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Presented in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish
Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (ICAA) and
and the Instituto de Comercio Exterior (ICEX).
The holiday season comes especially early for Walter Reade audiences, as
each December we dedicate the lion’s share of our program to both new
and classic Spanish cinema. When the series began in 1992, the film
industry in Spain was facing a deep crisis; production was down, and
domestic audiences seemed to be staying away from Spanish films. The
past few years, however, have witnessed a virtual renaissance of
filmmakers and filmmaking: new talents have successfully reached Spain’s
younger generation, making it perhaps the most loyal of all domestic
audiences for Spanish films.
Established directors such as Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, Emilio Martínez
Lázaro, Imanol Uribe, and Carlos Saura continue to make fresh,
provocative works, while several Spanish actors — Antonio Banderas,
Penélope Cruz, Marisa Paredes, Javier Bardem — have become popular and
critically acclaimed internationally.
Join us for this year’s selection, which includes a special sidebar on
one of Spain’s most popular directors, the wild and unpredictable Alex
de la Iglesia.
Demons at High Noon: The Movie World of Alex de la Iglesia
It’s fitting that his first feature, Mutant Action, was produced by
Pedro Almodovar; like Almodóvar, Alex de la Iglesia has broug
ht to the
Spanish cinema an extraordinary sensitivity to the power of classic
movie genres. But while Almodóvar has concentrated on offering a kind of
re-reading and updating of melodrama, de la Iglesia has instead
brilliantly mined the fields of horror, sci-fi, thrillers and now the
Western, redefining each in ways that give a decidedly Spanish take on
each of those forms.
Born in Bilbao, Alex de la Iglesia studied philosophy in college while
keeping up a parallel career drawing comics, editing fanzines and, of
course, watching lots of films.
By his mid-20s he began working in the movies, first as a production
designer and then eventually as the writer/director of his own works.
Becoming a filmmaker was a chance for de la Iglesia to continue the
dialogue with the much-beloved, principally American genre movies that
he had earlier begun in his writing about film. Emerging in the film
industry at a moment in which the fortunes of the Spanish cinema were at
their lowest
ebb since the return of democracy, de la Iglesia sought to
create a popular cinema — drawing on the forms and styles that had
especially defined Hollywood during its golden age — while inserting a
personal style and voice to his films. Imitation of the past was never a
goal or an issue; these classic genres have been brought into the
present and translated into terms that might make sense for a
contemporary Spanish audience. With his second film, the box-office
blockbuster Day of the Beast, de la Iglesia imagined what the
particularities of the return of Satan might be if he decided to make
his comeback in contemporary Madrid, just as Rosemary’s Baby had used
late-60s America (the Dakota, to be specific!) for Satan’s then-newest
haunt. In de la Iglesia’s newest film, 800 Bullets, film genre literally
becomes a place where his characters live, in this case a beat-up group
of Western sets ("Texas-Hollywood") now used to put on occasional
Wild-West show
s for tourists.
Although he has yet to have a commercial breakthrough in the U.S., his
films are highly prized by a fervent and growing cult of admirers, a
small army of whom showed up at the last time Alex came to the Walter
Reade Theater to present La Comunidad. Here’s your chance to join that
cult and to discover the extraordinary world of Alex de la Iglesia.
The films in the Alex de la Iglesia retrospective are indicated with
stars.
X
Luis Marias, Spain, 2002; 95m
A taut thriller that marks an impressive directing debut for
screenwriter Marias, X begins as a well-known police inspector who heads
a homicide unit wakes up one suffocating summer day in Madrid. Although
he can’t remember a thing from the night before, he’s convinced that
something important happened. Later that day he’s asked to investigate a
murder scene; much to his horror, it becomes clear that he himself might
be the culprit, even if he believes he’s never seen the victim
before.
Full of plot twists and turns, X keeps you guessing until the last
moment, as various notions of guilt and innocence constantly rise up
only to be proved useless or at least inapplicable. With Antonio Resines
and Esperanza Roy.
Fri Dec 6: 2 & 9:30; Tue Dec 10: 3:30
A TRIBUTE TO JOSÉ NIETO
As part of this year’s Spanish Cinema Now, we’re offering this brief
tribute to Spain’s leading composer of music for the cinema, José Nieto.
Born in 1942, José Nieto began composing film scores in 1970; since
then, he has become Spain’s most sought-after composer, and has worked
especially closely with directors such as Vicente Aranda, Imanol Uribe
and Pilar Miro. Prior to our 6pm screening of DON QUIXOTE, KNIGHT ERRANT
on Mon Dec 9 — for which he composed the score — Mr. Nieto will
introduce a brief reel of clips from some of his films, and discuss his
singular approach to creating scores for the movies.
DON QUIXOTE, KNIGHT ERRANT / EL CABALLERO DE DON QUIJOTE
Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón, Spain, 2002; 117m
Ten years after he filmed the first part of Quixote (with the great
Fernando Rey, in one of his last roles, in the lead), Manuel Gutiérrez
Aragón returns to Cervantes’ magnum opus to film the second, more
mysterious volume. The great popularity of the novel when first
published back in 1605 led to a host of unauthorized sequels that
furthered the adventures of the Don and his faithful squire Sancho;
hoping to finish his story — and finish off the character — Cervantes
published his own sequel in 1615, which forms the basis for Gutiérrez
Aragón’s film. After hearing that the Turks were bearing down on the
coast with a dangerous armada, Don Quixote and Sancho set off to
confront them, despite the pleading of the Don’s niece and housekeeper.
As in the first volume, their journey is fraught with chance, revealing
encounters and impossi
ble reversals of fortune; as Quixote, Juan Luis
Galiardo endows his character with a heartbreaking vulnerability,
constantly registering the gap between the Don’s dreams and ambitions
with his growing physical frailty.
Fri Dec 6: 4; Sat Dec 7: 1:30; Sun Dec 8: 8:30 Mon Dec 9: 6 preceded by
José Nieto tribute
SALOMÉ
Carlos Saura, Spain, 2002; 86m
Master of dance and film Carlos Saura (Blood Wedding, Flamenco) teams up
with choreographer Aída Gómez for this provocative, modern rendition of
the story of Salomé. At the birthday party of Herod, King of Judah,
various dancers, including his wife, perform for the guest of honor, but
Herod only has eyes for his captivating stepdaughter, Salomé. Suddenly a
handsome young man enters the scene; he is John, known as the Baptist,
and his riverside sermons have become the talk of the kingdom. Salomé is
impressed by his elegance and bearing — but how to represent through
dance his
spiritual dimension? This is the dilemma that confronts the
director and the dancers; Saura’s newest film powerfully captures the
rhythms and sensuality of the performance as well as the creative
process and decision-making that goes into the making of a new work.
Sat Dec 7: 4; Sun Dec 8: 4
* 800 BULLETS / 800 BALAS
Alex de la Iglesia, Spain, 2002; 125m
Alex de la Iglesia’s most recent film, which just premiered in Spain
this October, is a hilarious tribute to the mythical "spaghetti
Westerns," many of which were actually shot in Spain on the dusty plains
of Almeria. Carlos, a young boy living with his ambitious, real-estate
speculating mother Laura (Carmen Maura), discovers some clues which lead
him to believe that his absent father — said to have died long ago —
might actually be alive. With some old movie programs in hand, he sets
off for Texas-Hollywood, a shell of a theme park operating in the
remains of what had been a back lot for Westerns but which
now offers
live "Western shows" for the occasional Japanese tourist. Leading the
hapless bunch of former is Julián, once a major star in European
Westerns and who is the boy’s grandfather. Carlos soon joins in the
action, but his mother has other plans for Texas-Hollywood; where
gunfights were once held at high noon, Laura plans the building of a new
industrial park. De la Iglesia’s homage is given special feeling by the
presence of Sancho Gracia, one of Europe’s greatest Western stars, in
the role of Julián.
Sat Dec 7: 6:15; Sun Dec 8: 1
Thurs Dec 26: 9:30
ITACT/INTACTO
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Spain, 2001; 108m
“Using a strikingly cool visual style, a sexy set of performances, and a
vivid imagination, Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has
fashioned an elegant and mysterious thriller about luck and good
fortune. ITACT posits that there are those among us who are
preternaturally lucky. They are the survivors of the plane crash
that
kills everyone else, the ones who escape being victims of war and
terror, the gamblers who win in high-stakes games and even in life
itself. Their gift is not only in being lucky, however; it includes the
power to rob others of their luck and leave them helpless in the face of
misfortune. Federico has been robbed of his luck and believes that
Tomás, the only survivor of a fateful plane crash, will be the
instrument of his vengeance. The two men embark on a voyage of
initiation, a series of trials challenging others that will lead them to
the summit of chance. Intact is intelligent and finely crafted
filmmaking." – Geoffrey Gilmore, 2002 Sundance Film Festival
Fri Dec 6: 7; Sat Dec 7: 9
 *LA COMUNIDAD
Alex de la Iglesia, Spain, 2000; 106m
The great Carmen Maura gives one of her best performances here as Julia,
a real estate agent who in the course of her work discovers 300 million
pesetas stashed under the tiles of a dead man’s apartment. And that’s
n
ot all: there’s also a winning lottery ticket that’s never been
redeemed. It’s like a dream come true — until Julia discovers that the
neighbors of the deceased also have some interest in taking over this
hidden fortune. Shot in a florid, grand style, with terrific ensemble
performances, La Comunidad is de la Iglesia’s version of a thriller for
our times, featuring a wonderful, heart-stopping action finale.
Sun Dec 8: 6:15; Thurs Dec 26: 1 & 5:15
RANCOR/RENCOR
Miguel Albaladejo, Spain, 2002; 106m
Entertainer Lolita Flores makes a rare screen appearance in this
unsettling tale about the high cost of revenge. Chelo Zamora (Flores) is
a singer with a flagging career now reduced to working cheap hotels and
restaurants in beach districts. At one of her gigs, she bumps into her
old lover Toni (Jorge Perugorria), a transplanted Cuban beach bum who
makes his living renting paddle boats. Blaming Toni for all that’s gone
wrong in her life, she sets
out to make his life as miserable as
possible. Flores is wonderful as a woman so overwhelmed by memories of
the past that they come to dominate every moment in the present. Rancor
also gives an effective portrait of the somewhat tawdry vacation land
Spain that somehow rarely makes it into the movies.
Mon Dec 9: 1 & 9
OCTAVIA
Basilio Martín Patiño, Spain, 2002; 130m
Basilio Martín Patiño directed two of the most important films of the
Franco era: Nine Letters to Berta (1965) and Songs for After the War
(1971) — powerful, hard-hitting films that offered fresh approaches to
politically engaged filmmaking. With OCTAVIA, Patiño adopts a more
elegiac, reflective tone. After 40 years away, during which time he did
everything from fight with Colombian rebels to serve as a spy in Eastern
Europe, Rodrigo (Miguel Angel Solá) returns to the Salamanca of his
childhood, where he has to become reacquainted with not only a city but
also
with his own family. He discovers a daughter whose existence he had
never known, as well as a granddaughter, Octavia, a rebellious teenager
who dismisses her grandfather’s politics yet whose sense of freedom
comes to fascinate Rodrigo. Patiño’s drama finds its heart in the
relationship between Rodrigo and Octavia, as two notions of politics, of
rebellion, come head to head in the dusty streets of Salamanca.
Mon Dec 9: 3:15; Tue Dec 10: 1; Sun Dec 15: 8
*MUTANT ACTION/ACCIÓN MUTANTE
Alex de la Iglesia, Spain, 1992; 97m
Pedro Almodóvar produced de la Iglesia’s first feature, an extraordinary
sci-fi comedy about a future world in which beautiful people have taken
over the planet. A group of disabled malcontents — calling themselves
Mutant Action — decide to fight the status quo that leaves them
marginalized from the good life. Yarritu, their leader, comes out of
prison with a plan to kidnap the daughter of a filthy-rich industri
alist
and then demand a ransom that pay for the group to live in high style
forever. All goes according to plan, until envy and betrayal raise their
ugly heads, driving these murderous mavericks into a murderous stampede
in which only the strongest will survive.
Wed Dec 11: 1, 5:10 & 9:30
*DAY OF THE BEAST/DÍA DE LA BESTIA
Alex de la Iglesia, Spain, 1995; 103m
Father Angel Berriartúa has studied Saint John’s Apocalypse for over 25
years, coming to the conclusion that the Antichrist will be born on
December 25, 1995 — in Madrid, no less! Figuring that he’d better be
prepared to confront the Evil One, he enlists the aid of a heavy metal
enthusiast named José María, who puts him in touch with a certain
Professor Cavan, who runs a TV program on the occult. Calling on his own
vast, secret knowledge, Cavan opens the way to Satan, as Father Angel’s
desperate and increasingly bizarre efforts to save the world meet their
ultimate
test. An enormous popular hit in Spain, full of great sight
gags as well as a treasure trove of references to the masterworks of horror.
Wed Dec 11: 3 & 7:15; Sat Dec 14: 9:40
WARRIORS/GUERREROS
Daniel Calparsoro, Spain, 2002; 95m
The UN military intervention in parts of the former Yugoslavia marked
the first time in many decades that Spanish troops were drawn into
actual combat situations outside of Spain’s borders. One of Spain’s
brightest young directors, Daniel Calparsoro (Asphalt, Leap into the
Void) follows a few hours in the lives of a squad of Spanish army
engineers in Kosovo. Trying to restore electricity to towns that lost
power due to the fighting, these soldiers soon find themselves to be
pawns in an impeding battle between opposing forces, all their protests
to neutrality not withstanding. In the course of a long night spent
trying to avoid being drawn into the fighting, these men and women will
learn much about themselves as well as the rules of
war when it’s no
longer a simple practice exercise. With Eduardo Noriega and Eloy Azorín.
Thurs Dec 12: 1; Sat Dec 14: 1 & 5:15
PONIENTE
Chus Gutiérrez, Spain, 2002; 94m
In recent years Spanish agriculture has experienced a remarkable boom;
membership in the European economic community has opened up vast new
markets, and now Spain has become the veritable "vegetable garden" of
Europe. Thanks to the help of cheap African labor, that is; the vast
tomato plantations covering the southern parts of Spain depend on a
constant supply of cheap immigrant labor in order to function. PONIENTE
is a hard-hitting, deeply felt look at this new reality; Lucía leaves
Madrid with her daughter after inheriting her estranged father’s
agricultural properties in the countryside. Yet as an outsider she still
doesn’t know the hierarchies and codes that define the business and
personal relationships between Spaniards and the immigrants. A
threatened labor a
ction by the newly organized workers leads to a
terrible showdown between the workers and owners, a confrontation that
will force Lucía to decide on which side she truly stands. Crisply
narrated and featuring a wonderful performance by Cuca Escribano as
Lucía, PONIENTE is an important work whose observations have a resonance
far beyond Spain.
Thurs Dec 12: 3; Sun Dec 15: 1:30
SMOKING ROOM
Julio D. Wallovits & Roger Gual, Spain, 2002; 117m
Especially in light of the threatened passage of further nonsmoking
rules in New York City, SMOKING ROOM is very definitely a film for our
times. A branch of an American company in Spain has been obliged to
apply the internal no-smoking law inside its office area. From now on,
anyone who wants to smoke during office hours has to go out and smoke in
the street. Ramirez, one of the workers in this small office whose staff
is mainly made up of men, decides to start a petition against this
regulation as he feels it is unfair a
nd out of place. Ramirez wants a
vacant room in the office to be used as a "Smoking Room." On the
surface, everyone seems to be in agreement and willing to back him. But
when Ramirez discusses the issue on a one-to-one basis with each of the
employees, he finds that they all come up with a series of excuses not
to sign his petition. In fact, most of his colleagues´ excuses for not
signing the Smoking Room petition conceal others…. A surprise hit in
Spain last summer, SMOKING ROOM is an off-beat thriller with some
wonderfully quirky, unexpected twists.
Fri Dec 13: 1:30 & 6:30; Sat Dec 14: 3
THE SHANGHAI SPELL/EL EMBRUJO DE SHANGHAI
Fernando Trueba, Spain, 2002; 118m
Fernando Trueba is emerging as the master of period filmmaking in Spain
today; his meticulous eye for detail is matched by his penchant for
creating complex, well-rounded characters who seem extraordinarily
familiar even if their surroundings are alien to us. Based on a work by
popular novelist
Juan Marsé, THE SHANGHAI SPELL is a knowing,
wide-ranging panorama of life in Barcelona in the immediate post-Civil
War era. Dani, a teenage boy, is enlisted to help care for the
bed-ridden daughter of an anarchist who’s off fighting with the maqi
rebels against Franco; the boy soon develops a crush on her, but the
girl lives only to see her father back home. Meanwhile, Dani’s neighbor
— slightly disturbed after some time in prison — launches a campaign
against a local factory that’s polluting the neighborhood. These and
several other storylines weave in and out of each other, creating
finally a portrait of a society crushed by a past that simply refuses to
allow any kind of a future to emerge. The top-notch cast features
Adriana Gil, Fernando Fernán Gómez, Rosa María Sardá and Jorge Sanz.
Fri Dec 13: 4; Sat Dec 14: 7:15
Sun Dec 15: 3:30
SHORTMETRAJE:
A SERIES OF SHORT FILMS BY EMERGING SPANISH DIRECTORS
AJE celebrates the art of the short film by Spain's next wave
of independent filmmakers.
This series will also screen at Anthology
Film Archives December 5-8. For further information visit www.shortmetraje.com.
Abnormal / Anormals
Joan Pueyo, Spain, 2001; 4m
A family of abnormal creatures journey together through an underground
netherworld.
Disco Biscuits / Bailongas
Chiqui Carabante, Spain, 2001; 8m
Keko is desperately looking for Toni, the neighborhood drug dealer, to
request a special order.
The Scarecrow / El espantápajaros
Gonzalo Zona, Spain, 2001; 7m
In the dry Castillian landscape, a lonely scarecrow suddenly finds
himself accompanied by a curious, tight-lipped neighbor.
The Rights of Potatoes /
El derecho de las patatas
Mercedes Gaspar, Spain, 2001; 16m
Luis Gómez, a local TV reporter, delves into the psyche and obsessions
of the recently disappeared experimental filmm
aker, María Martín.
Innocence / Inocencia
Sergio Garcia, Spain, 2001; 17m
Young urban couple unsuspectingly become the next victims of the Spanish
Basque terrorists, ETA.
Mujeres en un tren / Women in a Train
Jorge Torregrosa, Spain, 2000; 18m
While sharing a train cabin, three strangers find themselves
inexplicably drawn to one another and candidly reveal coveted secrets.
Salad Days / Desaliñada
Gustavo Salmerón, Spain, 2000; 23m
A salad and a fish fall in love on the threshold of death: a restaurant
refrigerator. Awaiting their imminent death, they decide to become part
of the same dish.
Fri Dec 13: 9; Sun Dec 15: 6
SOLA MIA
Javier Balaguer, Spain, 2001; 100m
Two shots ring out. The victim, Joaquín, is lying on the floor,
bleeding; his shooter, and wife, Angela hovers nearby. The end of the
violent, harrowing relationship; yet when they started out they seemed
like the most picture-perfect couple; what went wrong? Another
outstanding directorial debut, SOLA MIA chronicles the destruction of a
relationship due to a husband’s obsessive jealousy. Demanding total
control over his wife’s every action, Javier creates a kind of mental
and emotional prison from which escape seems increasingly impossible.
Angela, for her part, seeks help, but finds few willing to get involved
— it’s a family affair, they say, even when his rage towards her turns
violent. Aided by superb performances by Sergi López and Paz Vega, SOLA MIA avoids creating heroes and villains, but instead focuses on creating
a portrait of a kind of mental illness that soon comes to dominate two
lives.
Tue Dec 17: 1; Fri Dec 20: 4:15 & 8:30
MEMORIES OF GUERILLA WARFARE/LA GUERILLA DE LA MEMORIA
Javier Corcuera, Spain, 2002; 70m
One of the best-received films at the 2001 edition of Spanish Cinema Now
was Montxo Armendáriz’s Broken Silence, his powerful look at maqi rebels
who continued to wage armed
struggle against Franco beyond the fall of
the Spanish Republic. Armendáriz and his producer Puy Oria have now
produced that remarkable documentary in which we get to see and hear
some of the men and women whose lives inspired the fiction film. As a
militant clandestine movement with practically no funds for even the
most basic necessities, the maqis left few records: a few tattered
photographs, some pages of official communiqués. Yet the memories of
some of the men and women who made up the movement remains remarkably
vivid; their tales, as filmed by Peruvian-born director Javier Corcuera,
bring the clandestine struggle against the Franco government to life,
allowing us to understand the spirit, the accomplishments and even the
failures of their guerilla war. A great document of both the aftermath,
and the legacy, of the Spanish republic.
Tue Dec 17: 3; Thurs Dec 19: 3 & 6:30
*PERDITA DURANGO
Alex de la Iglesia, Spain, 1997; 126m
Javier Bardem and Rosie Pérez star in this road movie to (or is it
from?) hell, a wild ride through the dark side of the American dream,
based on a novel by Barry Gifford (59 Degrees and Raining). Hired by a
Mafia boss to transport some secret cargo to Las Vegas, unscrupulous
Perdita (Pérez) and her handsome, demonic lover Romeo Dolorosa (Bardem)
set off on a journey that sets them on a collision course with double
agents, desperate parents, journalists, murderers and a group of
"santeros" who believe that they can convert anybody or anything into
something sacred. In many ways de la Iglesia’s darkest film — although
not without the director’s trademark comic flashes — it features a world
so seemingly lost to corruption and madness that Perdita and Romeo begin
to seem normal. With a wonderful appearance by James Gandolfini in a
pre-Tony Soprano moment.
Wed Dec 18: 1:30 & 6:30; Sat Dec 21: 9:00
*DYING OF LAUGHTER/MUERTOS DE RISA
Alex de la Iglesia, Spain, 1999;
113m
Bruno and Nino. Nino and Bruno. With their jokes and routines, this duo
was the toast of Spanish entertainment, appearing everywhere from
bullrings to television Christmas specials. The only problem is that
now, after 20 years on the road together, they hate each other. Can’t
stand the sight of each other. Yet they have their legions of fans and
bookings years in advance. Slowly, separately, each begins to devise a
scheme for making theirs a solo act. Working with two of Spain’s most
gifted comic actors — Santiago Segura and El Gran Wyoming — de la
Iglesia creates a riotous, incredibly caustic backstage comedy,
reminiscent at times of Billy Wilder’s blackest comedies, where the
lines between life and life on stage inexorably fade away.
Wed Dec 18: 4 & 9; Sun Dec 22: 8
ARO TOLBUKHIN: THE MIND OF A KILLER/ARO TOLBUKHIN EN EL MENTE DEL ASESINO
Agustí Villaronga, Lydia Zimmermann, Isaac P. Racine, Spain/France,
2002; 95m
Perhaps the darkest of the many "bleak poets" of Spanish cinema, Agustí
Villaronga combines footage from a French-produced documentary on a
condemned killer with dramatic sequences to explore the mind and world
of a mass murderer. In 1981, the Hungarian Aro Tolbukhin was arrested
for the murder of seven people in Guatemala’s Misión del Divino
Redentor. While in prison, Tolbukhin confessed to almost two dozen other
unsolved murders, committed supposedly while he was on shore leave from
his job as a merchant seaman. As information of these revelations leaked
out, the case of Aro Tolbukhin became a world wide sensation, yet as the
cases began to be more closely examined and contradictions in his
testimony were noted, doubts about Tolbukhin’s actual responsibility
began to be raised. A journey into some of the most hidden recesses of
human imagination.
Thurs Dec 19: 1, 4:30 & 8:10
CAROL'S JOURNEY/EL VIAJE DE CAROL
Imanol Uribe, Spain, 2002; 104m
Following the success of his Plenilunio (Spanish Cinema Now 2000),
Imanol Uribe returns with this haunting tale of a young girl’s
initiation into the evasions and duplicity that often characterize the
world of adults. Carol is a 12-year-old raised in New York by her
American father and Spanish mother; in spring of 1938, at the height of
the Civil War, Carol travels to her mother’s home village while her
father serves as a pilot in the International Brigades. Rejecting at
first the strange, vaguely threatening world to which she’s been
brought, Carol gradually accept her new home on its own terms through
the help of the local teacher, Maruja (Rosa María Sardá) and local
village boy Tomiche (Juan José Ballesta, seen earlier this year as the
protagonist in El Bola). Yet the war raging all over Spain will
eventually make its way to this remote village and into Carol’s own
life.
Fri Dec 20: 2 & 6:15; Sat Dec 21: 4:15
THE IMPATIENT ALCHEMIST/EL ALQUEMISTA IMPACIENTE
Patricia Ferreira, Spain, 2002; 110m
Patricia Ferreira’s debut I Know Who You Are was a great hit in Spanish
Cinema Now 2000; her second feature, THE IMPATIENT ALCHEMIST, more than
delivers on the promise of that first film. A naked cadaver of a man is
found in a sleazy, roadside motel; a typically routine, if lurid, case
for police detectives Vila and Chamorro, except the victim turns out to
have been an engineer in a nuclear power plant. Are there dangerous
implications in his murder — or was it simply rough sex that went too
far? Roberto Enríquez and Ingrid Rubio make an appealing team of police
buddies — whose own romantic tensions bubble scarcely below the surface
— who gradually uncover a web of international intrigue.
Sat Dec 21: 2; Tue Dec 24: 1 & 5:15
THE CITY WITHOUT LIMITS/EN LA CIUDAD SIN LÍMITES
Antonio Hernández, Spain, 2002; 118m
One of the biggest box-office hits in recent months, THE CITY WITHOUT LIMITS features a great performance by Fernando Fernán Gómez, a veteran
actor whose filmography reads like a history of Spanish cinema. Here he
plays Max, a desperately ill man lying in a Parisian hospital whose
family gathers around him in what they assume will be his final days.
Going in and out of consciousness, Max continually rants about Rancel,
the only person Max believes is capable of preventing him from being
thrown in jail. As no one has ever heard of Rancel, Max’s wife and
children are convinced it’s all merely a sign that he’s losing his mind,
except for his son Victor (Leonardo Sbaraglia), who decides to help his
father in order to discover the truth about Rancel.
Sat Dec 21: 6:30; Mon Dec 23: 3:30 & 8:30
BEYOND DESIRE/DESEO
Gerardo Vera, Spain/Argentina, 2002; 106m
The wonderful Leonor Watling, co-star of Pedro Almodovar’s Talk To Her,
is equally impressive in this haunting thriller set in the dark years of
the
1940s. With her husband in jail on political charges, Elvira
(Watling) is delighted when she’s recommended for a job as a housekeeper
with a wealthy, somewhat bookish young Argentinean (Leonardo Sbaraglia).
It soon becomes clear that he’s falling in love with her, while she also
feels herself drawn to him, yet she soon discovers that her employer is
a far cry from the innocent businessman he so skillfully pretends to be.
Watling effectively captures the pained confusion of a woman who must
decide between having a chance for personal happiness and defending a
political cause that has only brought misery to her life.
Sun Dec 22: 5:30; Mon Dec 23: 1 & 6
LÁZARO'S GIRLFRIEND/LA NOVIA DE LÁZARO
Fernando Merinero, Spain, 2002; 93m
Director Merinero often tells stories about characters in states of
extreme emotional crisis. Here, he tells the story of Dolores, a
hopeful, wide-eyed 20-something who comes to Spain from Cuba looking for
her fianc&e
acute; Lázaro, another Cuban, who’s been in Spain for over a year.
For months they’ve exchanged letters and phone calls, and determined
that they couldn’t bear to live apart. Yet when she arrives at the
airport, there’s not one there to greet her; she makes her way to
Lázaro’s house, but no one there has any idea where he is. Finally, she
learns that he’s in jail, accused of attempted rape. Dolores is
distraught, with no idea to whom she can turn; Lázaro, for his part,
wants her to smuggle in some heroin to sell to the other inmates.
Dolores is soon faced with a choice: Can she continue commiting to
Lázaro, or must she break off with him and adapt to her new country on
her own? “A searing film about the solitude faced by so many Cuban
immigrants to Spain" – Manuel Grosso, El Mundo
Tue Dec 24: 3:15 & 7:30;
Thurs Dec 26: 3:15 & 7:30
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