Abstract
ABSTRACT In previous studies I have presented a general overview of the way American Cinema depicted Basque people, and especially Basque immigrants in the American West, and its evolution since the times of silent cinema to our days. In this article I will analyse one of the very first films in which a Basque character is presented, not in a secondary role, but as a protagonist. Wild is the Wind (George Cukor, 1959) represents also one of the first approaches to the representation of Basque identity by a Hollywood A-movie (this is, a film with a high budget, produced by major company, with the participation of well-known actors and actresses under the control of a renowned director) Firstly, I will summarize the main elements that characterized and conditioned the image of Basque immigrants, and Basque people as a whole, up to the decade of 1990 in the cinema of Hollywood. Secondly, I will describe the process of ellaboration of the film since its first steps, highlighting when, why and by whom was decided to introduce a Basque character in the plot. Finally, I will analyze how this Basque character is depicted in the film, both by the means of external (race, language, clothes...) and internal features (mainly, the dialogues), putting them in the context of previous and contemporary films and tv movies in which Basque characters also appeared.
Highlights
In previous studies I have presented a general overview of the way American Cinema depicted Basque people, and especially Basque immigrants in the American West, and its evolution since the times of silent cinema to our days
Even though the political framework the Basque Country is inserted in does not give it some of the basic elements for securing a clear external visibility (Neither is the Basque Country an independent country nor has it a similar degree of cultural recognition and political autonomy in all the territories it consists of), its cultural and linguistic peculiarities, along with a widely accepted, strong sense of identity have led the Basque people to be able to gain some kind of specific recognition as a distinct group to a certain extent in the societies Basque migration mostly preferred to target as the main destination
Who where the Basques? Wild is the Wind does not get into the task of trying to explain the question about their origin and cultural background, nor gets involved in an stereotypical attempt to elucidate about the exoticism of Basque language and ethnicity in the European context
Summary
In previous studies I have presented a general overview of the way American Cinema depicted Basque people, and especially Basque immigrants in the American West, and its evolution since the times of silent cinema to our days. 20) condition the way any ethnic group is accepted and are determinant either in helping or in impeding its path towards integration, As it has been previoulsy noticed, the representation of Basques in American cinema (and in a latter stage, television) “was deeply conditioned by the historical experience of Basque immigrants in the United States, whose motivations and challenges, and to a greater extent, the peculiarities of their economic integration and social adaptation process, were paramount in their portrayal”
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