Cinema
La tía Tula
Miguel Picazo · 1964
Synopsis
A small town in Castile, in the early sixties. Rosa has just died, leaving two children and a husband, Ramiro, a bank clerk. Her sister Tula, thirty-one and unmarried, takes them in and organises their life, as a mother of the family who refuses to be a wife. A suitor asks Ramiro to intercede to win her hand; Ramiro, drawn to his sister-in-law, ends up asking for it himself, and the priest advises Tula to accept. She refuses and means to keep control of her house.
Context
Adapted from a novel by Unamuno, the film transposes it to provincial Spain of the sixties, where the heroine becomes the sign and the victim of sexual repression. Written by Picazo with three co-screenwriters and shot in Guadalajara and Brihuega, it rests on Aurora Bautista's performance. Censorship weighed on it, but the film was a critical and commercial success; chosen to represent Spain for the Oscar for foreign-language film, it was not retained among the nominees.
Who it is for
A black-and-white drama, in cramped interiors; almost everything is played out in what is left unsaid.
Prizes and reception
Prize for directing and for best Spanish-language film at the San Sebastián festival in 1964; several medals from the Cinematographic Writers' Circle.