Cristo (1954)

Overview

Cristo is the first feature film directed and produced by Margarita Alexandre and Rafael Torrecilla. Evoking the work of Luciano Emmer, this art documentary tells the story of the life of Jesus using only Spanish paintings. In close harmony with the montage, the photographic technique used by Juan Mariné for the filming gives movement to the paintings by Titian, El Greco and Rubens, while the presence of the voices of Fernando Rey, José María Seoane, María Jesús Valdés and other actors of the period give the characters a sense of entity. The film received the category of National Interest from the Censorship Board, undoubtedly more inspired by the film’s exaltation of the national artistic heritage and its religious subject matter than by its artistic aspirations.