{{Short description|Spanish film director and screenwriter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} {{family name hatnote|Chávarri|de la Mora|lang=Spanish}} {{Infobox person | name = Jaime Chávarri | image = (Jaime Chávarri) Clausura del Festival CIBRA 07 (cropped).jpg | caption = Attending the CiBRA Festival closing gala in 2023 | birth_name = Jaime Chávarri de la Mora | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|03|20|df=y}} | birth_place = Madrid, Spain | occupation = Filmmaker | years_active = 1967–present | relatives = {{ubl|class=nowrap|Antonio Maura (great-grandfather)|Constancia de la Mora (aunt)}} }}
'''Jaime Chávarri''' (born 20 March 1943) is a Spanish film director and screenwriter, best known for his films ''El desencanto'' and ''Las bicicletas son para el verano''.
== Life and career == Chávarri's family belonged to the haute bourgeoisie. His mother Marichu de la Mora y Maura (maternal granddaughter of Antonio Maura) was a Falangist Sección Femenina activist and a fashion journalist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hola.com/realeza/20230215226440/marichu-mora-jose-antonio-amiga/|website=¡Hola!|first=Cristina|last=Barreiro|title=Marichu de la Mora, la nieta de Maura que fue responsable en la Sección Femenina e impulsora de la moda Adlib}}</ref> His aunt was Republican activist Constancia de la Mora.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://elpais.com/diario/2006/04/21/andalucia/1145571748_850215.html|website=El País|date=21 April 2006|title=Almudena Grandes, Luz Casal y Pilar Bardem analizan a creadoras del XX|first=Sergio|last=Mellado}}</ref> Chávarri had already graduated as a lawyer,<ref name=Mira/> when he entered the Escuela Oficial de Cine (EOC) in 1968.<ref name = "D’Lugo 139">D’Lugo, ''Guide to the Cinema of Spain'', p. 139</ref> He abandoned his formal film studies in his second year, moving into film criticism. He wrote for ''Film Ideal'' magazine. His first film industry job was an assistant director to José Luis Borau.<ref name=Mira/> while devoting his spare time to make two feature-length films in super 8: ''Run, Blancanieves, Run'' in 1967, and ''Ginebra en los infiernos'' in 1969. He worked with Ivan Zulueta in his series for Spanish television named ''Último grito'' (or ''The Last Cry''), and subsequently scripted ''Un dos tres... al escondite inglés'' (''Hide and Seek'') in 1969. Over the next several years, he worked on the technical crew of a number of films and collaborated with Spanish cult film director Jesús Franco on the script for Franco's 1970 opus, ''Vampyros Lesbos''. In 1970, he completed hi first short feature film 'Estado de sitio' (or ''Siege State'').<ref name=Mira/> He also contributed one segment to the collective film, ''Pastel de sangre'' (''Blood Pie'') in 1971 with Francesc Bellmunt.<ref name=Mira/>
Chávarri's first feature-length film as a director was ''Los viajes escolares'' (or ''School Trips'') in 1974, a complex autobiographical film that focuses on the ambiance of a dysfunctional family.<ref name = "D’Lugo 140">D’Lugo, ''Guide to the Cinema of Spain'', p. 140</ref><ref name=Tatjana>Tatjana Pavlović, Inmaculada Álvarez, Rosana Blanco-Cano, Anitra Grisales, Alejandra Osorio and Alejandra Sánchez {{google books|PtFXpxyWMi4C|100 Years of Spanish Cinema|page=144 }}</ref> It was shown at Valladolid International Film Festival and got a mixed reception.<ref name=Mira/> Critics recognized the director's talent but criticized the obscure symbolism of the film. Two years later, Chávarri continued the theme of the dysfunctional family with the documentary ''El desencanto'' (or ''The Disenchantment'') in 1976, which portraits the family of the deceased Francoist poet Leopoldo Panero, capturing the visceral relations forged out of the patriarchal tyranny in the poet's three sons and widow.<ref name="D’Lugo 140"/> Chávarri's next film was the highly praised ''A Un dios desconocido'', ''To An Unknown God'' in 1977, which tells the story of a solitary aging gay magician in Granada who remembers his youthful romance with Federico García Lorca.<ref name=Tatjana/> The film, written with producer Elías Querejeta and with notable work by cinematographer Teodoro Escamilla, was highly praised, winning the leading actor and director prizes at the 1977 San Sebastián International Film Festival.<ref name="D’Lugo 140"/>
Chávarri's subsequent film, ''Dedicatoria'' (or ''Dedicated to...'') in 1980, another collaboration with Elías Querejeta, centers on Juan Uribe, played by José Luis Gómez, a journalist whose interrogation of his comrade, Luis Falcón, a political prisoner, leads him to discover the incestuous relation between Falcón and his daughter, the same woman with whom Juan is having sexual relations. Like earlier Chávarri's films, ''Dedicated to...'' was praised for its uncompromising thematic and artistry, but it failed at the box office.<ref name="D’Lugo 140"/>
By the early 1980s, Chávarri embarked on a series of film adaptations of diverse fictional works which lent a seeming randomness and lack of focus to his development as a filmmaker. In 1983 he directed a lavish adaptation of Llorenç Villalonga's novel, ''Bearn o la sala de las muñecas'' (or ''Bearn or the Dolls Room'') and followed that with a screen version of Fernando Fernán Gómez's war play ''Las bicicletas son para el verano'' (or ''Bicycles Are for the Summer'') in 1984.<ref name="D’Lugo 140"/> Also in 1984, he had a cameo part as an Exhibitionist in Pedro Almodóvar's film ''What Have I Done to Deserve This?''<ref name=Mira>Alberto Mira {{google books|8g9KML_nJu8C|The A to Z of Spanish Cinema|page=77}}</ref> Then in 1985, he wrote and directed his most personal film ''El río de oro'' (or ''The Golden River''), which is based on the Peter Pan stories.<ref name=Mira/>
The success of ''Las bicicletas son para el verano'' led Chávarri to turn his career from making independent films to more commercial ones. In 1988, he adapted for television ''Yo soy el que tú buscas'', which is based on a Gabriel García Márquez novel of the same name.<ref name=Tatjana/> His musical-drama set in the 1930s postwar Madrid, ''Las cosas del querer'' (or ''The Things of Love'') in 1989. It features many folklore songs of the 30s and 40s and co-stars Ángela Molina as 'Pepita' (an aspiring copla singer) and Amparo Baró as 'Balbina'.<ref name=Corey/> It became one of his biggest commercial successes.<ref name="D’Lugo 140"/> In Spain, it was the 6th most popular Spanish film in 1989, but outside Spain it is still mostly unknown.<ref name=Bill>Bill Marshall, Robynn Stilwell and Robynn Jeananne Stilwell (Editors){{google books|73XMoSSp8vYC|_Hollywood and Beyond|page=70}}</ref> In 1990 he returned to television and made a literary adaption of Jorge Luis Borges's short story, ''La intrusa''.
In 1993, he made the comedy ''Tierno verano de lujuria y azoteas'' (or ''Tender Summer of Lust and Rooftops'') based on the novel by Pablo Solozábal. The film explores the sexual awakening of a young man played by Gabino Diego, who is obsessed with his much older cousin Olga, played by Marisa Paredes. This was followed by a sequel: ''Las cosas del querer. Part II'',<ref name=Corey>Corey K Creekmur {{google books|gZJvAAAAQBAJ|International Film Musical}}</ref> set in Argentina in 1995,<ref>Sandra Truscott and Maria García {{google books|LMp8RsxuU0cC|Dictionary of Contemporary Spain|page=200}}</ref> made for the producer Luis Sanz. It was less successful than its predecessor.<ref name=Tatjana/>
Chávarri's films in the 1990s, ''Gran slalom'' in 1996 (comedy about love and intrigue,<ref name=Tatjana/>) and ''Sus ojos se cerraron y el mundo sigue andando'' (or ''Tangos are For Two''<ref name=Mira/>) in 1997 (about a woman who dreams while listening to tango music of Carlos Gardel<ref name="Tatjana" />) did not do well commercially. The director did better with ''Kisses for Everyone'' in 2000, a comedy set in the 1960s about three medical students in Cádiz,<ref name=Tatjana/> starring Emma Suárez, Eloy Azorín, and Pilar López de Ayala. In 2004, 'El año del diluvio' was released, based on the novel by Eduardo Mendoza Garriga novel of the same name, set in the '50s about a mother superior in a charity hospital and a rich landowner, who is trying to get funds to open a nursing home.<ref name=Tatjana/> His film ''Camarón'' (''Camarón: When Flamenco Became Legend'') in 2005, a biopic of the flamenco singer Camarón de la Isla played by Óscar Jaenada, also was well regarded.<ref name="spainisculture.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.spainisculture.com/en/artistas_creadores/jaime_chavarri.html|title=Jaime Chavarri|access-date=2012-07-20 |work=spainisculture.com}}</ref> The film won 3 Goya Awards including the award for best actor to Óscar Jaenada.<ref name=Tatjana/>
==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable" |- !Year !English title !Original title !Notes |- | 1973 |''School Trips'' | ''Los viajes escolares'' | |- | 1976 | ''The Disenchantment'' | ''El desencanto'' | Documentary |- | 1977 | ''To an Unknown God'' | ''A un dios desconocido'' | Best Director San Sebastián International Film Festival |- | 1979 |''Tales for an escape'' | ''Cuentos para una escapada'' | segment ''The Deaf Woman'' |- | 1979 | ''Erotic Tales'' | ''Cuentos eróticos'' | segment ''Pequeño planeta'' |- | 1980 | ''Dedicated to'' | ''Dedicatoria'' | |- | 1982 | ''Bearn or the Dolls Room'' | ''Bearn o la sala de las muñecas'' | |- | 1983 | ''Bicycles Are for the Summer'' | ''Las bicicletas son para el verano'' | |- | 1985 | ''The Golden River'' | ''El río de oro'' | |- | 1989 | ''The Things of Love'' | ''Las cosas del querer'' | |- | 1993 | ''Tender Summer of Lust and Rooftops'' | ''Tierno verano de lujurias y azoteas'' | |- | 1995 |''The Things of Love. Part II'' | ''Las cosas del querer. 2ª parte'' | |- | 1996 | ''Gran Slalom'' | ''Gran slalom'' | |- | 1997 | ''Tangos Are for Two'' | ''Sus ojos se cerraron y el mundo sigue andando'' | |- | 2000 | ''Kisses for Everyone'' | ''Besos para todos'' | |- | 2004 | ''The Year of the Flood'' | ''El año del diluvio'' | |- | 2004 | ''Madrid M11: We Were All on That Train'' | ''Madrid 11M: Todos íbamos en ese tren'' | segment ''Doce de octubre'' |- | 2005 | ''Camarón: When Flamenco Became Legend'' | ''Camarón'' | |- | 2022 | {{center|—}} | ''La manzana de oro'' |}
==Notes== {{reflist}}
== References == *D’Lugo, Marvin. '' Guide to the Cinema of Spain''. Greenwood Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0313294747}} * Torres, Augusto M. ''Diccionario Espasa Cine Español''. Espasa Calpe, 1994, {{ISBN|84-239-9203-9}} *{{Cite web |url=http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity/jaime-ch%C3%A1varri/ |title=Jaime Chávarri |publisher=MSN Movies |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603125941/http://movies.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity/jaime-ch%C3%A1varri/ |archive-date=3 June 2012 |url-status=dead }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavarri, Jaime}} Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:Male actors from Madrid Category:Spanish male film actors Category:Spanish film directors Category:Spanish male screenwriters Category:20th-century Spanish screenwriters Category:20th-century Spanish male writers Category:21st-century Spanish screenwriters