El Sopar Explained

El Sopar
Director:Pere Portabella
Starring:Ángel Abad
Jordi Cunill
Lola Ferreira
Antonio Marín
Narciso Julián
Cinematography:Manel Esteban
Runtime:50 minutes
Language:Spanish
Catalan

El Sopar (English: Dinner) is a 1974 documentary film, in Catalan and Spanish, by experimental filmmaker Pere Portabella. The film takes place on the night of the execution of militant anarchist Salvador Puig Antich by Franco's Spanish State. Using simple cinematic conventions, Portabella's documentary involves five former political prisoners gathered in a farmhouse to prepare dinner and discuss the problems with long prison terms.[1]

To protect the film's subjects from persecution by in Francoist Spain, the film's production was coordinated in secrecy, with notices of the secret shooting location sent to technicians and participants at staggered times.[2] After Franco’s death, Portabella recut his film and added an interview with Puig Antich’s lawyer. In 2018, he added a new intertitle that refers to the Catalan pro-independence politicians currently in jail.[3]

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: El Sopar Page on Pragda . 2009-04-22 . Pragda . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090704020019/http://www.pragda.com/movie/el-sopar.php . 2009-07-04 .
  2. Web site: Pere Portabella home page . 2009-04-22 . Portabella . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080502234606/http://www.pereportabella.com/eng/sopar_esp.html . May 2, 2008 .
  3. Zecchi . Barbara . Intervening in the Present: Catalan Cinema's Radical Years (1968–1978) . Film Quarterly . 2019 . 72 . 3 . 69–77 . 10.1525/fq.2019.72.3.69 . 194213310 . 5 August 2020. Barbara Zecchi .