Traditional cinema versus cosmopolitan cinema: the case of Mariano Ozores

During the Second Republic , the confrontation between the so-called two Spains was not only political, but also cinematic. Specifically, the disagreement was settled between the traditionalists and the cosmopolitans.

Commercial cinema (produced by the so-called castizos) clearly dominated the screens compared to auteur cinema (produced by cosmopolitans). Audiences flocked to see films whose primary purpose was entertainment. Luis Buñuel (1900-1983) defined this type of cinema as perojismo , a clear allusion to director Benito Perojo (1894-1974), one of the most successful directors and producers.

Educated abroad, Perojo, paradoxically, had managed to connect with domestic audiences through his films, attracting the most popular sectors of Spanish society to the theaters. In other words, in contrast to avant-garde, experimentation, and art, he offered entertainment, fun, and recreation.

Charlot and Peladilla

After several attempts, Perojo achieved his first major film success with Peladilla. These short films, in addition to directing and producing, featured him playing the eponymous character of the series, a copy of the famous Charlot. This wasn't unusual at the time, given that, following the enormous success of the character created by Charles Chaplin (1889-1977), numerous imitators emerged around the world. However, Perojo didn't limit himself to copying Charlot; he also gave Peladilla traits that made him even more original. In contrast to Charlot's naiveté and romanticism, we find a more mischievous Peladilla, considerably more carnal and with more malice.

This matter of the Spanish-ness of Charlot is not trivial, as it clearly shows one of the keys to the success of Perojo's films: capturing the viewer through commonplaces, stereotypes , and cultural roots.

Perojo's españoladas connected with a socially popular, lower-class audience, who enjoyed content, much of it with a strong folkloric component, and who drew inspiration from established artistic expressions such as zarzuela, vaudeville, revues, and theater. In a way, Perojo's secret was to translate what was being done on stage into the new audiovisual language. Examples include La verbena de la Paloma (1935) and Es mi hombre (1934). The former was an adaptation of the famous zarzuela, and the latter was based on the play of the same name by Carlos Arniches (1866-1943).

The golden age of Spanish cinema

In addition to its commercial success, this type of cinema was decisive in launching a national industry and creating a star system that had Imperio Argentina , Estrellita Castro and Miguel Ligero as great figures.

The success of Perojismo was such that when left-wing filmmakers tried to turn their attention to the theaters, the right had already occupied almost all the seats.

When left-wing filmmakers tried to turn their gaze towards the theaters, the right had already occupied almost all the seats.

One of the greatest critics of this type of film was undoubtedly Luis Buñuel. He also considered Perojismo to be the great evil of Spanish cinema, since these types of commercial films aimed to "dumb down the population." Buñuel only allowed for more popular cinema as long as "the moral line of the films was an extension of that which governs my own life." In other words, Buñuel, along with many others, considered cinema a means and not an end in itself.

Be that as it may, this confrontation between traditionalists and cosmopolitans, in the midst of social and political ferment , in the opinion of film historian Román Gubern , helped lay the foundations for what he called "the golden age of Spanish cinema."

To this day, almost a hundred years later, unfortunately or fortunately, we continue to experience this cinematic conflict between the castizos and the cosmopolitans. This has been highlighted by the recent death of filmmaker Mariano Ozores (1928-2025 ). Despite his importance, the media, both general and specialized, have barely devoted a few well-intentioned reviews to him, but most of them have been clearly superficial and anecdotal. Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that, unlike during the Second Republic, in current Spanish cinema, the cosmopolitans dominate over the castizos .

Ozores must be considered the greatest exponent of Spanish commercial cinema of the second half of the 20th century and the heir of the Spanishness

Without a doubt, Mariano Ozores must be considered the greatest exponent of Spanish commercial cinema of the second half of the 20th century and, therefore, the heir to the Spanishness of Benito Perojo. This latter point should come as no surprise, since Mariano Ozores began his career in cinema with the Madrid-born director, specifically as a screenwriter for several of his films.

Ozores was never critically acclaimed and barely managed to walk the red carpets at festivals and ceremonies, but his films, on the other hand, filled theaters. Well, not all of them. There's one that didn't. We're talking about The Unknown Hour (1955), a dark, apocalyptic film that borders on the best and worst of the human condition and was an attempt at auteur cinema. The film boasts certain values ​​and is not lacking in quality, but it was a resounding failure . So much so that it led to the bankruptcy of the family production company, called, of course, La Hispánica. As a result, Ozores never strayed from the path of commercial cinema again.

After his move to producing and directing his own films and after leaving his work with Perojo, Ozores begins to trace his own line, making the leap from Perojism to Ozorism .

While both styles have many fundamentals in common, they also conceal significant differences . Among them:

1. Ozorism It eliminates any hint of folklore and music , which are very important keys to Perojo's cinematography.

2. While Perojism is able to reach out towards different cinematographic genres (musical, comedy, melodrama, etc.) Ozorism bets exclusively on comedy .

3. Ozores eliminates all types of melancholic or nostalgic residue existing in Perojo's films such as Suspiros de España (1938), and optimism becomes the standard in practically all of his films.

It's clear that Ozorism, over the years, goes through different stages, such as Landism in the 1960s, Eroticism in the 1970s, and Historical Parody in the 1980s, but in all of them, there are a number of elements that recur in most of his films, regardless of the period in which they were made. Among these, we find:

1. Opportunism . Given the speed with which he wrote scripts and directed films, Ozores always stayed on top of any social and political trends to give us his perspective on the matter. For example, Los bingueros (1979), a film born after the approval of the legalization of gambling in Spain, which until then had been prohibited.

2. Parody . Understood as a burlesque imitation of another work or theme, Ozores' cinema is full of examples such as Yo hizo de Roque III (1980) where a caricature of the films of the Rocky saga (1976) is carried out or The crazy story of the three musketeers (1983) which as its own title indicates is a comic imitation of the work of Alexandre Dumas.

3. Wit . Especially when crafting dialogue, where he's able to blend different styles, from the absurdity of the Marx Brothers to the semantic entanglements of classic vaudeville.

Ozorism continues to be a constant today, both on television and on social media, where a multitude of short pieces of his films circulate.

Mariano Ozores passed away on May 21st. Despite his illustrious career, he never won a single award , except for the Honorary Goya Award presented to him in 2016, which he shared with his late brothers, José Luis (1922-1968) and Antonio (1928-2010). As if that weren't enough, critics were merciless, with zero being the most common score for his films. Despite all this, Ozores's influence continues to be felt today, both on television and on social media, where a multitude of short pieces featuring the best moments from his films circulate from like to like.

Perhaps in a few years, Ozorism , like Perojism, will only be a thing of the past because another author, building on it, creates his own style. Perhaps, very soon, we'll be talking about Segurism . Not in vain, Santiago Segura is not only the last of the Mohicans of commercial cinema but also the most authentic of current directors. Time will tell.

*Gonzalo Toledano Rodríguez de la Pica is a professor of the Master's Degree in Advanced Film Studies at UNIR.