Film Treatment Of La Dama Boba (Iborra, 2006)

Lope Felix de Vega Carpio’s play La dama boba, one of hundreds written by him, was written in 1613 at 51 years of age. The original script was given to Jerónima de Burgos who was to play Nise. When her romance with Lope died she refused to return the script so it was necessary for a memorión to write out the play as closely as possible from memory. Since then it has been performed andtranslated many times – each time introducing changes that possibly distance it even further from the original unknown version.

Encouraged by the successes achieved in bringing Renaissance drama to the large screen in the Twentieth Century (‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Zefirelli, 1967), ‘Much Ado about Nothing’, (Branagh, 1993) and ‘El perro del hortelano’, (Miró, 1995)) Manuel Iborra presented his cinematicversion of La dama boba in 2006.

Iborra’s La dama boba is a hybrid film; partly a swashbuckling capa y espada tale and partly a comic romance. A rich young woman, Finea (Silvia Abascal), who has little intelligence or grace is transformed into a resourceful and elegant lady by the power of her love for Laurencio (Jose Coronado). He is an impoverished student who wishes to marry Finea for hermoney although he loves her beautiful, intellectual sister Nise (Macarena Gómez).

The art of cinematography both imposes and permits changes in representation of drama. Some are technical like intercutting, as in the scene of Finea and the dancing instructor with that of Laurencio and Liseo (Roberto Sanmartín) fighting; others are artistic and can be used to shape understanding such as the useof on-screen captions at the start of each act. These not only advance the plot but replace entire scenes, notably at the start of Act II.

The mis-en-scêne throughout the film is composed to represent an authentic image of the period through dialogue, location, sets, costume, props and make-up (Phillips, 200:35). Settings are the interiors and exteriors of an ancient Spanish city, with itsgreat cathedral, plaza, low taverns, fiestas and fireworks. Costumes and props have been faithfully reproduced. But where Iborra triumphs is in his representation of the social conditions of the post-Renaissance epoch.

Iborra presents us with a society riven by inequality. The action takes place within the grand house of Octavia (Verónica Forqué), Finea and Nise’s mother, all beautifullyrobed in colourful finery. There are numerous servants; they are seen scrubbing floors, serving meals and dressing their dueñas. There are dancing masters and musicians as well as tutors to educate these privileged women (only available to the wealthiest families). There is a beautiful patio with fountains and an exotic black swan. On the other hand we see servants, lackeys and prostitutesstruggling to survive. In the film there is extreme hunger; stomachs rumble and some are forced to eat insects rather than starve. Between these extremes we see the hidalgos; too proud to work so desperate to wed and achieve a dowry. Laurencio is the epitome of this caste; he writes poetry but his clothes are poor and his hands are dirty, while even he is prepared to eat a worm-infested apple.The introduction of la tropilla which pursues Laurencio and his gang for an undisclosed reason gives him an air of the “bad boy”. He is arrogant; he sweeps aside both nobles and priests as he sweeps through the market-place. He treats woman badly; he wants to marry Finea without relinquishing his affair with Nise. It is implied in the film that he habitually visits prostitutes. They are outside aputería when Pedro says:

Qué necio andaba en buscarte
fuera de aqueste lugar! (649-650)

He is also a man of violence hitting Liseo, wrestling with Nise and fencing with whenever possible.

Iborra exposes a culture of violence not present in the play. While castigation of Finea by Rufino, her tutor, is endorsed by Nise as normal:

Cuando el discípulo ignora,
tiene el maestro...