The Madrid of the Third Way: Vida conyugal sana, Tocata y fuga de Lolita and Los nuevos españoles

Abstract

The text analyzes three films belonging to the Third Way of Spanish cinema: Vida conjugal sana (Roberto Bodegas, 1974), Tocata y fuga de Lolita (Antonio Drove, 1974) and Los nuevos españoles (Roberto Bodegas, 1974). Promoted by producer José Luis Dibildos, the Third Way was consolidated in Transition Spain as a cinematographic trend that opted for comedies halfway between commercial cinema and auteur cinema, which included a slight critical perspective. Ágata Films was the production company that used this label for their work, while Roberto Bodegas and Antonio Drove were some of its most prominent directors. The analysis of the three films is carried out based on the reflection of Madrid in the seventies in them, working on aspects such as the urban configuration itself and the filming settings, the footprint of advertising or the new consumer society in the capital, the inclusion of urban and university youth or the influence of the United States both in this and in the Spanish society of the moment. We also include a brief tour of the look projected by the main screenwriter of the trend, José Luis Garci, to the Madrid of the Transition.