I was fortunate enough to watch "Flamenco" in its entirety and by the end I realized it was brilliant. What struck me immediately was the stark contrast between the vibrancy of the music – the sounds, the emotions – with the simple, crisp backdrops. I thought it was such a strange combination of what seemed like complete opposites. But then I thought about it and realized that Carlos Saura was brilliant and how perfectly they fit together. Even in our class discussions of what the terms flamenco and gypsy brought to mind, we never hit the amazing intricacy, control, and accuracy that is found in it. Although, the music sounds wild and free, crazy and amazingly vibrant it still has this sense of control that perhaps gives it the freedom that we hear. Oddly enough, it is somewhat like ballet, extremely controlled and precise but visually amazingly fluid and free. This is what flamenco is too! The balance of precision and fluidity. Therefore, the simple backdrops of solid color and solitary light seem perfect. The wild (yet controlled) motions of the dancers, as they stomp out every single beat perfectly, against the solid backdrops works to show this balance. I thought it was just brilliant!
On a side note: after watching the movie with my friend, he burned me a c.d. he thought I should have. It is an album from the “group” Ojos de Brujo. If you have ever heard of the Gotan project it’s the same basic idea, except instead of tango, they use flamenco. So if you haven’t heard it, it’s a mix of traditional flamenco with hip hop, jazz, and a little electonica mixed in. It’s pretty amazing too! And a bit more accessible to people who aren’t familiar to the sounds of traditional flamenco.