Critical Reaction 1
What does it mean to be a man? The question of masculinity was a topic heavily discussed during the Franco dictatorship. An image was made for men to follow, a way they were supposed to act. If a man did not follow this idea or view then they were looked down upon, looked as a failure or something wrong with them. Two films that perfectly demonstrated the idea of masculinity are La Gran Familia and Furtivos. Both films deal with the topic of masculinity. La Gran Familia shows how a man is supposed to be a provider for his family and is shown as a strong man, whereas in Furtivos, we see the opposite as a man is struggling to find his masculinity. La Gran Familia was directed by Fernando Palacios and was made in 1962.
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Furtivos was directed by Jose Luis Borau and was made in 1978. This film was made after Franco's death and heavily criticized Francosim. The film is about the struggle of Angel. As he lives in the forest (that is a metaphor of the hardships of the state during the dictatorship) all he knows is his mother. Once he travels into the city he meets Milagros, a girl who is a runaway. There they fall in love and we see the jealousy the mother has and the tension between Angel, Milagros, and Martina. Throughout the film Angel struggles with this masculinity. Angel is depicted as a weird person. He is a shy guy that is not confident. This is the opposite of Carlos who is the perfect example of masculinity in Francoism. Angel also struggles with this because he was only raised by his mother as Evans states in Furtivos (Borau, 1975): My Mother ,My Lover, “The real father is not only absent but also unknown” (Evans, 123). Since Angel is missing that father role he doesn't understand or know his role in masculinity because he had no one to look up to. However throughout the film we see Angel gain his masculinity through different events. The first event is his marriage to Milagros. The other male characters in the film finally show their respect to Angel once he is married to Milagros. This shows that he has been emotionally fulfilled as know he has to become a provider. It also shows that now his sexual aura has been awakened and is seen to be strong. Another key event that shows his masculinity is when he kills the stag. The stag in the film symbolized the masculinity that he was chasing after, and by Angel killing the stag he has finally reached/ no longer chasing