Nine Letters to Berta explained
| Native Name: | |
| Director: | Basilio Martín Patino |
| Screenplay: | Basilio Martín Patino |
| Cinematography: | Luis Enrique Torán |
| Music: | Carmelo Bernaola |
| Editing: | Pedro del Rey |
| Country: | Spain |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Distributor: | Hispano Fox-Film |
Nine Letters to Berta (Spanish; Castilian: '''Nueve cartas a Berta'''|links=no) is a 1966 Spanish drama film written and directed by Basilio Martín Patino which stars Mari Carrillo, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba, and Antonio Casas. It is widely acknowledged as a hallmark title of the so-called Nuevo Cine Español.[1]
Plot
In the 1950s, Lorenzo Carvajal, son to a former Francoist combatant now working in a bank and a pious housewife, returns to Salamanca from a spell in England. He writes love letters to a woman he met in England, Berta Carballeira (never featured onscreen), the daughter of a Spanish exile, also detailing the sense of weariness he experiences back in his native city, as he feels stranged from his family, local girlfriend, and friends.[2] [3] [4]
Production
The film is an Eco Films and Transcontinental Films Española (Transfisa) production. Shooting locations included Madrid and Salamanca.[5]
Release
The film was presented at the 14th San Sebastián International Film Festival in June 1966. It was released theatrically in Spain on 27 February 1967.[6] 417,965 tickets were sold, with the film proving to be a blockbuster relative to comparable Nuevo Cine Español titles.[7]
See also
Notes and References
- Identity and Nationality in Basilio Martín Patino's Nueve cartas a Berta (1965). Sally. Faulkner. Bulletin of Spanish Studies. 83. 3. 2006. 409–423 . 1475-3820. 10.1080/147538206000346261. 192014733 .
- Book: Pérez Millán, Juan Antonio. https://books.google.com/books?id=SpluSJWqhj4C&pg=PA87. 87–88. Guzmán Gombau fotografía el VII centenario de la Universidad de Salamanca (1953-1954): liberalización cultural y apertura internacional de la universidad franquista. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. Salamanca. Salamanca en el cine de Basilio Martín Patino. De Nueve cartas a Berta (1965) a Octavia (2002). January 2011 . 978-8478001422.
- Exilio, identidad, historia, forma fílmica. La guerre est finie, Nueve cartas a Berta. 2000. Fernando. González. Film-Historia. 10. 3. 29–43.
- Letters from The City: Writing Boundaries in Nueve cartas a Berta (1965). Patricia. Keller. 10.3828/bhs.2013.57. Bulletin of Hispanic Studies. 2013. 90. 8. 945–964 .
- Web site: Nueve cartas a Berta. Madrid Film Office. Madrid Destino Cultura Turismo y Negocio S.A.. 26 February 2023.
- De Inglaterra a Salamanca: espacio y memoria en Nueve cartas a Berta (Basilio Martín Patino, 1967). Salamanca. Revista de Estudios. 63. 2019. 0212-7105. Olga. García-Defez. 200.
- Book: Pérez, Jorge. Confessional Cinema: Religion, Film, and Modernity in Spain's Development Years, 1960–1975. 156. University of Toronto Press. 2017. 978-1-4875-0108-2.
