Don Quijote de la Mancha, de Rafael Gil: una adaptación literaria del cine español en las conmemoraciones cervantinas de 1947

Abstract

This essay analyses Don Quijote de la Mancha, the cinematographic adaptation based upon the novel of Miguel de Cervantes, directed by Rafael Gil and produced by Cifesa, the most important film studio in Spain between the 30’s and the 50’s.
The first part is about the film in its context, regarding it as one example of the commemorations of Cervantes in 1947.
The second part “practical reflections about the cinematographic adaptation” is about the differences between the text of Cervantes and the film of Rafael Gil.
– Differences caused by cinematographic reasons. They concern to the presentation of the characters and to the almost total disappearance of metaliterary elements, including the inserted stories
– Differences caused by ideological reasons. The differences that try to adapt the Cervantes text to the ideological requirements of the “Franquismo”. We can find: the idealization and glorification of Don Quixote, the disappearance of scatological elements, the disappearance or modification of subversive elements (for example the ones related to the Muslim universe), and the simple and plain ideological manipulation.