Looking Offscreen: Estiu 1993, Carla Simón (2017)

Rubén Aznar Alfonso (Universidad Cardenal Herrera-CEU)

Estiu 1993 (2017) is an autobiographical film directed by Catalan filmmaker Carla Simón. The film depicts the summer of its protagonist, Frida, a young girl who has just lost her mother and, as a result, must move in with her aunt and uncle. This loss initiates the mourning process Frida must face. Mourning here is understood, in the words of Sigmund Freud, as “the reaction to the loss of a loved person, or to the loss of some equivalent abstraction, such as one’s country, liberty, an ideal…” [1] (2006, p. 2091). Freud suggests that overcoming the mourning is determined by time, specifically when the individual can detach from the lost object to cut ties with the loss itself.

Using a textual analysis methodology grounded in the theories and analyses of Jesús González Requena (La diosa que habita en el cine de Buñuel. Amor loco en el jardín, 2008; Modelos teóricos. Metodologías, 1995; Clásico, Manierista y Postclásico. Los modos del relato en el cine de Hollywood, 2006; y El punto de vista visual, 2018) and Luis Martín Arias (El cine como experiencia estética, 1997), I have performed an analytical viewing of Frida’s offscreen gazes in three significant scenes of the film. This methodology aims to address the text as a code from which a subjective experience arises, drawn from the signs’ signifiers and meanings, allowing us to interpret the essence of the work.

Simultaneously, this analysis incorporates the model proposed by semioticians André Gaudreault and François Jost in their book El relato cinematográfico. Cine y narratología (1990), which elaborates on the theory of point of view. Gaudreault and Jost’s model provides insight into the levels of identification the text creates between the characters and the audience (narratees) relative to the narrator. Through concepts such as focalization, ocularization, and auricularization, the theory of point of view allows us to examine identification with a character through cognitive, visual, and auditory dimensions, respectively. González Requena states that point of view enables “access to the narrative universe and the choices it presupposes, [constituting] a mobile viewpoint through which the narratee accesses the narration’s knowledge” [2] (2018, p. 2).

The scenes were selected based on the convergence of three factors. First, Frida’s central role in the development of each scene; second, their connection to the mourning process; and third, their placement within the film’s introduction, development, and conclusion.

In addition to the above-mentioned texts to anchor the methodology of my analysis, I have also researched a variety of works on Carla Simón’s cinema. In this regard, the following authors have been essential for my own study: Carlos F.  Heredero (“Verano 2021“, 2022), Arnau Vilaró (¿“Una Nova Escola de Barcelona? Diálogos estéticos y narrativos en el cine realizado por mujeres en Cataluña”, 2021), and Chusa L. Monjas (“Carla Simón. La familia, su fuente de inspiración”, 2017).

The work of these authors also justifies the selection of scenes, as their theories emphasize the thematic significance of two elements in the analyzed scenes: Frida’s character as Simón’s alter ego and the recurrent theme of loss in the filmmaker’s work.

These foundations led to conclusions presented in the audiovisual essay, illustrating how shots with offscreen gazes vary depending on whether they are directed toward the paternal or maternal figure. Additionally, they highlight how and why the significance of offscreen space shifts in the final scene of Simón’s film. Through these offscreen gazes, the character remains fixated on the lost object, unable to accept the loss, which Freud (2006) views as the initial step in the mourning process. Thus, changes in her gaze become essential in her mourning process: in the film’s introduction, the gaze is nostalgic; in the development, it reflects happiness but is directed only at her paternal figure; and in the conclusion, it reflects happiness toward both her paternal and maternal figures.

Notes

[1] Own translation. Original quote: “la reacción a la pérdida de un ser amado o de una abstracción equivalente: la patria, la libertad, el ideal, etc”.

[2] Own translation. Original quote: “acceso al universo narrativo y las elecciones que presupone, [conformando] un punto de vista […] móvil a través del cual el narratario accede a los conocimientos de la narración”.

Bibliography

Freud, S. (2006). Duelo y melancolía. In Biblioteca Sigmund Freud. Obras completas. Tomo 6 (pp. 2091-2100). Biblioteca Nueva.

Gaudreault, A. y Jost, F. (1990). El relato cinematográfico. Cine y narratología. Paidós.

González Requena, J. (2008). La diosa que habita en el cine de Buñuel. Amor loco en el jardín. Abada Editores.

González Requena, J. (1995). Modelos teóricos. Metodologías. Ejercicios de análisis. 

González Requena, J. (2006). Clásico, Manierista y Postclásico. Los modos del relato en el cine de Hollywood. Castilla Ediciones.

González Requena. J. (2018). El punto de vista visual. Grupo de Investigación de Análisis del Texto Audiovisual. Desarrollos Teóricos y Metodológicos [Online].

http://www.gonzalezrequena.com/resources/ATAD/El%20punto%20de%20vista%20visual.pdf

Heredero, C. F. (2022). Verano 2021. Caimán. Cuadernos de Cine, (165), 16-18.

Martín Arias, L. (1997). El cine como experiencia estética. Caja España.

Monjas, C. L. (2017). Carla Simón. La familia, su fuente de inspiración. Academia. La revista del cine español, (224), 107.