The Return of Genre in 1990s Spanish Cinema: Industry, Legislative Changes and Economics

Abstract

This article focuses on the key impact of genre in Spanish cinema in the early to mid-1990s. First, it addresses a series of legislative changes from the 1980s and 1990s and their influence on the national cinematic output. Second, it analyses box-office data in the early-to-mid 1990s while drawing attention to the emergence of new players—such as private multimedia enterprises—in the field of film production. Third, it examines the work of two different filmmakers—the duo Manuel Gómez Pereira/Joaquín Oristrell, and Álex de la Iglesia—studying both their cinematic works and their status in different historiographies of Spanish cinema. Finally, it discusses the above-mentioned filmmakers’ engagement with genre as a key development in the history of Spanish cinema, paving the way to a later generation of filmmakers who drew from the generic to significantly change the development of the national film industry.