| Recent Spanish Cinema 2003 Presented in collaboration with: the Ministerio de
Educacion, Deporte y Cultura, SGAE, Fundación Autor, ICEX - Instituto Español de
Comercio Exterior, EGEDA.
The Cinematheque’s tenth annual survey of the wildest and most
uncompromising films from Spain features a spectacular line-up of new movies from longtime
favorites Fernando León de Aranoa (MONDAYS IN THE SUN, Spain’s official
submission for the 2002 Academy Awards), Alex de la Iglesia (the Spaghetti
Western-inspired comedy 800 BULLETS), Fernando Trueba (the visually captivating EL
EMBRUJO DE SHANGHAI), Imanol Uribe (the bittersweet saga EL VIAJE DE CAROL), Manuel
Gutiérrez Aragón (EL CABALLERO DON QUIXOTE) and Carlos Saura (the gorgeous
dance-film SALOME). Following the international success of recent thrillers like OPEN YOUR
EYES, THE OTHERS and INTACTO, Spanish filmmakers have turned out a record number of
high-octane suspense films this year, including X from director Luis Marias, LA
CAJA 507 from Enrique Urbizu, EL ALQUIMISTA IMPACIENTE from Patricia Ferreira
and ARO TOLBUKHIM, EN LA MENTE DEL ASESINO from acclaimed filmmaker Agusti Villaronga (IN
A GLASS CAGE). The series also includes Emilio Martínez-Lázaro’s delicious
comedy EL OTRO LADO DE LA CAMA featuring Paz Vega (SEX & LUCIA), the highest-grossing
Spanish film of 2002, as well as the surreal Heaven & Hell romp SIN NOTICIAS DE DIOS
from director Agustin Diaz Yanes, starring Victoria Abril and Penelope Cruz.
To celebrate the first decade of the Recent Spanish Cinema Series in
Los Angeles, this year’s series will also feature an eclectic "Greatest
Hits" showcase of some of the most memorable and surprising films we’ve
premiered in Los Angeles, including Victor Erice’s mesmerizing documentary EL SOL DEL
MEMBRILLO, Bigas Luna’s satirical portrait of sex, consumerism and ambition in the
new Spain, HUEVOS DE ORO, starring Javier Bardem, the late Pilar Miro’s gorgeous
historical drama EL PERRO DEL HORTELANO, and breakout director Alejandro (THE OTHERS)
Amenabar’s first feature, the wicked film school thriller TESIS - !
We are very excited to welcome directors
Fernando León de Aranoa, Fernando Trueba, Imanol Uribe and Alex de la Iglesia to the
Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre at the Egyptian for our 10th Recent Spanish Cinema
Series!!
All films are in Spanish with English subtitles unless noted.
Friday, February 21 – 7:00 PM SOLD
OUT
Winner of Goya Awards for: Best Film; Best
New Actor (Jose Angel Egido); Best Lead Actor (Javier Bardem); Best Supporting Actor (Luis
Tosar)!
LOS LUNES AL SOL (MONDAYS IN THE
SUN), 2002, Lions Gate, 113 min. The latest from acclaimed filmmaker Fernando León
de Aranoa (FAMILIA, BARRIO), LOS LUNES AL SOL is a heartbreaking drama in the best
tradition of Mike Leigh or Ken Loach, about a trio of unemployed shipyard workers who
haunt the bars and streets surrounding their old factory, looking to piece together some
shred of hope or dignity from their endless "days in the sun." Spain’s
finest actor, Javier Bardem (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, THE DANCER UPSTAIRS) leads a
tremendous cast that includes Luis Tosar, Jose Angel Egido and Nieve de Medina. With a
memorable, melancholy score by Lucio Godoy. Spain’s Official Submission for Best
Foreign Film at the upcoming Academy Awards, MONDAYS IN THE SUN will be released
theatrically in the U.S. by Lions Gate Films. Discussion
following with director/writer Fernando León de Aranoa. (Actor Javier Bardem will NOT be
able to attend due to a schedule conflict.)
Friday, February 21 – 9:45 PM
EL OTRO LADO DE LA CAMA (THE
WRONG SIDE OF THE BED), 2002, 114 min. This sexy musical comedy by director Emilio
Martínez-Lázaro (whose LAS PALABRAS DE MAX won the
Berlin Golden Bear in 1977) proved a massive hit in Spain. Paula (Natalia Verbeke) leaves
good-hearted Pedro (Guillermo Toledo) for her secret lover, Javier (Ernesto Alterio),
Pedro’s best buddy, who simply can’t find the guts to break up with his girlfriend,
Sonia (Paz Vega from SEX & LUCIA.) Nobody is innocent, everyone has something
to hide in this classic farce of sex, lies and thrills – complete with full-on
choreographed pop numbers!
Saturday, February 22 – 4:00 PM
This Screening Has Been Cancelled.
SIN NOTICIAS DE DIOS (NO NEWS
FROM GOD), 2002, 115 min. Dir. Agustin Diaz Yanes. If you’re opposed to watching Penelope
Cruz strut her stuff through a bedroom rendition of "Kung Fu Fighting," or
seeing Victoria Abril vamp her way through a torch-song version of "I’m
Evil", then steer clear – for everyone else, SIN NOTICIAS DE DIOS is a
jawdropping black comedy of sin, salvation and more than a little hanky-panky, from
director Agustin Diaz Yanes (NOBODY WILL SPEAK OF US WHEN WE’RE DEAD.) When a
hardluck boxer decides to take his own life, heavenly Fanny Ardant sends special agent
Abril down to earth to convince the fighter to mend his spiritual ways. Fortunately, Hell
also sends in its own woman, in the form of lesbian biker-chick Cruz. Co-starring Gael
Garcia Bernal, Demian Bechir, Luis Tosar and Juan Echanove. Featuring gorgeous color and
b&w cinematography by Paco Femenia and music by longtime Almodovar collaborator
Bernardo Bonezzi. This Screening Has Been
Cancelled.
Saturday, February 22 – 6:30 PM
800 BULLETS, 2002, 124 min. A
hellfire, tobacco-chewing, guns-a-blazing comedy of epic proportions from director Alex
de la Iglesia (EL DIA DE LA BESTIA, LA COMUNIDAD), 800 BULLETS stars the great Sancho
Garcia as a grizzled, scene-stealing old drunkard of a stuntman who used to double for
Clint Eastwood in the glory days of Sergio Leone & company ("I made fifty films,
and had speaking parts in seven of them!") Garcia and his crew of thieves and
reprobates live out their Wild West fantasies in boozey splendor – until his
long-lost grandson Carlos (Luis Castro) turns up, with mother Carmen Maura in hot
pursuit. Discussion following with director/writer Alex de la
Iglesia; executive producer Juanma Pagzaurtundua and cinematographer Flavio Labiano
(schedule permitting).
Saturday, February 22 – 9:30 PM
Antonio Resines Double Feature:
X, 2002, 95 min. Dir. Luis Marias. A remarkable
directing debut by screenwriter Luis Marias, with a great performance by the
prolific Antonio Resines as a homicide detective who awakens in an elderly, unknown
couple’s house without any memory of the previous drunken evening. When he finds
bloody scissors and an empty bag in his car, then is asked to investigate a murder that
occurred on the night in question, it suddenly becomes clear that Resines himself might be
the culprit. A tense thriller with surprising twists and turns, "X" keeps you
guessing until the very end.
LA CAJA 507 (BOX 507), 2002, 112
min. Dir. Enrique Urbizu. Immediately following a chaotic bank heist led by diamond
trafficker, Reguiera (Juan Fernandez), bank director Modesto (Antonio Resines),
finds scattered safety deposit box documents indicating the forest fire death of his
daughter seven years earlier may not have been accidental. While Modesto is searching for
the truth, violent ex-cop Rafael (Jose Coronado) leaves a bloody trail in his quest
for the incriminating papers. Before long, Modesto’s crusade reveals the dark side of
Spain's Costa del Sol and an even bigger web of corruption than he’d originally
believed possible. A realistic, deliciously paranoid socio-political thriller with a
powerhouse performance by Antonio Resines. Introduction by actress Goya Toledo (AMORES PERROS).
Sunday, February 23 – 4:00 PM
EL VIAJE DE CAROL (CAROL’S
JOURNEY), 2002, 103 min. The latest from director Imanol Uribe (PLENILUNIO,
DIAS CONTADOS), EL VIAJE DE CAROL is an achingly bittersweet, nostalgic saga of growing up
in turbulent times. Tomboyish waif Carol (Clara Lago) arrives in a provincial,
Fascist-controlled village during the Spanish Civil War. Upon the death of her terminally
ill mother, Aurora (Maria Barranco), she fights to live with beloved grandfather,
Amalio (Alvaro de Luna) and braves prejudice when it’s discovered her absent American
father is fighting with the rebels. With Juan Jose Ballesta. Discussion following with director Imanol Uribe.
Sunday, February 23 – 7:00 PM
Goya Award Winner for Best Art Direction!
EL EMBRUJO DE SHANGHAI (THE
SHANGHAI SPELL), 2002, 119 min. The latest from director Fernando Trueba (BELLE
EPOQUE, CALLE 54), EL EMBRUJO DE SHANGHAI is a visually captivating historical drama based
on the acclaimed novel by Juan Marse. Dani (Fernando Tielve) is a 14-year old, would-be
painter in post-war Barcelona with a terrible crush on bedridden Susana (Aida Folch),
whose enigmatic, long-absent father Kim (Antonio Resines) was a legendary resistance
fighter during the war. When a wartime colleague of her father’s turns up in town, he
begins romancing the girl’s mother, and telling the two teenagers incredible tales of
the father’s exploits as a Bogart-esque secret agent in Shanghai – stories which
may be truth, or pure fantasy … Co-starring Eduard Fernandez, Ariadna Gil, Fernando
Fernan-Gomez, Rosa Maria Sarda and Jorge Sanz. Discussion
following with director/writer Fernando Trueba (schedule permitting).
Tuesday, February 25 – 7:30 PM
BALSEROS (CUBAN RAFTERS), 2002, 120 min.
One of the strongest Spanish documentaries in years, BALSEROS is a riveting portrait of
interlocked destinies as directors Carles Bosch and Josep M. Domenech follow
a cross section of Cuban refugees planning to reach Florida and a better life by raft.
Starting in 1994, when Castro briefly announced a moratorium on stopping boats to the
U.S., then following up in divergent American locations five years later, BALSEROS follows
the immigrants’ material dreams, ambitions and spiritual growth (or decline.) A
dramatic record of people struggling to retain their humanity and achieve freedom and
prosperity at any cost, featured in this year’s 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
Wednesday, February 26 – 7:00 PM
SPANISH SHORT PROGRAM
Best Of Goya Short Film Winners! (93 min) Come and enjoy the best of
last 10 years of the Goya winners in the Live Action, Animation and documentary
categories!
"Pollo", Animated Short Goya Winner 2001, 8 min.,
director Manuel Sirgo; "Pantalones", Live Action short Goya Winner 2000,
4 min., director Ana Martinez; "Los Girasoles", Animated Short Goya
Winner 1999, 15 min., directors Jose y Manuel Lagares; "Lalia",
Documentary Goya Winner 1999, 14 min., director Silvia Munt; "Un Dia Perfecto",
Live Action short Goya Winner 1998, 16 min., director Jacobo Rispa; "Cazadores",
Live Action short Goya Winner 1997, 12 min., director Achero Manas; "Aquel
Ritmillo", Live Action short Goya Winner 1994, 15 min, director Javier Fesser;
"El Columpio", Live Action short Goya Winner 1992, 9 min., director
Alvaro Fernandez.
Wednesday, February 26 – 9:15 PM
PONIENTE, 2002, 96 min. Director Chus
Gutierrez delivers an outstanding, uncompromising drama on racism in contemporary
Europe with PONIENTE, which was co-written with noted actress and director Iciar Bollain
(FLORES DE OTRO MUNDO.) Madrid schoolteacher Lucia (Cuca Escribano) returns to her
late father’s village in southern Spain where she takes over running the
family’s huge winter greenhouses. Racial tensions rise as Lucia and her lover Curro
(Jose Coronado) outrage the locals by showing sympathy for the illegal North African
immigrant workers at their greenhouse, leading to a tragic standoff between the groups.
Friday, February 28 – 7:00 PM
SALOME, 2002, 85 min. Director Carlos
Saura continues his love affair with dance evidenced in such earlier films as FLAMENCO
and CARMEN in this portrait of the staging of flamenco ballet "Salome." As
choreographed by Jose Antonio and star Aida Gomez, SALOME emerges as another
sensual feast of stirringly hot blooded rhythms and sumptuously saturated cinematography
(courtesy of Jose Luis Lopez-Linares and Teo Delgado). With Paco Mora, Javier Toca, Pere
Arquillue.
Friday, February 28 – 9:15 PM
Double Feature:
EL ALQUIMISTA IMPACIENTE
(THE IMPATIENT ALCHEMIST), 2002, 111 min. Director Patricia Ferreira helms this
immensely entertaining murder mystery as police psychologist Vila (Roberto Enriquez)
and assistant Chamorro (Ingrid Rubio) simultaneously fight and savor their growing
attraction for each other while trying to unravel the deaths of a nuclear plant engineer
and his high-priced one night stand. Their efforts embroil them not only in a feud between
rival contractors (Miguel Angel Sola and Jordi Dauder), but also the agendas of the
plant director (Chete Lara), the victim’s wife (Adriana Ozores) and a hot
tempered Russian pimp (Nacho Vidal).
EN LA CIUDAD SIN LIMITES
(THE CITY OF NO LIMITS), 2002, 118 min. LISBOA director Antonio Hernandez
delivers a challenging family drama featuring a superb cast. Dying ex-Communist
Party member, Max (Fernando Fernan-Gomez) has his loved ones gathered around him in
a Parisian hospital. Floating in and out of consciousness, Max rambles on about saving a
mystery figure named "Rancel." Is Max losing his mind? When he tries to escape
the hospital, his expatriate son, Victor (INTACTO’s Leonardo Sbaraglia) decides to
take his father’s obsession seriously. Soon a story of betrayal and forbidden love
unfolds in the shadow of autocratic mother figure, Marie (Geraldine Chaplin).
Saturday, March 1 – 5:00 PM
EL CABALLERO DON QUIXOTE (DON
QUIXOTE, KNIGHT ERRANT), 2002, 122 min. This loving, visually sumptuous sequel to
Cervantes’ original novel finds the deluded Don Quixote (Juan Luis Galliardo)
and his long-suffering squire Sancho (the marvelous Carlos Iglesias) riding out to
do battle with jealous knights, Merlin the Magician, drag queen Dulcineas and legions of
fans of their first adventures (!!), who are only too happy to play along with the
pair’s fanatical quest for honor, truth and justice. Directed with daft charm and a
dash of post-modern humor by Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (HALF OF HEAVEN, THE KING OF
THE RIVER), who helmed a magnificent television version of the original novel in 1991.
Co-starring Emma Suarez, Juan Diego Botto.
Saturday, March 1 – 7:30 PM
TRECE CAMPANADAS (WHEN THE BELL
CHIMES THIRTEEN), 2002, 100 min. Young sculptor Jacobo (Juan Diego Botto)
returns to his native city of Santiago only to be tormented by the sadistic spirit of his
insane father, Mateo (Luis Tosar), in this dark, fierce ghost story from director Xavier
Villaverde. A childhood witness to Mateo’s violent death -- apparently at the
hands of his mother, Carmen (Elvira Minguez) -- Jacobo must exorcise the horror of that
night and dredge up a traumatic secret he would much rather leave buried. With Marta
Etura, Laura Mana.
Saturday, March 1 – 9:45 PM
ARO TOLBUKHIN, EN
LA MENTE DEL ASESINO (ARO TOLBUKHIN, IN THE MIND OF A KILLER), 2002, 94 min.
Co-directed and written by Agusti Villaronga (IN A GLASS CAGE), Lydia Zimmerman and
Isaac-Pierre Racine, and filmed in five countries over a two year period, this faux
documentary emerges as a heartbreaking chronicle of one lost soul’s journey to the
heart of darkness. Saved from the Guatemalan jungle and smitten with missionary nun Carmen
(Carmen Beato), Aro Tolbukihn (Daniel Gimenez) reaches the end of his tether
when she leaves for Spain, and he burns seven clinic patients alive. A French journalist
interviews him on his execution day and discovers the strange, Buñuelian past of a man
still carrying the incestuous torch for his long dead twin sister. Scary, beautiful and
hauntingly poignant.
Sunday, March 2 – 4:00 PM
LA VIRGEN DE LA LUJURIA (THE
VIRGIN OF LUST), 2002, 140 min. The latest film from Mexican master director Arturo
Ripstein (THE BEGINNING AND THE END) and screenwriter Paz Alicia Garciadiego, LA
VIRGEN DE LA LUJURIA reveals a tale of lavish eroticism and ferocious S&M in high
operatic style. At the Café Ofelia in 1940’s Mexico City, where Spanish exiles
gather to discuss politics, introverted waiter Nacho (Luis Felipe Tovar) falls for
cruel, opium-addicted hooker Lola (sensual Ariadna Gil). The result is a delirious
passion that will lead him to do anything for her. With Patricia Reyes Spíndola.
"A memorable vision of sexual obsession as an everyday matter." -- Variety.
Sunday, March 2 – 7:00 PM
EL LUGAR DONDE ESTUVO EL
PARAISO (THE PLACE THAT WAS PARADISE), 2002, 103 min. Dir. Gerardo Herrero.
Set in a border town between Columbia and Brazil, this Graham Greene-style yarn follows
the painful reveries of divorced, single mother, Ana (the fiery Elena Ballesteros)
as she remembers her reformed alcoholic father (the magnificent Federico Luppi),
who was the idealistic consul of the area. She comes to realize too late that jealousy of
her father’s mistress Julia (Paulina Galvez) and her misunderstanding of his
ambiguous friendships with rightist and leftist rogues may have ruined his last bid for
happiness.
Wednesday, March 5 – 7:00 PM
SOLO MIA (MINE ALONE), 2001, 104 min.
Vivacious Paz Vega (SEX & LUCIA) is Angela, a trusting young woman who
falls in love with and marries Joaquin (Sergi Lopez), only to see her husband’s charm
gradually give way to psychopathic obsession, immaturity and macho abuse. Joaquin’s
inability to see his part in the disintegrating relationship is chilling, but director Javier
Balaguer punctuates the narrative with dark humor, elevating the psychodrama into a
savagely satirical critique on Spanish culture’s
all-too-often-biased-toward-the-male, battle of the sexes.
Wednesday, March 5 – 9:15 PM
IMPULSOS (IMPULSES), 2002, 89 min. A
twisted little thriller that will have you biting your nails wondering if suicidally
despondent jazz violinist Sara (Ana Risueno) will follow through on her ongoing
blackmail of handsome elementary school teacher and serial killer, Jaime (Daniel Friere)
to murder her, since she hasn’t the guts to do it herself! Director Miguel
Alcantud expertly balances the claustrophobic atmosphere with the surreal, warped
perceptions of two not particularly stable adversaries.
Thursday, March 6 – 7:00 PM
LA NOVIA DE LAZARO (LAZARO’S
GIRLFRIEND), 2002, 95 min. Claudia Rojas gives an astonishingly courageous
performance as Dolores, a naively sensual innocent arriving in Madrid from Cuba to join
Lazaro (Roberto Govin), her sociopathic boyfriend. Jailed for an attempted rape, Lazaro
browbeats Dolores into smuggling in drugs on her conjugal visits until she finally tires
of his abuse. Director Fernando Merinero’s streetwise camera trails Dolores on
her convulsively emotional encounters as she tries to make new friends and earn a living.
Just before things can dissolve into chaos, she discovers true love with gentle, average
joe Paco (Ramon Merlo). Due To Graphic Sexual Content, No One
Under 18 Will Be Admitted To This Screening.
Thursday, March 6 – 9:15 PM
PIEDRAS (STONES), 2002, 134 min. 28 year
old director Ramon Salazar, who gained a cult following with short film
"Hongos", confirms his talent with this warm drama of parallel stories of Madrid
women. Simple-minded Anita (Monica Cervera) stares at passing airplanes, while her
mother, Adela (Antonia San Juan) runs a brothel; the bourgeois Isabel (Angela Molina)
is shoes- obsessed; nightclub dancer, Leire (Najwa Nimri) is heartbroken, and taxi
driver Maricarmen (Vicky Pena) struggles with her stepkids. A vibrant portrait of modern
Madrid.
Friday, March 7 – 7:00 PM
Best of Recent Spanish Cinema:
EL SOL DEL MEMBRILLO (DREAM OF
LIGHT aka THE QUINCE TREE SUN), 1992, Facets Video, 138 min. Dir. Victor Erice.
Years ago, realist painter Antonio López planted a quince tree in his backyard; now, with
infinite patience, he struggles to paint the tree before the fruit ripens and falls. Out
of apparently simple stuff, Erice has woven his most mesmerizing and unforgettable film, a
masterful meditation on "the desire to replace the external world with its double."
Part of the film’s wonder and charm is that while López is engrossed in his work,
he’s constantly interrupted by a stream of visitors; his talkative friend Enrique, a
crew of Polish bricklayers, a group of Chinese guests – all of whom become an
indelible part of the fabric of the film (and the painting.) "When Antonio
finished his work and started to take everything off – the metal structure, the
plastic – I suddenly said: "But it’s just a little tree!" –
Erice.
Friday, March 7 – 9:30 PM
Best of Recent Spanish Cinema -- Double Feature:
EXTASIS (ECSTASY), 1995, 93 min. Dir.
Mariano Barroso. Javier Bardem (JAMON JAMON), Spain's most explosive actor, stars in this
rich, seductive drama with Shakespearean overtones. A young hustler seizes a golden
opportunity when he successfully impersonates the lost son of a famous theatre director
(played by the great Federico Luppi). The pairing of Luppi and Bardem, each seduced by the
other's charm, is pure screen magic.
DIAS CONTADOS (RUNNING OUT OF TIME),
1994, 95 min. Dir. Imanol Uribe. From the director of EL VIAJE DE CAROL, DÍAS
CONTADOS is a moody, sensual thriller with overtones of THE CRYING GAME: a Basque
terrorist finds himself compromised when he becomes involved with a much younger
prostitute. Carmelo Gomez delivers a brilliant, edgy performance in the lead, with
support from Javier Bardem, who won best actor at San Sebastian for his reptilian
Lisardo.
Saturday, March 8 – 5:00 PM
Best of Recent Spanish Cinema:
EL PERRO DEL HORTELANO (THE
DOG IN THE MANGER), 1996, 109 min. Two of Spain’s brightest stars, Emma
Suárez and Carmelo Gómez, light up this gorgeous adaption of Lope de
Vega’s classic 17th-century comedy of honor, status and mismatched love.
Suárez (star of Julio Medem’s THE RED SQUIRREL and TIERRA) plays Diana, the countess
of Belflor, a mischievous and self assured aristocrat – who just happens to fall in
love with one of her attendants, the dashing Teodoro (Gómez), setting off a chain
reaction of scandal and intrigue. In the spirit of the feistiest Shakespeare adaptations
(think Branagh’s MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING), late director Pilar Miró (in her
final film) fashioned a thoroughly delightful court romp, with just a touch of vinegar to
it.
Saturday, March 8 – 7:30 PM
Best of Recent Spanish Cinema -- Double Feature:
TESIS (THESIS), 1995, 123 min. 23 year
old Alejandro Amenábar (THE OTHERS, OPEN YOUR EYES) first made a name for himself
with this creepy little thriller about a snuff-film operation working out of a Spanish
film school. Haunting, dark-eyed Ana Torrent (SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE) stars as the
voyeuristic Angela, paired opposite newcomer Fele Martínez as a Spanish Beavis
& Butthead-clone with a closet full of video nasties.
LA ARDILLA ROJA (THE RED
SQUIRREL), 1993, 110 min. Dir. Julio Medem. From one of Spain’s most talented young
directors, LA ARDILLA ROJA is a VERTIGO-like thriller of lost identity and blinding
passion. A suicidal former rock star with lightning reflexes (Nancho Novo) rescues a
beautiful amnesiac from a motorcycle accident, and passes himself off as her boyfriend. Emma
Suarez is a sensation as Lisa/Sofia, the enigmatic center of Medem’s maze of
seemingly innocent, synchronous events.
Sunday, March 9 – 5:00 PM
Best of Recent Spanish Cinema:
EL MILAGRO DE P. TINTO (THE
MIRACLE OF P. TINTO), 1998, Disney, 106 min. A surprise hit at the 1998 Sundance Film
Festival, director Javier Fesser’s first feature is a surreal,
visually-enchanting comedy in the spirit of Terry Gilliam and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, about a
childish old man (played by the marvelous Luis Ciges), whose only wish is to have a large
family and live happily ever after. But all P. Tinto has to show for his efforts are two
disgruntled, alien midgets living in his clothes drawer -- until a lumbering, escaped
mental patient shows up on his doorstep, and his prayers for a son seem to be answered at
last …
Sunday, March 9 – 7:15 PM
Best of Recent Spanish Cinema – Double Feature:
LA BUENA ESTRELLA (LUCKY STAR),
1997, 110 min. Glowing with a subtle, iridescent beauty, LA BUENA ESTRELLA tells the
heartwrenching story of a middle-aged butcher (played to quiet perfection by Antonio
Resines) who takes a wounded, one-eyed woman (Maribel Verdú) into his home.
Spanish bombshell Verdú, known for her work in Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN and BELLE EPOQUE, turns
in her finest performance here, torn between her loving husband and her self-destructive
ex-boyfriend – played by rising star Jordi Mollá in the film’s third
exquisite performance. A brilliant drama from the late director Ricardo Franco
– infinitely generous and forgiving, almost transparent in its simplicity of spirit.
Winner of 5 Spanish Goya Awards, including Best Film, Director, Actor (Antonio Resines)
and Screenplay.
FLORES DE OTRO MUNDO (FLOWERS
FROM ANOTHER WORLD), 1999, 106 min. With José Sancho, Lissete Mejía, Luis Tosar,
Marilín Torres, Chete Lera, Elana Irureta. Actress-turned-director Iciar
Bollain delivers on the promise of her excellent first feature, HI, ARE YOU ALONE?,
with this powerful, bittersweet drama of a group of Latin American women who travel to
rural Spain in search of husbands. Bollain combines the hard-earned realism of Mike Leigh
with the harsh, desolate poetry of Victor Erice’s SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE, in her
earthy, compelling portrait of lonely souls in a lonely place. |
