Though symbolism is not always blatant, one can find a wealth of meaning hidden below .
The Spanish films Un Cein Andalou, The Devil's .
Backbone, Amantes and Intacto are good examples of such hidden meaning.
In UnCein Andalou we find the symbolism not so very deep below the surface, .
but still open for interpretation. In the famous opening scene a razor is used to slash an .
open eye, challenging us to look at things we will see in a different way. We are then .
show a bizarre dream-like sequence that begins with the main character riding a bicycle .
in a nun's uniform. One might view the bicycle as a Freudian symbol for sex and the nun .
riding the bicycle might represent corruption of ideals. Particularly symbolic are the .
repeated scenes where the man's box keeps getting broken, ants appear crawling on his .
hand and his clothes keep getting thrown away. These are possibly symbols of change .
and loss and they are repeated because of a difficulty accepting what has happened.
The Devil's Backbone and Amantes each present us with very symbolic characters. In .
both we find a classic comparison to Adam and Eve in The Garden of Eden. In the former .
we have a young boy, forced to live in a place he has never been before away from .
everything he has ever known and in the later there is Trini, the very picture of the Holly .
Virgin. In the end, like Eve, they are both corrupted by the knowledge they gain .
throughout the story. There is also a corruptor. In The Devil's Backbone there is the .
murder of a child whose greed would drive him to do anything to get the gold he wants. .
In Amantes there is Luisa, the lover of Trini's fiancé. She is a woman who will go to great .
lengths for what she wants, including killing her husband and convincing another to .
commit murder. Like a snake crawling along the ground these characters offer up their .
apple, perhaps more forcefully than even Satan. And then there are the Adams- forced .