL>
<P>As with other titles in the Inside Film series, the book is comprehensively illustrated with representative stills and has a thorough bibliography, index and list of resources.</P>