Spanish cinema has improved in recent years

This is one of the conclusions of the report that Metroscopia has developed on the image of Spanish cinema. In this sample, 61% of those surveyed rate Spanish cinema as good or very good.

EGEDA has presented a report that aims to measure the attitudes, opinions and evaluations of Spaniards in relation to the current situation of the film industry in our country. Made by Metroscopia and directed by José Juan Toharia and Pilar Bartolomé, it leads to the conclusion that cinema, in general, has not lost its appeal, nor is it evaluated negatively by our society as a whole, although the public demands greater harmony between our cinema and their tastes.

73% of respondents regularly watch movies on television (at least once or twice a week), 41% watch them, with the same regularity, on DVD (or video or Blu-Ray) and 35% (a percentage that rises to 62% among those under 25 years of age, and 46% among those with a higher educational level) say they go to movie theaters at least once a month. And only 2% of the Spanish population declares, outright, that they do not like cinema.

We especially highlight, due to the purpose of the study, the frequency with which Spanish cinema is watched: 32% watch Spanish cinema very or quite frequently, 57% usually watch Spanish cinema little and only 10% never watch it. If interest in cinema remains at high levels, the truth is that attendance at cinemas seems, on the other hand, to tend to decline: 51% of Spaniards acknowledge that they now go to the cinema less frequently than five years ago. This percentage rises to 63% among young adults (25 to 34 years old) and up to 56% among those with a higher educational level. The main cause of this pattern is the increasingly attractive and varied competition from the “home theater” option.

Spaniards massively recognize that the most appropriate and ideal place to watch movies is, specifically, the movie theater: for example, 83% affirm that “there are movies that can only be seen well in a movie theater,” and only 28% believe, however, that “with the equipment that exists today, movies can be seen better at home than in the movie theaters themselves.” But at the same time, 81% acknowledge that “it is more comfortable to watch movies at home” and 74% indicate that going to the cinema ends up being very expensive (in addition to the ticket, transportation, drinks, popcorn...). That is, pragmatic and convenience considerations end up predominating over those related to the quality of viewing.

Negative image?

On the other hand, the survey data do not clearly confirm at all the widespread stereotype that in our society the image of Spanish cinema is predominantly negative. The reality is that 61% of Spaniards think that our cinema, globally and as a whole, is good or very good, and only 20% rate it as bad or very bad. And the reasons why Spanish cinema is liked by a vast majority turn out to be the same reasons why a minority does not like it: the actors, the directors and the plots and scripts, evaluated, obviously, in both cases in diametrically opposite ways. What for the majority opinion constitutes precisely the strong point of our cinema is, however, for the minority opinion, its weak point.

The complex and nuanced framework, as far from absolute rejection as it is from the absence of criticism, opinions and attitudes of Spaniards regarding our cinema, is summarized in the fact that 89% of those surveyed consider that the Spanish film industry should be more competitive. 80% believe that advertising and promotion of Spanish films should be improved; take more into account the tastes of the viewers; and have more presence on television. 72% consider that the Administration should combat piracy, while 65% are convinced that Spanish cinema is good even if it has a bad image.

As can be seen, the highest degree of agreement (which practically borders on unanimity) is registered in the demand for improvements in the industrial-commercial aspect (and not in the artistic one) of our cinema: improving competitiveness, advertising and promotion, greater presence in movie theaters; greater institutional support - and even protection.

The demand (expressed by 80%) for greater harmony of our cinema with the tastes of the public is also massive. This, however, is not equivalent to a global disqualification of the same. In fact, although 52% consider that there is an excess of marginal characters in Spanish cinema, only 44% believe that there is too much sex in it, and only 34% believe that it is "tacky." And regarding its supposed ideological bias, only 27% of citizens consider Spanish cinema to be “left-wing.”

In short, the Spanish public likes Spanish cinema if it is good, and does not like it if it is bad: but it does not prejudge it, unfailingly and a priori, by the mere fact of being Spanish, as one thing or another.

The opinion on Intellectual Property deserves a separate chapter: almost 80% consider that films deserve the same protection as patents and trademarks and that intellectual property rights must continue to be guaranteed and protected by laws and administrations. 72% affirm that culture, and cinema within it, should be a matter of State in Spain as in other countries and that the administration must combat piracy.