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Rouben Mamoulian Uses Cinema as a Canvas in BLOOD AND SAND

Sofía Alvarado

The co-director of the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, Ehsan Khoshbakht, presented the film Blood and Sand (1941), by Georgian-American director Rouben Mamoulian, during the 23rd Morelia International Film Festival (FICM).

Based on the novel of the same name by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, this film was Rouben Mamoulian's second Technicolor film, after Becky Sharp (1935), which won the Oscar for Best Cinematography.

Blood and Sand tells the story of Juan Gallardo, a boy who dreams of becoming a bullfighter like his father, who was killed in the bullring at a young age. The entire film revolves around Juan's desire to become the best matador in Seville.

Khoshbakht analyzed Blood and Sand from a color standpoint, drawing inspiration from Spanish painters such as Goya and Velázquez. In each scene, he explained, the director developed expressive tones, even in the characters' faces.

The filmmaker also pointed out Mamoulian's great sensitivity and that he designed the whole movie around allegories and directed the shots based on sound. All of this stemmed from a desire to criticize bullfighting and the exploitation of bullfighters in the ring, where “the matador is the bull and the bullfighter is the one who is sacrificed.” As a corollary, one of his characters exclaims: “The audience is the real beast.”