Carlos Saura

Directing

Carlos Saura

Born — Died

1932-01-04 — 2023-02-10

Place of birth

Huesca, Aragón, Spain

Known for

Directing

Credits

70 titles

Carlos Saura Atarés (4 January 1932 – 10 February 2023) was a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. With Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be among Spain's great filmmakers. He had a long and prolific career that spanned over half a century, and his films won many international awards. Saura began his career in 1955 making documentary shorts. He gained international prominence when his first feature-length film premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 1960. Although he started filming as a neorealist, Saura switched to films encoded with metaphors and symbolism in order to get around the Spanish censors. In 1966, he was thrust into the international spotlight when h…

Known for

Film credits

2020s · 6 titles

Goya, Carrière & the Ghost of Buñuel poster
7.5

French writer Jean-Claude Carrière (1931-2021) traces the life and work of Spanish painter Francisco de Goya (1746-1828).

Goya, Carrière & the Ghost of Buñuel

2022

Miradas del cine español poster
NR

Reflections on Spanish cinema, based on seventy interviews with prominent filmmakers, analyzing their work and addressing their views on various general topics such as the industry and the evolution of Spanish cinema, as well as current issues such as the arrival of digital platforms.

Miradas del cine español

2024

The Kid in the Photo - Carlos Saura poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Kid in the Photo - Carlos Saura

2026

The Walls Can Talk poster
7.0

Las paredes hablan is Carlos Saura's peculiar take on the origin of art. The acclaimed and multi-award winning director, with more than 50 films to his name, portrays the evolution and relationship of art with the wall as a creative canvas from the first graphic revolutions of the prehistoric caves to the most avant-garde urban expressions. A thrilling and personal journey in the company of figures including Juan Luis Arsuaga, Miquel Barceló, Zeta, Musa 71 and Suso 33.

The Walls Can Talk

2023

Donde acaba la memoria poster
6.0

Film travels through Las Hurdes and the Residencia de Estudiantes to build the portrait of Ian Gibson, author of the biographies of Buñuel, Dalí and Lorca. The journey ends in Granada, where, after a 50-year search, Gibson is closer than ever to finding Lorca's remains as a symbol of reconciliation in a country that is reluctant to make peace with its past.

Donde acaba la memoria

2022

Goyasaurio poster
NR

A behind-the-scenes of the creative process of the short film "Goya 3 de mayo" directed by Carlos Saura and the Aragonese director's reflections on Goya's life, art, war, and painting.

Goyasaurio

2021

2010s · 11 titles

Searching for Ingmar Bergman poster
5.9

A meaningful account of the personal and professional life of the great Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) that explores his film legacy, with interviews with his closest collaborators and a new generation of filmmakers.

Searching for Ingmar Bergman

2018

Carlos Saura's FlamencoHoy poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Carlos Saura's FlamencoHoy

2013

24 horas en la vida de Querejeta poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

24 horas en la vida de Querejeta

2012

Rafael Azcona poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Rafael Azcona

2010

Eduardo Ducay: el cine que siempre estuvo ahí poster
3.0

No synopsis available yet.

Eduardo Ducay: el cine que siempre estuvo ahí

2015

Tras Nazarin: Following Nazarin poster
5.2

"Nazarín is a Quixote of the priesthood " "Among the films I have made in Mexico, Nazarin is one that I prefer." "As inexplicable as the accidents that set it off, our imagination is a crucial privilege."

Tras Nazarin: Following Nazarin

2015

Navajeros, censores y nuevos realizadores poster
6.0

Spain. 1978. Year of the first democratic elections following the dictatorship, and of the birth cine quinqui (delinquent movies): films that rapidly became a big commercial success, showing things that were banned by the censorship not too long before.

Navajeros, censores y nuevos realizadores

2018

Aragón rodado poster
1.0

A look at the Aragonese countryside, star of the movie screen, accompanied by various trades of cinema.

Aragón rodado

2014

Matilde Coral, acariciando el aire poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Matilde Coral, acariciando el aire

2016

Carlos Saura - Fotograf poster
NR

The film follows the Spanish film director as he publishes a book of his mostly unknown photography. His intimate and often surprising photos create a striking portrait of daily life in 1950's Spain that contrasts with dictator Francisco Franco's propaganda. The documentary follows the two-year process of narrowing down the collection and designing the book.

Carlos Saura - Fotograf

2017

Saura(s) poster
6.0

Carlos Saura, a living legend. Félix Viscarret, a director who wants to make a film portrait of the great master. He draws up a plan. He thinks it's brilliant. He will show the intimate side of Saura through conversations of the genius with his 7 children. Everyone accepts. But Saura does not like talking about the past.

Saura(s)

2017

2000s · 6 titles

Critic poster
7.9

Seventy critics and filmmakers discuss cinema around the conflict between the artist and the observer, the creator and the critic. Between 1998 and 2007, Kléber Mendonça Filho recorded testimonies about this relationship in Brazil, the United States and Europe, based on his experience as a critic.

Critic

2008

Speaking of Buñuel poster
6.0

Surrealist master Luis Buñuel is a towering figure in the world of cinema history, directing such groundbreaking works as Un Chien Andalou, Exterminating Angels, and That Obscure Object of Desire, yet his personal life was clouded in myth and paradox. Though sexually diffident, he frequently worked in the erotic drama genre; though personally quite conservative, his films are florid, flamboyant, and utterly bizarre.

Speaking of Buñuel

2000

Portrait of Carlos Saura poster
6.0

A documentary on the life and career of the Spanish auteur Carlos Saura.

Portrait of Carlos Saura

2004

Pablo G. del Amo, un montador de ilusiones poster
7.0

Documentary about the personal and professional life of Pablo G. del Amo. He is the most influential movie editor in Spain.

Pablo G. del Amo, un montador de ilusiones

2005

Antonio Gades, la ética de la danza poster
6.0

Documentary that reconstructs the professional life of the dancer through the thread of his own voice. A work that travels to the fundamental landscapes of the personal history of Gades with unpublished documents and the testimony of those who shared with him many pages of the book of his life and the history of Spanish dance in recent decades.

Antonio Gades, la ética de la danza

2007

In the Lost City poster
4.0

The city of Madrid as it appears in the Spanish films of the 1950s. A small tribute to all those who filmed and portrayed Madrid despite the dictatorship, censorship and the critical situation of industry and society.

In the Lost City

2009

1950s · 2 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Cria! poster
7.5

Ana, an eight-year-old girl living in Madrid with her grandmother and two sisters, mourns the death of her mother.

Cria!

1976

Cria! poster
7.5

Ana, an eight-year-old girl living in Madrid with her grandmother and two sisters, mourns the death of her mother.

Cria!

1976

Anna and the Wolves poster
6.8

The young but traveled Ana arrives in a manor in the countryside of Spain to work as nanny of three girls and finds a dysfunctional family.

Anna and the Wolves

1973

Anna and the Wolves poster
6.8

The young but traveled Ana arrives in a manor in the countryside of Spain to work as nanny of three girls and finds a dysfunctional family.

Anna and the Wolves

1973

Faster, Faster poster
6.4

Angela is a young waitress who turns her back on society when she meets and falls in love with Pablo, a reckless criminal delinquent. Along with Pablo’s gang of car thieves, the pair embark on a drug and disco-fueled robbery spree as they hurtle toward oblivion.

Faster, Faster

1981

Faster, Faster poster
6.4

Angela is a young waitress who turns her back on society when she meets and falls in love with Pablo, a reckless criminal delinquent. Along with Pablo’s gang of car thieves, the pair embark on a drug and disco-fueled robbery spree as they hurtle toward oblivion.

Faster, Faster

1981

Ay, Carmela! poster
6.7

During the Spanish Civil War, a group of comics lightens the days of the Republican troops. Tired of life in the front lines, they make their way to Valencia, accidentally entering enemy land and falling prisoner.

Ay, Carmela!

1990

Ay, Carmela! poster
6.7

During the Spanish Civil War, a group of comics lightens the days of the Republican troops. Tired of life in the front lines, they make their way to Valencia, accidentally entering enemy land and falling prisoner.

Ay, Carmela!

1990

The King of Ads poster
4.3

A collection of European T.V. commercials directed by a variety of well-known directors from across Europe and the U.S. Compiled and produced by Jean-Marie Boursicot.

The King of Ads

1991

El sur poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

El sur

1992

El sur poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

El sur

1992

Flamenco Flamenco poster
7.0

A look at the history and traditions of flamenco music and dance.

Flamenco Flamenco

2010

Flamenco Flamenco poster
7.0

A look at the history and traditions of flamenco music and dance.

Flamenco Flamenco

2010

Tango poster
6.6

A dangerous love affair inspires a director to create the most spectacular and boldly seductive dance film ever made.

Tango

1998

Tango poster
6.6

A dangerous love affair inspires a director to create the most spectacular and boldly seductive dance film ever made.

Tango

1998

Carmen poster
6.7

While rehearsing a flamenco ballet adaptation of Bizet's opera “Carmen”, Antonio, the choreographer, falls in love with the main dancer, Carmen, a fiercely independent woman. Antonio is slowly consumed by jealousy and possessiveness towards Carmen, just like Don José in the original opera, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

Carmen

1983

Carmen poster
6.7

While rehearsing a flamenco ballet adaptation of Bizet's opera “Carmen”, Antonio, the choreographer, falls in love with the main dancer, Carmen, a fiercely independent woman. Antonio is slowly consumed by jealousy and possessiveness towards Carmen, just like Don José in the original opera, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.

Carmen

1983

The King of All the World poster
6.2

Manuel is preparing his next show, a musical about making a musical show. He seeks the help of Sara his ex-wife and renowned choreographer to direct. In the casting, the young Ines will appear as a rising star while dealing with her father and local mob. During the rehearsals, the passion and tension will grow among the dancers. Powerful Mexican music sets the tone and a play will emerge in which tragedy, fiction and reality intertwine.

The King of All the World

2021

The King of All the World poster
6.2

Manuel is preparing his next show, a musical about making a musical show. He seeks the help of Sara his ex-wife and renowned choreographer to direct. In the casting, the young Ines will appear as a rising star while dealing with her father and local mob. During the rehearsals, the passion and tension will grow among the dancers. Powerful Mexican music sets the tone and a play will emerge in which tragedy, fiction and reality intertwine.

The King of All the World

2021

Goya in Bordeaux poster
6.0

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his much younger wife Leocadia and their daughter Rosario. He continues to paint at night, and in flashbacks stirred by conversations with his daughter, by awful headaches, and by the befuddlement of age, he relives key times in his life.

Goya in Bordeaux

1999

Goya in Bordeaux poster
6.0

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his much younger wife Leocadia and their daughter Rosario. He continues to paint at night, and in flashbacks stirred by conversations with his daughter, by awful headaches, and by the befuddlement of age, he relives key times in his life.

Goya in Bordeaux

1999

Outrage poster
5.6

Marco Vallez (Antonio Banderas) is possessed by the beauty of a circus sharp shooter, and from the second they meet he is willing to give up everything to be with her. But one horrifying night sends them both down a road of revenge leaving behind a trail of bodies to the ultimate showdown with justice.

Outrage

1993

Outrage poster
5.6

Marco Vallez (Antonio Banderas) is possessed by the beauty of a circus sharp shooter, and from the second they meet he is willing to give up everything to be with her. But one horrifying night sends them both down a road of revenge leaving behind a trail of bodies to the ultimate showdown with justice.

Outrage

1993

The 7th Day poster
6.6

Isabel Jimenez is a teenager witnessing a horrible feud between her own family and the Fuentes family, a feud involving broken hearts, property disputes and a mysterious fire that destroyed the Fuentes house. Isabel's uncle is murdered by Jeronimo Fuentes, who later tries to stab her father. After Jeronimo dies in jail, Isabel must look outside of her family for the truth, learning from the village idiot that her father may have set fire to the Fuentes home.

The 7th Day

2004

Peppermint Frappé poster
6.6

Julián, a middle-aged single doctor, is reunited with Pablo, a childhood friend who has just married Elena, a beautiful young woman.

Peppermint Frappé

1967

Peppermint Frappé poster
6.6

Julián, a middle-aged single doctor, is reunited with Pablo, a childhood friend who has just married Elena, a beautiful young woman.

Peppermint Frappé

1967

Rosa Rosae. A Spanish Civil War Elegy poster
5.9

Saura creates and recovers more than thirty images, drawings and photographs that he prints, manipulates, plays with and subsequently films, to produce a story which, while recreating the Spanish Civil War, could also reflect the horrors of universal conflict, seen through the eyes of a child and his surroundings.

Rosa Rosae. A Spanish Civil War Elegy

2021

Rosa Rosae. A Spanish Civil War Elegy poster
5.9

Saura creates and recovers more than thirty images, drawings and photographs that he prints, manipulates, plays with and subsequently films, to produce a story which, while recreating the Spanish Civil War, could also reflect the horrors of universal conflict, seen through the eyes of a child and his surroundings.

Rosa Rosae. A Spanish Civil War Elegy

2021

Sweet Hours poster
5.5

Juan Sahagún, since childhood, feels passion for his mother. One day in the street he sees a woman identical to her. He follows her and finds out that she works as an actress in a theater company, so Juan decides to hire the whole company to represent the people who have influenced him in his past. They recreate the same situations of yesteryear and Juan acts as the child he was, to relive the memories already forgotten.

Sweet Hours

1982

Sweet Hours poster
5.5

Juan Sahagún, since childhood, feels passion for his mother. One day in the street he sees a woman identical to her. He follows her and finds out that she works as an actress in a theater company, so Juan decides to hire the whole company to represent the people who have influenced him in his past. They recreate the same situations of yesteryear and Juan acts as the child he was, to relive the memories already forgotten.

Sweet Hours

1982

Flamenco poster
6.3

The film presents thirteen rhythms of flamenco, each with song, guitar, and dance: the up-tempo bularías, a brooding farruca, an anguished martinete, and a satiric fandango de huelva. There are tangos, a taranta, alegrías, siguiriyas, soleás, a guajira of patrician women, a petenera about a sentence to death, villancicos, and a final rumba.

Flamenco

1995

Flamenco poster
6.3

The film presents thirteen rhythms of flamenco, each with song, guitar, and dance: the up-tempo bularías, a brooding farruca, an anguished martinete, and a satiric fandango de huelva. There are tangos, a taranta, alegrías, siguiriyas, soleás, a guajira of patrician women, a petenera about a sentence to death, villancicos, and a final rumba.

Flamenco

1995

Marathon poster
5.5

For this documentary, the renowned Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura created a structure as unconventional as the Gaudí buildings that adorn the host city of Barcelona. Coverage of the men's marathon appears at intervals throughout the narrative, highlighting the Games' most iconic event. While charismatic winners—from 400m champion Michael Johnson to weightlifter Ivan Ivanov—take center stage, Saura observes rigorous training sessions with as much passion as the finals themselves. Composers such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mikis Theodorakis, and Angelo Badalamenti contribute to the shifting atmosphere of this excellent film.

Marathon

1993

Marathon poster
5.5

For this documentary, the renowned Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura created a structure as unconventional as the Gaudí buildings that adorn the host city of Barcelona. Coverage of the men's marathon appears at intervals throughout the narrative, highlighting the Games' most iconic event. While charismatic winners—from 400m champion Michael Johnson to weightlifter Ivan Ivanov—take center stage, Saura observes rigorous training sessions with as much passion as the finals themselves. Composers such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mikis Theodorakis, and Angelo Badalamenti contribute to the shifting atmosphere of this excellent film.

Marathon

1993

The Stilts poster
6.9

After the death of his wife, Angel, a university professor and writer, he falls into a severe depression. He flees to his house in the country, but there the evil is accentuated, which leads him to an attempted suicide that Teresa, his young neighbor, saves him. Angel starts a relationship with her and her partner, Alberto. Soon he falls in love with Teresa and, through a passionate relationship, he frees himself from his torments. Teresa, Alberto and her theater group on stilts ask her to write a play to represent her in the town. Obsessed by Teresa, she is vivified with this experience with the young, but she soon moves away from him carnally. This rupture desperate and as Teresa disabuses him of any possibility of continuity, in the mind of Angel reappears suicide as the only solution

The Stilts

1984

The Stilts poster
6.9

After the death of his wife, Angel, a university professor and writer, he falls into a severe depression. He flees to his house in the country, but there the evil is accentuated, which leads him to an attempted suicide that Teresa, his young neighbor, saves him. Angel starts a relationship with her and her partner, Alberto. Soon he falls in love with Teresa and, through a passionate relationship, he frees himself from his torments. Teresa, Alberto and her theater group on stilts ask her to write a play to represent her in the town. Obsessed by Teresa, she is vivified with this experience with the young, but she soon moves away from him carnally. This rupture desperate and as Teresa disabuses him of any possibility of continuity, in the mind of Angel reappears suicide as the only solution

The Stilts

1984

Salomé poster
6.4

Salomé's story interpreted by a director and a troupe of flamenco dancers.

Salomé

2002

Salomé poster
6.4

Salomé's story interpreted by a director and a troupe of flamenco dancers.

Salomé

2002

El Dorado poster
6.3

The story of an expedition down the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in 1560 by Spanish soldiers searching for the fabled city of gold, El Dorado.

El Dorado

1988

El Dorado poster
6.3

The story of an expedition down the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in 1560 by Spanish soldiers searching for the fabled city of gold, El Dorado.

El Dorado

1988