If you think flamenco is all about stamping around with castanets, this film will be a revelation. If you find films about dance boring, this film will be a revelation. If you’ve never seen or heard of Antonio Gades, this film will be revelation. It’s a kind of acted/danced documentary in which rehearsals for the Blood Wedding of the title become so intense that we forget they’re rehearsals and become involved in the action itself. Perhaps the closest film to it in spirit is West Side Story.
Ditch the castanets for starters. This is flamenco ballet like you’ve never seen it. Gades is a such a mesmerising presence that you can’t take your eyes off him. The climactic knife fight is brilliantly executed in slow motion, beautifully shot in real-time by Carlos Saura’s prowling camera.
At a brief 80mins, it’s worth giving it a shot. It was such a success at the 1981 Edinburgh Film Festival that Gades brought his company to Edinburgh the following year for an equally stunning live performance, and a year later he and Saura reunited for a film version of Carmen.