The deadly bond. Mother-daughter relationships in Quién te cantará (Carlos Vermut, 2018)

Authors

  • Lidia Merás Royal Holloway, University of London, Reino Unido

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24310/Fotocinema.2021.vi22.11736

Keywords:

motherhood, horror cinema, melodrama, gender studies, Spanish cinema

Abstract

The relationship between mothers and daughters is a theme of growing interest in contemporary Spanish cinema. Despite the abundant corpus on the filmic representation of motherhood, this bond has hardly been specifically addressed. Focusing on gender studies and taking into account horror cinema and melodrama in the treatment of this topic, this article analyses the aesthetic and narrative conventions that have guided the representation of this maternal-filial bond in feature films produced in Spain in recent years. Taking Carlos Vermut's third film as the case of study, I conclude that though Quién te cantará (2018) maintains some of the traditional motifs that had shaped the negative representation of kinship between mothers and daughters, it also expands maternity archetypes. Portraying unorthodox models of motherhood, Quién te cantará is one of the few films that presents the conflict from the mother’s and daughter’s point of view simultaneously, questioning an idealized image of this bond.

 

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Author Biography

  • Lidia Merás, Royal Holloway, University of London, Reino Unido

    Lidia Merás (lidia.Meras@rhul.ac.uk) holds a doctorate in Film History from Autonomous University of Madrid and teaches in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has published widely on European cinemas, gender studies, transnational cinemas, and documentary. Her latest publications include a book chapter in Female Agency and Documentary Strategies (Edinburgh University Press, 2018) and an article entitled “Picasso al alcance de todos los españoles” (Ayer, in press). Since 2002 serves as the member of the editorial staff of Secuencias (UAM), and is a member of the Centre for Visual Cultures at Royal Holloway. 

References

Published

2021-01-29

Dimensions

PlumX

How to Cite

The deadly bond. Mother-daughter relationships in Quién te cantará (Carlos Vermut, 2018). (2021). Fotocinema. Revista científica De Cine Y fotografía, 22, 373-396. https://doi.org/10.24310/Fotocinema.2021.vi22.11736