Welcome to my blog, where I take pleasure in words and pictures, be they my own or those of others. I'm a creative individual, and the crafty side I explore on my 'other blog', Picking Up The Threads, which I hope you'll visit too. I'm sure you understand that I have sole copyright of my original work and any of my contributions, so please ask if you want to use them. A polite request is rarely refused. So, as they used to say on the BBC's 'Listen With Mother' radio programme, many years ago: "Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin."

Sunday 21 February 2016

Lanzarote the Movie Star

On an abnormally rainy day in February we went to La Casa Amarillo in Arrecife, an exhibition centre organising temporary exhibitions focussed on the knowledge and history of Lanzarote.  This exhibition was  “Celuloid Landscape - cinema shot in Lanzarote’. Click any image to enlarge.



























The volcanic landscape of Lanzarote serves as a prehistoric setting for a love story between two members of different tribes, condemned to wander through inhospitable lands. One if the first fantasy genre films shot in the Canary Islands, with special effects created by Ray Harryhausen, the film surprised cinema-goers with a scantily dressed Raquel Welch, who became an icon in her first leading role.

Later, Pedro Almodóvar, whilst visiting the island took ‘an enigmatic image of a couple embracing on El Golfo beach', which was to inspire Los Abrazos (Broken Embraces) 'a drama of passion, jealousy and mystery', starring Penelope Cruz.

“My trip to Lanzarote triggered my initial fascination for black and darker half-tone red, green, brown and gray. In recognition of the isand’s mystique, I took the picture on El Golfo Beach. I was captivated by the island. I’d never seen such dramatic colours in nature. For me it was not a landscape, but a mood, a character. From that moment I wanted to film there.”



Other films include ‘Enemy Mine, starring Dennis Quaid and Lou Gossett Junior,  Mysterious Island, starring Omar Sharif, Krull and Clash of the Titans.






There are many more movie stills, and a couple of audio-visual presentations. A really interesting exhibition if you can run to the €2 entrance charge (€1 for residents).


Never too late to squeeze in a link to Sepia Saturday




7 comments:

  1. Never too late indeed, and what a worthy adventure you had. Such interesting information and the photos are so expressive!

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  2. You snuck it in, but it was well worth it. Nicely done with interesting information. Interesting, too, how Raquel Welch, cast primarily for her striking looks in that prehistoric movie, managed to parlay that first leading appearance into a very successful career where other starlets never get much further. I've seen her interviewed on talk shows. Very intelligent, savvy woman. But it never hurts to look as she does, either. :)

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  3. Sounds interesting and great old photos, obviously a rich cinematic history. On a smaller scale (and smaller screen), we walked a fair way along the Cornish coastal path last week, to a beach that features in the new Poldark series. Somehow adds a sprinkle of magic!

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  4. Many movies are like fashion accessories they quickly get outdated. I especially love English or Scandinavian movies. I am going to watch Lady in the van.

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  5. How interesting to find the films which have been shot in your own backyard, so to speak. My post to Sepia Saturday is also about terrain rather than ironing.

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  6. The building where I used to live was used in a film about 1990. I actually saw them shooting an outdoor scene there. Although the indoor action was supposedly there too, I think that was actually shot somewhere else.

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  7. Just like in real estate, film making is about "location, location, location!"

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