Guide to cinema

RELIGION

Religion: translation

In the early part of the 20th century, religion remained central to Spain's image as a traditional country dominated by old traditions. A distinctive aspect of Spanish culture in the context of European religious debates was the exclusivity of the Catholic Church and, even to date, the scarce interest shown by mainstream artists in other religious confessions. (Jews and Muslims were officially expelled from Spain in the late 15th century, and no efforts were made for their rehabilitation.) Institutionalized religion set up an alliance with absolutist tendencies in politics, and the Church became a source of power that continued into the start of the 20th century: religion remained one of the main aspects that divided the country in the decades leading up to theCivil War. Centralization of religion in Spain accounts for its strength but also for its lack of flexibility.
In the early years of film, religious authorities distrusted cinema deeply. As in the United States, the Church led efforts to establish a system ofcensorship. In the 1930s, however, the Catholic authorities realized that cinema could be used to their advantage as propaganda. In a country divided between a strong anticlerical movement (both among intellectuals and among the urban working classes) and a virulent pro-church stance (mostly rural classes, aristocracy, and industrialists), the former side seldom got to use film for their purposes, but the Church did so repeatedly. Even toward the end of the Republican period, a number of films sympathetically portrayed priests and nuns as heroes. The most popular isEl cura de aldea(The Village Priest, Francisco Camacho, 1936), which is at the origin of a tradition in Spanish cinema about goodly priests who act as fathers to their rural communities by exercising a benign moral authority. But a religious impulse was present in many plots, as the repertory of positive qualities and accepted endings came straight from the pulpit.
After the Civil War, with a government that declared its allegiance to the Catholic Church and forbade public expression of any other system of beliefs, this trend intensified.Although there was no religious cinema in the early postwar period, one could argue that all films were pro-church, as Catholic values were the only ones allowed. The censorship committees consisted basically of priests, together with staunch Catholics from the military and the Falange party.
Taking inspiration from Hollywood films about miracles (Song of Bernadette, Henry King, 1943), a more specific religious vein became prominent in Spanish cinema in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One important factor was the growing importance the Church started to have in politics after 1951 through the Opus Dei organization (just as the Falange was marginalized). Films with religious subjects became a small industry in themselves. They were the only ones allowed to open during the Holy Week and Easter festivities, and the country's climate of repression made them very popular. As in the pre-war period, the preferred stories were centered on conversions and the life of priests. The phenomenally successfulBalarrasa(1951), directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde, established the trend, which continued with such titles asMisión blanca(White Mission,Juan de Orduña, 1946),La mies es mucha(Plentiful Harvest,José Luis Sáenz de Heredia, 1948),La señora de Fátima(Our Lady of Fatima,Rafael Gil, 1951),Marcelino pan y vino(Marcelino, Bread and Wine,Ladislao Vajda, 1955),La herida luminosa(The Luminous Wound, Tulio Demicheli, 1956),El frente infinito(The Endless Front,Pedro Lazaga, 1959),Molokai(Luis Lucia, 1959), andTeresa de Jesús(Saint Teresa, Juan de Orduña, 1961). Missionaries, nuns, monks, and other holy men became screen heroes for a whole decade. Although less centrally, the decade also featured a series of biblical stories, as inEl judas(Ignacio F.Iquino, 1952). The films were earnest and humorless, often with high production values and verging on a hysterical belief in the literal contents of the Gospel.
As social progress and technological development slowly replaced the more traditional religion-centered view of Spanish society, the image of the Catholic Church on film began to change. Institutions stopped believing in miracles, at least officially. There were still films with hero-priests, but these were now low-key protagonists of sentimental comedies in which, for instance, an old meddlesome rural priest sorted out the lives of families going astray, as inUn curita cañon(The Rocking Priest, Luis Maria Delgado, 1971), or, as inSor Citroen(Sister Citroen, Pedro Lazaga, 1967), a nun could learn how to drive. Following the lead ofThe Sound of Music, singing nuns were back in fashion, and Rocío Dúrcal starred in a new version of the musicalLa hermana San Sulpicio(1927, 1934, and 1952), this time titledLa novicia rebelde(The Rebellious Nun, Luis Lucia, 1971). Sara Montiel also portrayed a singing nun (raped by enemy soldiers early into the plot) inEsa mujer(That Woman,Mario Camus, 1969).
The Transition brought a backlash in the treatment of religious issues on screen. Suddenly, as inEloy de laIglesia'sEl sacerdote(The Priest, 1978), priests were sexual perverts, or, as inTasio(Montxo Armendáriz, 1984) and some earlyPedro Almodovarfilms, selfish, corrupted, and repressive. Given the Church's obsession with (and their tight grip on) the representation of all things sexual for four decades, the temptation to show the clergy as sex maniacs was strong and seldom resisted. This is apparent even in Right-wing films likeLa boda del señor cura(The Priest's Wedding, Rafael Gil, 1979). In other films, likeLos santos inocentes(The Holy Innocents, Mario Camus, 1984), the Church was just corrupt and selfish and their representatives just cowardly and deceitful. Fun nuns who doubled as romance writers, or were drug addicts or masochists, were the protagonists of Pedro Almodóvar'sEntre tinieblas(Dark Habits, 1983), but the director was too generous with his characters for this to be taken as a negative depiction.
As democracy became more stable and resentment less heated, treatment of religious issues became more balanced.CarlosSaura'sNoche oscura(Dark Night, 1989) was a lay approach to San Juan de la Cruz's mysticism, and the more recentTeresa, el cuerpo de Cristo(Teresa, Body of Christ, 2007), directed by Ray Loriga and starring Paz Vega, certainly eroticized Saint Teresa's experience of God, but with a deep respect for the character and her work. Almodóvar'sLa mala educación(Bad Education, 2004), is a recent reminder of the effects of repressive religious education.
Historical Dictionary of Spanish Cinema by Alberto Mira

  1. religion—Religion translation For most of Egyptian history no attempt was made to develop a coherent religious theology for the entire country. Egypt consisted of many cities each...Ancient Egypt
  2. religion—Religion translation Religion The voluntary subjection of oneself to God dd Catholic Encyclopedia.Kevin Knight Religion Religion Catholic_Encyclopediau Religion I....Catholic encyclopedia
  3. religion—religion translation nounADJECTIVE great major universal world Judaism is one of the great world religions ancient established old oldtime esp. AmE traditional t...Collocations dictionary
  4. religion—Religion bersetzung. Ein Himmelslicht ist sie und ein Stern der Weisheit aus den heiligen Hhen. Herabstrahlt sie wie ein sanfter Mond auf die irdischen Leidensnchte und m...Damen Conversations Lexikon
  5. religion—Religion translation Religion f religion...Deutsch-Englisch Worterbuch gesetz
  6. religion—Religion translationGod helmetMatzoh Ballprayer beeperprayer warriorsoul proprietor...Dictionary of new words
  7. religion—religion bersetzung Religion f foiem Glaube m culteem RELu Konfession f religion [lij] Substantif fminin ensemble de croyances Religion fmininem culte Glaube mascul...Dictionnaire Francais-Allemand
  8. religion—religion bersetzung religion Religion f Glaube m...Englisch-Deutsch Worterbuch gesetz
  9. religion—Religion translation Israel is selfdesigned a Jewish state but Israel is a state and society constructed on modern democratic principles. However unlike many other democr...Historical Dictionary of Israel
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  11. religion—Religion translation In the early part of the th century religion remained central to Spains image as a traditional country dominated by old traditions. A distinctive asp...Historical dictionary of Spanish cinema
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  14. religion—Religion translation Given Karl Marxs trenchant criticism of religion as the opium of the masses it is not surprising that the Soviet state diligently promoted scientific...Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation
  15. religion—Religion translation Seeem Catholics Jews andem Protestants....Historical dictionary of Weimar Republik
  16. religion—Religion bersetzung religioi im allg. pietas erga deumi od. im Sinne der Alten erga deosi Gottesfurcht. sacrae opinionesi Meinungen ber heilige Dinge. res divinaei die...Kleines deutsch-lateinisches Handworterbuch
  17. religion—religion translationSynonyms and related wordsBabi Babism Bahaism Brahmanism Brahmoism Buddhism Buddhology Chen Yen Buddhism Christianity Mariolatry Mariology Mercersburg...Moby Thesaurus
  18. religion—[rln]религиямонашествокульт святыня...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  19. religion—религия монашество культ святыня to get religion стать религиозным...Англо-русский дополнительный словарь
  20. religion—религия...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  21. religion—религия...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  22. religion—n религия...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  23. religion—religion [rldn] nu религияto get religion разг.u стать религиозным религиозное учение монашество to enter into religion постричься в монахиto be in religion быть мона...Англо-русский словарь Мюллера
  24. religion—сущ. религия externals of religion религиозная обрядность внешние проявления религиозности under the guise of religion под покровом религии to tolerate all religions ...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  25. religion—n .strong религия социальный институт основанный на верованиях и ритуалах .strong религиозное учение .strong культ святыня .strong мировоззрение и поведение индивида осно...Англо-русский словарь по социологии
  26. religion—nto misuse religion for political purposes злоупотреблять религией в политических целяхto practice onesem religion openly открыто отправлять религиозные культы исповед...Англо-русский словарь политической терминологии
  27. religion—n. религия религиозное учение монашество культ святыня...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  28. religion—сущ.emstrong религия социальный институт основанный на верованиях и ритуалах религиозное учение культ святыня мировоззрение и поведение индивида основанные на вере. compa...Англо-русский социологический словарь
  29. religion—established religion...Англо-русский юридический словарь
  30. religion—n релгя чернецтвоto enter into religion пти в ченц культ святиня...Англо-украинский словарь
  31. religion—n релгя релгйне вчення Buddhist буддизм established офцйна державна релгя в данй держав...Англо-український дипломатичний словник
  32. religion—релгя чернецтво святиня культ...Англо-український словник
  33. religion—n релгя релгйне учення чернецтво to enter into пти постригтися в ченц to lead the life of вести чернечий спосб життя культ святиня to make a of smth. зробити з чог...Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  34. religión—f религия вера религиозность набожность благочестие долг верность слову клятвеla religin del honor долг чести монашеский орденentrar en religin постричься в монахи...Большой испанско-русский словарь
  35. religion—f en сокр. Relem религия вера вероисповедание ein Mensch ohne alle Religion безбожник человек для которого нет ничего святого закон божий предмет обучения...Большой немецко-русский и русско-немецкий словарь
  36. religion—Religionstrong f en .strong релиstrongгия вероисповеstrongдание .strong тк. sg закоstrongн боstrongжий учебный предметem...Большой немецко-русский словарь
  37. religion—f религия вера вероисповедание entrer en religion постричься в монахи в монахини религиозность homme sans religion безбожникavoir de la religion быть набожным верующим...Большой французско-русский и русско-французский словарь
  38. religion—релгя вросповдання...Дансько-український словник
  39. religion—Релгя вросповдання...Датсько-український словник
  40. religión—f вероисповедание...Испанско-русский юридический словарь
  41. religion—[rldn] n. религия религия религиозное учениеBuddhist religion буддизм. монашествоto lead the life of religion вести монашеский образ жизниto enter into religion постр...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  42. religion—religion [rldn] ni . религия религия религиозное учение Buddhist буддизм . монашество to lead the life of вести монашеский образ жизни to enter into постричься в ...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  43. religion—rldn n . религия религия религиозное учение Buddhist буддизм . монашество to lead the life of вести монашеский образ жизни to enter into постричься в монахи ...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна
  44. religion—f религия вера вероисповедание entrer en religion постричься в монахи в монахини религиозность homme sans religion безбожник avoir de la religion быть набожным верую...Новый французско-русский словарь
  45. religion—en erрелигия вера вероисповедание...Норвежско-русский словарь
  46. religion—Релгя вросповдання...Норвезько-український словник
  47. religion—f la religion de saint Joseph pour votre religion clairer la religion de qn entrer en religion se faire une religion de . forfaire la religion du serment surprendre la r...Французско-русский фразеологический словарь
  48. religion—Религия вера...Шведско-русский словарь II
  49. religion—relijon.strong религия frmmande religionerчужие религии .strong религия вера...Шведско-русский словарь
  50. religion—Релгя вросповдання...Шведсько-український словник