The story trembles. Contemporary fractured narratives in the films by Alejandro Amenábar and Pedro Almodóvar

Abstract

This article analyzes various contemporary Spanish films as part of one of the most experimental trends within the paradigm of narrative complexity of contemporary visual culture: the so-called puzzle or mind-game films. To solve the question of what lies beneath these narrative disruptions in the Spanish case, we developed four sequence microanalysis based on a semiotic approach to one of the prevailing conflicts in the films Abre los ojos (1996), Los otros (2001), La mala educación (2004) y La piel que habito (2010). We conclude that the main discomforts which emerge are the fear of not distinguishing reality from fiction, the distrust against the technologies that determine human subjectivity and the oblivion of one's own guilt.