Ocaña, retrat intermitent

José Pérez Ocaña, a painter from Andalusia, was one of Barcelona’s most flamboyant heroes during the “Transition” years, when Franco’s “Law of Social Danger” was still in effect against homosexuals, who were seen as outcasts, like delinquents and prostitutes. Through his unashamed and joyous confession, full of ruffling invention, Ocaña, the rebellious anarchist, challenges prejudice, religion, machismo and prudishness. The “outcasts”, carefully hidden away by the Franquist regime, finally came out into daylight. Certain critics referred to his film as “the first authentic portrayal of post-Franquist Spain”. “I wanted to create an intermittent portrait, that would be interrupted by what I’d call memory’s provocation. At home, Ocaña talks about his life and, at the same time, through interludes, we see the world that surges up from his subconscious. The drama of his crossdressing- which draws its inspiration from Iberian grotesqueries and is also close to modern theories of street theatre-, enables us to piece together his views on the cult of death and the fetishism of religious images. I have added to these intermittent scenes, others which belong to his ‘vital élan’… his creative universe.” (Ventura Pons)