Day of Spanish Cinema: Muerte de un ciclista (Death of a Cyclist)

On the 6 October, the Instituto Cervantes celebrates the second edition of the Day of Spanish Cinema, an event that we hope to establishas part of our annual cultural calendar.

The #DiaDelCineEspañol aims to be a collective way of reclaiming the weight and importance of our cinema as a cultural heritage, as a generator of a common identity and imaginary, and to this end, activities and actions are organised for one day - both in Spain and internationally - to publicise and celebrate the richness and diversity of our cinematography and to reclaim the work of its professionals and audiences.

As part of this festival, we present the Spanish-Italian co-production Muerte de un ciclista (Death of a Cyclist), written and directed by Juan Antonio Bardem in 1955. In this historical film, this essential filmmaker for understanding the Spanish 20th century creates an interesting chronicle of the Spanish middle class through the portrayal of a pair of lovers who take very different positions in the social climate that surrounds them.

Starring two stars who had recently arrived in Spain in the 1950s, the exiled Alberto Closas and the Italian Lucía Bosé, Muerte de un ciclista (Death of a Cyclist) still maintains intact its critical reading intact and the solvency of the cinema of an author in a state of grace.

Synopsis: Juan and María José, sweethearts in the past before the Spanish Civil War, meet again after a few years of separation -after the end of the war- and resume their love. But now María José is no longer free and their love turns into adultery. [Taken from the Diccionario del cine iberoamericano (Madrid, SGAE, 2012, p. 1003), by José Enrique Monterde].

We present a bespoke study session for adult Spanish language learners and film lovers with teacher Ana Valbuena. Following an introduction in accessible Spanish and a full screening of Muerte de un ciclista, with English subtitles, attendees will be able to practise their Spanish language skills using a specially designed study pack on the film's main topics.