Brillante Porvenir
Encyclopedia
Promising Future is a 1965 Spanish
film directed by Vicente Aranda
and Román Gubern. Set in Neorealism style
, the plot was inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald
's the Great Gatsby
.
Starring Germán Cobos and Italian actress Serena Vergano
, it was shot in 35 mm in black and white in Castelldefels
, Sitges
and Barcelona
.
One night Antonio is invited to a party offered by López, a businessman to whom Antonio has had a small confrontation before. Initially reluctant to go to the party, Antonio goes just to be with Montse. He is expelled from the party. The invitation he had was bogus, falsified by Montse. Drunk and upset, Antonio returns to the party in the company of Carmen, Lorenzo’s girlfriend, who has also been turned down. They tried to make a scene and spoiled the party but are thrown out violently.
The next day Antonio tries desperately to see Montse. Her family has forbidden her any contact with him. Antonio confronts Montse for her relationship with López, but she assures him that he is the only one in her life. Upset with López, Antonio confronts him, but he is threaten by him and by Lorenzo. Antonio takes the road to Paris escaping with Montse, halfway he changes his mind and decides to leave her. Montse explains that he eventually continued with her.
, who had to face many difficulties making the film. Aranda could not get the necessary permit from the Spanish director's guild to direct the film, due to his lack of formal education. This forced him to co-direct with film historian and theorist Román Gubern, a friend among a group of Catalonian intellectuals interested in filmmaking who formed the so called Barcelona School of Film
.
The script was written by Aranda, Gubern and their mutual friend Ricardo Bofill
, an architect also associated with the Barcelona School. The screenplay was loosely inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald
's the Great Gatsby
in a portrait of Barcelona's upper class seen from an outsider coming from the provinces. Although Gubern worked on the screenplay and prepared the scenes to be shot each day, the actual direction of the film was completely in Aranda's hands.
German Cobos was chosen to be the leading man thanks to his brother association in the theater with Roman Gubern and Joaquin Jordá, another member of the Barcelona's group of filmmakers and close friend of Gubern and Aranda.
Serena Vergano, an Italian actress who had recently came to Spain to make the film El Conde Sandorf (1963), was chose for the female lead. At the time she was involved in a romantic relationship with Ricardo Bofill.
Production of the film was problematic. There was a dispute between Ricardo Bofill, the co-scriptwriter who was present during shooting, and the cinematographer Aurelio G. Larraya. This had a negative effect in the resulting film. Brillante Porvenir was shot in various locations in Barcelona, Castelldefels
and Sitges
between 14 October and 6 December 1963. Location were set apart geographically and the many scenes complicated the work of Aranda, who was directing his first film.
and the work of Michelangelo Antonioni
, who was then popular in the art house circuits. However by the mid 1960s, when Brillante Porvenir was made, this approached seemed dated. Brillante Porvenir aspired to be a chronicle of Barcelona's upper middle class from the point of view of an outsider, a newcomer who arrives from a provincial background. This social criticism, unusual in Spanish films during Francisco Franco
's regime, faced cuts from censors who eliminated parts of the script and later forced the director to alter the end of the film. This mandatory changes distorted the meaning and intentions of the film and negatively affected its reception. Brillante Porvenir was coldly received by critics and public. It was a commercial an artistic disappointment.
Cinema of Spain
The art of motion-picture making within the nation of Spain or by Spanish filmmakers abroad is collectively known as Spanish Cinema.In recent years, Spanish cinema has achieved high marks of recognition as a result of its creative and technical excellence...
film directed by Vicente Aranda
Vicente Aranda
Vicente Aranda , is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Due to his refined and personal style, he is one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a founded member of the Barcelona School of Film and became known for bringing contemporary Spanish novels to life on the...
and Román Gubern. Set in Neorealism style
Neorealism (art)
In art, neorealism was established by the ex-Camden Town Group painters Charles Ginner and Harold Gilman at the beginning of World War I. They set out to explore the spirit of their age through the shapes and colours of daily life...
, the plot was inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
's the Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
.
Starring Germán Cobos and Italian actress Serena Vergano
Serena Vergano
Serena Vergano born Adalgisa Serena Maggiora Vergano , is an Italian actress. She was the muse of the Barcelona School of Film, acting in many of the films of this movement.-Career:...
, it was shot in 35 mm in black and white in Castelldefels
Castelldefels
Castelldefels is a town in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain and part of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 63.151 .-Geography and location:...
, Sitges
Sitges
*Church of Sant Bartolomeu i Santa Tecla . It houses two Gothic sepulchres , belonging to the an older church located on the same site...
and Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
.
Plot
Antonio, a young man with a modest job in a small town, leads an ordinary monotonous existence until he is transferred to Barcelona to work in a firm of architects. From then on, a new life opens to him. He befriends, Lorenzo, one of his coworkers. Lorenzo more experienced than Antonio shows him a new more restless and sophisticated life in which Antonio feels out of place. He falls in love with Montse, Lorenzo’s sister, and that makes him try to fit in.One night Antonio is invited to a party offered by López, a businessman to whom Antonio has had a small confrontation before. Initially reluctant to go to the party, Antonio goes just to be with Montse. He is expelled from the party. The invitation he had was bogus, falsified by Montse. Drunk and upset, Antonio returns to the party in the company of Carmen, Lorenzo’s girlfriend, who has also been turned down. They tried to make a scene and spoiled the party but are thrown out violently.
The next day Antonio tries desperately to see Montse. Her family has forbidden her any contact with him. Antonio confronts Montse for her relationship with López, but she assures him that he is the only one in her life. Upset with López, Antonio confronts him, but he is threaten by him and by Lorenzo. Antonio takes the road to Paris escaping with Montse, halfway he changes his mind and decides to leave her. Montse explains that he eventually continued with her.
Cast
- Germán Cobos - Antonio
- Serena VerganoSerena VerganoSerena Vergano born Adalgisa Serena Maggiora Vergano , is an Italian actress. She was the muse of the Barcelona School of Film, acting in many of the films of this movement.-Career:...
– Montse - Arturo López - Lorenzo
- José Maria Angelat - López
- Gloria Osuna – Mercè
- Josefina Güell – Carmen
- Pedro Gil - Luis
Production
Brillante Porvenir marked the directorial debut of Vicente ArandaVicente Aranda
Vicente Aranda , is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Due to his refined and personal style, he is one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a founded member of the Barcelona School of Film and became known for bringing contemporary Spanish novels to life on the...
, who had to face many difficulties making the film. Aranda could not get the necessary permit from the Spanish director's guild to direct the film, due to his lack of formal education. This forced him to co-direct with film historian and theorist Román Gubern, a friend among a group of Catalonian intellectuals interested in filmmaking who formed the so called Barcelona School of Film
Barcelona School of Film
The Barcelona School was a 1960s group of Catalan filmmakers, concerned with the disruption of daily life by the unexpected, whose stylistic affinities lie with the pop art movement of the same years. Their aim was to move away from the social realist films that had become associated with the New...
.
The script was written by Aranda, Gubern and their mutual friend Ricardo Bofill
Ricardo Bofill
Ricardo Bofill, also Ricard Bofill Leví is a Catalan Spanish postmodernist architect.He studied at the School of Architecture in Geneva, Switzerland...
, an architect also associated with the Barcelona School. The screenplay was loosely inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
's the Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
in a portrait of Barcelona's upper class seen from an outsider coming from the provinces. Although Gubern worked on the screenplay and prepared the scenes to be shot each day, the actual direction of the film was completely in Aranda's hands.
German Cobos was chosen to be the leading man thanks to his brother association in the theater with Roman Gubern and Joaquin Jordá, another member of the Barcelona's group of filmmakers and close friend of Gubern and Aranda.
Serena Vergano, an Italian actress who had recently came to Spain to make the film El Conde Sandorf (1963), was chose for the female lead. At the time she was involved in a romantic relationship with Ricardo Bofill.
Production of the film was problematic. There was a dispute between Ricardo Bofill, the co-scriptwriter who was present during shooting, and the cinematographer Aurelio G. Larraya. This had a negative effect in the resulting film. Brillante Porvenir was shot in various locations in Barcelona, Castelldefels
Castelldefels
Castelldefels is a town in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain and part of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 63.151 .-Geography and location:...
and Sitges
Sitges
*Church of Sant Bartolomeu i Santa Tecla . It houses two Gothic sepulchres , belonging to the an older church located on the same site...
between 14 October and 6 December 1963. Location were set apart geographically and the many scenes complicated the work of Aranda, who was directing his first film.
Reception
Brillante Porvenir is set within a neorealistic aesthetic, following in the footsteps of the Italian neorealismItalian neorealism
Italian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors...
and the work of Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
, who was then popular in the art house circuits. However by the mid 1960s, when Brillante Porvenir was made, this approached seemed dated. Brillante Porvenir aspired to be a chronicle of Barcelona's upper middle class from the point of view of an outsider, a newcomer who arrives from a provincial background. This social criticism, unusual in Spanish films during Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
's regime, faced cuts from censors who eliminated parts of the script and later forced the director to alter the end of the film. This mandatory changes distorted the meaning and intentions of the film and negatively affected its reception. Brillante Porvenir was coldly received by critics and public. It was a commercial an artistic disappointment.