Allegory of the “real” Spanish middle class in 'Muchos hijos, un mono y un castillo'

Abstract

Muchos hijos un mono y un castillo (Salmerón, 2017) is a documentary that narrates the history of its protagonist, Julita, alongside the history of Spain from the Civil War until its most recent economic crisis. Julita appears in the film as the director’s mother, and as an unusual allegory of Spain’s history thanks to her personification of the “real” Spanish middle class. This article analyzes how Muchos hijos faithfully visualizes not only the excesses but also the ambiguities that characterize the middle class, a key subject in recent Spanish history both on a material and on an ideological level. Paying attention to its multi-generic format, the article will study the ways in which the comic, tragic, and performative elements of the documentary locate the film between carnivalesque and humorous criticism, while they unveil the contradictions oftentimes dismissed but crucial to understand this critical class within the Spanish democratic imaginary.