When the hippies made the movies
If the first to colonize the beaches of the island at the beginning of the sixties are the beatniks, this rather marginal current is quickly replaced by cohorts of hippies, pacifist deserters and other American citizens fleeing a country whose values they no longer share. In their suitcases, these tourists of a new kind bring a new form of relaxation, as well as new drugs like cannabis, but also heroin. And it is in this context that the Swiss director Barbet Schroeder shoots his first film More on the island. A Franco-German-Spanish work that will become a reference of the hippie movement, released in 1969.
The story is built around the meeting of two young people idle in a decade that no longer corresponds to them. Stefan, recently graduated in Berlin, decides to leave for Paris by hitchhiking. There he meets Estelle, an American expat. Together, they leave to seek the sun and answers on the island of Ibiza. A romance that degenerates when Estelle introduces Stefan to heroin, a substance they both become addicted to. Lulled by the melodies of Pink Floyd which provides a memorable soundtrack to the film, More films the island of Ibiza and the diversity of its landscapes. We can see a mill that is reminiscent of the one in Sa Punta des Molí, which you can visit in Sant Antoni. And if the town has changed since the filming, the islet Es Vedrá has remained the same, preserved by its status as a nature reserve. The house of the filmmaker's mother, in and around which he shot the rest of his film, is still standing. The proof is that Schroeder will return to his roots to shoot Amnesia in 2015, a complex work about the arrival of the first DJs on the island and the impossible reconciliation of the two Germanys after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The cliffs of Calo d'Hort, the typical street markets of the island and Cape Nonó are among the new landscapes that the filmmaker adds to his palette. A message of love from a filmmaker to his island, where he has spent a good part of his life.
Ibiza in Spanish cinema
Julio Medem ventured to the Balearic Islands for the second time with Chaotic Ana in 2007. In 2001, he set his camera down in Formentera for Luciá y el sexo, a film that brought him critical success, as well as a Goya - the equivalent of a Spanish Oscar - to the lead actress Paz Vega for her performance. In Chaotic Ana, the director dives into the psyche of his character. An intriguing thriller that will appeal to fans of the filmmaker's style. The island contributes of course to install this strange atmosphere, between hippie influences and quiet landscapes.
Other film productions more or less happy have taken up residence on the island since the early 2000s. Among them, the film Aislados by David Marqués stands out as a black comedy featuring two young people re-enacting the world over a drink in a rural house in the small village of Santa Agnes de Corona, while the short film Los Crímenes del Día de Todos los Santos looks back at the terrible serial murders committed in the fifties and sixties, whose culprit was not caught until 1974. An Iberian film mainly located in the woods of Sant Miquel de Balansat where the bodies were found, and around the town of Sant Joan de Labritja.
In 2020, it is the Netflix series White Lines that establishes its headquarters on the white island. Created by the man behind the global success of La Casa de Papel, the series tells the story of Zoe Walker (played by Laura Haddock), a woman trying to solve the death of her brother, a DJ who disappeared in Ibiza almost twenty years ago. Mainly filmed on the neighboring island of Mallorca for logistical reasons, the attentive eye will however recognize many of the Ibizan settings of the series, starting with the Ibiza Marina where Zoe is welcomed upon her arrival. Axel's favorite place, which we discover in flashbacks, is none other than the Torre d'en Rovira, the ideal place to admire the sunset in Ibiza. And of course, Dalt Vila, the old town of Ibiza, is one of the main settings of this investigation that will probably not have a second season on Netflix, due to lack of audience.
Ibiza international movie star
In the cinema as in real life, Ibiza and its atmosphere still fascinate scriptwriters and filmmakers. Proof of this is the very recent film Ibiza by Arnaud Lemort, released in 2019 with Christian Clavier, or the eponymous film released a year earlier on Netflix, directed this time by Alex Richanbach with Gillian Jacobs, one of the stars of the series Community. Two theaters, two atmospheres, but above all two comedies that take a malicious pleasure in confronting us with the image of the crazy tourist more or less heavy on the island of Ibiza. Without forgetting to take us to the most iconic landscapes of the island as the city of Dalt Vila of course, but also the promenade of Santa Eulària des Riu, a place where it is good to stroll once the night falls. Finally, among other notable occurrences of Ibiza on the screen, we can mention the film Truths and Lies by Orson Welles, shot in part in the town of the forger Elmyr de Hory, on Ibiza. Or, the few adventures of the Pink Panther that have made a stop on the island, and whose most memorable is undoubtedly In Search of the Pink Panther, directed by Blake Edwards in 1982. And of course, the filmography of Ibiza would not be complete without Ibiza Undead, a - rather bad - film recounting the misfortunes of a group of young people who went to spend the vacation of their lives on Ibiza, without suspecting that a zombie apocalypse was hanging over them.
Where to see movies in Ibiza?
Between the nightclubs, beaches and hotels, movie lovers will find happiness in the Multicines in Eivissa, in the Cineregio in Sant Antoni or, to top it all off, at the foot of the palm trees in front of the Cinema Paradiso outdoor screens. Enjoy the fresh and invigorating air of Ibiza all summer long, while pursuing your passion for cinema with a cocktail in hand.
