Lavapiés and its representations throughout film history

Abstract

This article analyses the representations of Lavapiés throughout the history of Spanish cinema, and from the perspective of various authors, eras, and cinematographic movements. Its main goal is to explore the interrelationships within this neighbourhood’s filmography, its urban imaginary, its social constants, and its radical transformation during the past hundred years and to understand the ways in which this borough has been historically instrumentalized as an allegory of the Spanish marginalized neighborhood. This analysis is focused on a choice of films in which Lavapiés takes an important tole on their plots, and at the same time, they document this neighborhood’s, Madrid’s and Spain’s History.