Semiotic analysis of flamenco dance scenes of Carlos Saura's Carmen movie

Cinema is a branch of art that contains important messages in the field of communication. Cinema, which has different subjects and types, is shaped depending on the social, political, cultural and economic transformations of the societies in which it is produced and presents its messages to the audience in the context of these dynamics. It is known that in the formation process of a film, the field of art is also applied and many of the performing arts are used in the films. Dance can also be expressed as a bodily expression with different symbolic meanings that are frequently featured in cinema and that it carries in every culture. Considering the dance figures as indicators, it makes it possible to analyze a film. Flamenco is dance form that contains many emotions. The Flamenco dancer reflects the suffering of ethnic origins. Carlos Saura, one of the leading directors of Spanish cinema, also used Flamenco dance in his films. He describes the political situation of his time in an allegorical way with his films that include dance rather than words. His political attitude reflected in his films brought a new breath to the Spanish cinema. The director, who even ends his love stories with a sad ending, has not neglected to give social messages. Carlos Saura's film Carmen which was produced in 1983 contains scenes composed of different Flamenco dance forms. In this thesis, the semiotic analysis of the dance scenes of the movie Carmen will be made with the approach of Roland Barthes. Barthes wanted to reveal the mechanical functions of language and did this through mass culture. In the analysis of the film, this approach of Barthes and his methods of interpretation will be used. Keywords: Flamenco, Spanish Cinema, Carlos Saura, Semiotics, Carmen