Introduction

Abstract

Álex de la Iglesia represents a special phenomenon in Spanish cinema. This chapter deals with his life, presenting some significant observations about the development of his career, and, furthermore, throws light on the ambivalent critique of television that runs through much of his cinema. In cinema studies, de la Iglesia is regarded as not an individual who makes films, but a protean set of alliances shaping and reshaping around a fixed core of collaborators. This collaborative core, which formed in Bilbao prior to any cinematic work, is at the heart of all the feature films, as well as assembling in whole or in part for Mama, Detrás del sirimiri, Mirindas asesinas and Marbella antivicio. In this light, the chapter emphasises that de la Iglesia's films cannot be considered as the work of an individual, but that they take on greater significance when patterns of collaboration are considered within them