Aranda’s futuristic thriller Fata Morgana (1965) is an intriguing exploration of violence committed against beautiful women. The plot is centred around the murderous pursuit of Gim, a publicity model, played by one of Spain’s favourite models of the time, Teresa Gimpera. The model-turned-actress was “an ever-present visual fetish of her time in Spain” and a fascination for Gonzalo Suárez who turned the top model phenomenon into a film script. Set in a city evacuated after a thermonuclear catastrophe, the film’s cool aesthetic owes much to the ‘60s pop-art-meets-Cold-War world of comic books, advertising and fashion. With its essayistic approach to filmmaking, Fata Morgana inaugurated the avant-garde School of Barcelona (1965 - 1970), one of Spain’s most distinct film movements.
With grateful thanks to Filmoteca de Catalunya.