It is never late if happiness is good. Juan Mariné has had to wait 103 years to receive the Goya of Honor, but, finally, tonight, he has won the bobblehead, which he will surely place in his display case along with the other 140 titles he has to his credit. It is no wonder, since from the years prior to the Civil War until the 1990s, he participated in great classics of Spanish cinema, without separating himself from the world of cinema since, apart from his work as a director of photography, he stands out for his Restoration work on old films for the Community of Madrid Film School (ECAM) and the Spanish Film Library thanks to technology designed by himself.
The Board of Directors of the Film Academy has decided to award the 2024 Goya of Honor to the Catalan cinematographer, restaurateur and researcher “for his entire dedication to cinema for more than eighty years of career that spans the history of Spanish cinema, for his efforts in the work of film conservation and restoration, and for vividly representing, through his craft, the importance of light in the history of our cinema.”
Mariné collected the award a few days ago and today his friend, the actor José Sacristán, dedicated a few words to him on stage. He “he saved authentic jewels of our cinema from destruction and oblivion and restored dignity to countless faces, names, voices and stories. Juan dedicated himself to taking care of and preserving films. “Films that, whether or not they have enjoyed public favor, are part of the cultural heritage of this country.”
Considered the memory of Spanish cinema for his long experience and his work in recovering and preserving film heritage, his first experience with the seventh art was in 1924 in Arenys de Mar, where his mother sent him “because he had a very bad cough.” ”, as he himself has acknowledged in several interviews. In this municipality in the province of Barcelona, Mariné saw Charles Chaplin's first short films thanks to the screenings that some antique dealers made with a new home cinema system. There, despite his young age, he knew that was what he wanted to dedicate his time to.
He had to make an effort and put all his effort into getting good grades, since the financial solvency at home was not very comfortable and it was necessary to obtain a scholarship to be able to study. He achieved it, but his studies were interrupted when he fell ill with typhus, with fevers that left him blind and kept him away from books for a time. He managed to recover, but not enough to go back to school to finish high school, so he went to work carrying porters. Meanwhile, his mother, who was well aware of his love for cinema since that discovery in Arenys, rewarded his tenacity by taking him to see movies.
His luck changed in 1934, when his uncle, a mechanic by profession, asked him to take a camera to shoot sound films to the Orphea studios, where Arthur Porchet's The Eighth Commandment was being filmed at that time. He read the instruction manual, in French, and, when he got there, he found that the technicians were having problems with the camera they were using up to that point, which was an older model. Mariné, to the astonishment of those present, knew how to detect the problem and solve it, so they invited him to come the next day. And so, he ended up becoming interested in photography.
At the beginning of the Civil War, Orphea studios commissioned him to come as an assistant to record Durruti's funeral. They made a short film that was shown in several daily sessions. In the spring of 1938, he was called up and was part of the so-called Quinta del biberón. He saw combat at the Battle of Segre, where he lost the hearing in his right ear after a bomb explosion. Later, in Preixens, he worked making photographic enlargements of enemy positions and as a photographer for Commander Enrique Líster. At the end of the war, he managed to flee to France, but since he wanted to return to Spain he surrendered to a detachment of Franco's army, which took him to a prison in Seville. He was freed thanks to his father's contacts. Back in Barcelona, he obtained through competitive examinations a position as a photographer to inspect and photograph the republican prison camps.
In 1947 he took on the duties of director of photography for the first time in the film Cuatro mujeres, by Antonio del Amo. The following year, he repeated the experience with The Illuminated Shadow, by Carlos Serrano de Osma. Marine. During his extensive career he made about 140 films.
