Abstract
ABSTRACTConsidering three recent Spanish films that can be classified under the elastic label of rural thriller—La noche de los girasoles/Night of the Sunflowers Angosto (Jorge Sánchez-Cabezudo, 2006), El rey de la montaña/The King of the Hill (Gonzalo López-Gallego, 2007) and The Backwoods/Bosque de sombras (Koldo Serra, 2007)—this article examines the different strategies they have used to negotiate their ‘intermediate status’ between genre and European art film as a plausible model. By looking at their thematic and genre construction as well as the importance of cinephilia, this article intends to show how recent Spanish cinema is engaging a more pragmatic/commercial production model through a genre approach (thriller) that links European, transnational and Hollywood traditions. It considers which strategies are developed by each film to cross borders and enter the international market, and the significance of the festival circuit for the distribution and promotion of the three case-study films is valued.
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