Bigas Luna (1946-2013) was a Spanish film director and artist. Before entering the film industry, he attracted attention in his native Barcelona with his paintings, photo compositions, and avant-garde furniture designs. His first feature film, “Tatuaje” (“The Tattoo”, 1976), already ran into problems with censorship. The same thing happened with the naturalistic thriller “Bilbao” (1978), which was the first film after General Franco’s death to openly address the previously taboo subject of sex. This was followed by an erotic blockbuster about the development of 15-year-old Lulú into an experienced maneater (“The Ages of Lulu”, 1990). The Catalan filmmaker’s best work is considered to be his so-called Iberia trilogy: “Jamón, Jamón” (1992), “Golden Balls” (1993), and “The Tit and the Moon” (1994). The first of these played an important role in the development of Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Jordi Mollá, who were just starting out as actors at the time. Luna’s dark humour has oscillated between the grotesque and the beautiful, sharp satire and obvious pretentiousness, the intellectual and the carnal, compensating for his now legendary lack of political correctness with his exuberant style and constant self-parody. His screen works often balance on the border between eroticism and pornography, but the director has also made family films, horror films, and fairy tales.
Filmography:
(Valik/Selected): Bilbao (1978), Lola (1986), Angustia (Ahastus, 1987), Las edades de Lulú (Lulu murdeaastad, 1990), Jamón Jamón (Sinki, sinki, 1992), Huevos de oro (Kuldsed munad, 1993), La teta y la luna (Tissid ja kuu, 1994), La femme de chambre du Titanic (Titanicu toateenija, 1997), Volavérunt (1999, PÖFF 2000), Son de mar (2001), Bigas x Bigas (2016, co-dir)