| Recent Spanish Cinema XIIIFeaturing a Retrospective Tribute to director
Vicente Aranda
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Exclusive!
Presented in collaboration with the Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes
Audiovisuales (ICAA) of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, EGEDEA and the Spanish Institute
for Foreign Trade, ICEX and Consulate General of Spain in Los Angeles.
This year Spanish Cinema received the international recognition it deserves with the
popular success of Guillermo del Toro’s PAN’S LABYRINTH and Pedro
Almodovar’s VOLVER. But there are even more Spanish films out there to amaze you!
Join us for the most exciting showcase of new Spanish films in town, including the
revelation of this year, winner of the Goya for best new director and new actor, Daniel
Sanchez Arevalo’s astonishing drama DARKBLUEALMOSTBLACK; Agustin Diaz
Yanes’s 17th century portrait of a reflective mercenary ALATRISTE starring
Viggo Mortensen; CROSSING THE BORDER the beautiful directorial debut of TV actor
Carlos Iglesias, Antonio Chavarrías’ neo noir CELIA’S LIVES. Not to
forget that from the established filmmakers side, Fernando Colomo delivers one of his most
delightful comedies with THE NEAR EAST; David Trueba returns with a wistful
portrait of youth in Madrid with WELCOME HOME, and do not miss MY NAME IS JUANI,
the latest from Bigas Luna. This selection of films offers performances from Spain’s
favorites actors: Victoria Abril, Ariadna Gil, Pilar Lopez de Ayala, Javier Camara, Carlos
Iglesias, Luis Tosar, Juan Echanove; plus newcomers Quim Gutiérrez and Javier Cifrian.
Not to forget the presence of international figures such as Viggo Mortensen and Daniel
Brühl.
Featuring a Retrospective Tribute to director Vicente Aranda
"Leave your inhibitions at the door" might be a good introduction to the
erotic, subversive and savage cinema of director Vicente Aranda – a world where
sexual identity can be slipped into like a new skin (CHANGE OF SEX, BILINGUAL
LOVER); where women fight (and love) harder than men (LIBERTARIAS, FANNY
"PELOPAJA"); where almost anything goes except forgiveness. Like Buñuel and his
fellow-Catalan Bigas Luna, Aranda delights in the surreal and sacrilegious: a fashion
model who takes on the apocalypse; a militant, libertarian nun. But anarchy, in
Aranda’s eyes, comes with a stiff price – hearts are shattered, lives are
ruined. A native of Barcelona, Aranda had no formal training in film when he
"reinvented" himself as a director at the age of 38 with his first feature,
aptly titles BRILLIANT FUTURE. He emerged as one of the central figures in the
controversial New Spanish Cinema of the 1970’s, along with Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón,
Carlos Saura, Bigas Luna and others. In 1976, he cast an unknown actress and game-show
hostess named Victoria Abril as the transsexual heroine of CHANGE OF SEX, creating
an overnight icon of Spanish Cinema; since then, he’s made many more features with
Abril, including his latest film, the sumptuous medieval tale THE MAIDEN’S
CONSPIRACY.
We are thrilled to welcome at the Egyptian Theatre director
Vicente Aranda and other guests to be confirmed.
Thursday, March 15 - 7:30 PM
THE MAIDENS’ CONSPIRACY (TIRANTE EL
BLANCO), 2006, 120 min. The Byzantine emperor asks the legendary brave knight Tirant for
his help against the Turks. Thanks to his courage and military prowess, the Turks are
defeated. But Tirant’s strength is not enough against the intrigues swirling about
the Imperial Court. Director Vicente Aranda’s latest film is the sweeping
adaptation of the famous novel, Tirant Lo Blanc. A major co-production
staring Leonor Watling, Victoria Abril, Giancarlo Giannini, Ingrid Rubio, and as
Tirant and Carmesina, newcomers Caspar Zafer and Esther Nubiola. Discussion following with director Vincente Aranda and actresses Esther Nubiola and Ingrid Rubio. NOT
ON DVD.
Friday, March 16 - 7:30 PM
DARKBLUEALMOSTBLACK (AZULOSCUROCASINEGRO), 2006,
115 min. The astonishing debut feature from director/writer Daniel Sanchez Arevalo
quickly evolves into one of the most surprising and irresistibly moving Spanish dramas
since (dare we say it?) Almodovar’s ALL ABOUT HER. A bitter young man works as a
janitor and looks after his stroke-impaired father; meanwhile his older brother is in
jail, where he falls in love with a female prisoner who is desperate to get pregnant.
Except the older brother is impotent, so he asks the younger one to sleep with her in his
stead. Meanwhile the janitor's slacker best friend discovers his own dad is visiting a
male masseur and starts blackmailing his father. Brilliantly funny but emotionally honest
all the way, the movie just gets better and better as it goes along. Starring Quim
Gutierrez, Marta Etura, Antonio de la Torre, Eva Pallares. NOT
ON DVD.
Friday, March 16 - 10:30 PM
CHANGE OF SEX (CAMBIO DE SEXO), 1976, 108 min. Dir. Vicente
Aranda. Tired of being called the prettiest boy in class and bullied by his
ultra-macho father, José María (Victoria Abril) runs off to Barcelona –
where he/she is soon cruising the clubs as vivacious María José! Based on a true story
(and co-starring real-life transsexual Bibi Andersen), the film triumphs as both
surreal comedy and sympathetic drama; you may laugh, but there are no cheap jokes here.
Director Vicente Aranda will introduce the screening. NOT ON
DVD.
Saturday, March 17 - 5:00 PM THIS SCREENING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
It will not be presented as part of the series as was previously announced.
THE INVISIBLES (LOS INVISIBLES), 2007, approximately 90 min. The latest collection
of short films directed by established filmmakers, compiled and produced by Javier
Bardem and premiering at the Berlin Film Festival this year. Each filmmaker examines
the world's neglected problems and the people suffering from them. Directors are Mariano
Barroso (EXTASIS); Isabel Coixet (THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS); Javier Corcuera
(THE BACK OF THE WORLD); Fernando León de Aranoa (LOS LUNES AL SOL) and Wim
Wenders (THE WINGS OF DESIRE). NOT ON DVD.
Saturday, March 17 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
ALATRISTE, 2006, 135 min. Dir. Agustin Diaz Yanes. Viggo
Mortensen (THE LORD OF THE RINGS, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE) stars as the brooding,
irresistible Captain Alatriste, 17th century soldier, mercenary and lover, in this superb
adaptation of the historical novel by Arturo Perez-Reverte. The plot twists and turns like
a dark river, covering 20 years from the wars in Flanders to France - and along the way
Alatriste crosses paths with characters real and fictional including actress Maria de
Castro (Ariadna Gil, PAN’S LABYRINTH), the Count-Duke of Olivares (Javier
Camara), poet Francisco de Quevedo (Juan Echanove) and others. The mournful
heart of the film remains Mortensen, though, who performs all of his dialogue in fluent
Spanish (he lived in Venezuela and Argentina as a youth). Nominated for 14 Goya Awards,
including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. 2007 Goya Winner of Best Script,
Best Art Direction, Best Costume. Discussion
in between the films with actors Unax Ugalde and Viggo Mortensen (ALATRISTE) and actress
Ingrid Rubio (SALVADOR). NOT ON DVD.
SALVADOR, 2006, 134 min. Dir. Manuel Huerga. The film
retraces the last twelve hours of Salvador Puig Antich (Daniel Brühl), the last
political prisoner executed by garrote during the Franco regime, as he receives visits
from family and friends. From a student protestor, Salvador becomes an active militant in
the resistance movement, but gets caught and condemned to death after a series of bank
robberies. A superb performance by German actor Daniel Brühl (GOOD BYE LENIN!).
A haunting film. NOT ON DVD.
Sunday, March 18 - 5:00 PM
THE BILINGUAL LOVER (EL AMANTE BILINGUE), 1993, 93
min. Dir. Vicente Aranda. Juan (Imanol Arias), the impoverished son of a
Chinese magician, discovers that his aristocratic Catalan wife (Ornella Muti) has
been cheating on him. Spiraling into despair, Juan is disfigured by a Molotov Cocktail
– and reborn as a mesmerizing, one-eyed ladies’ man named "Faneca." A
hilarious, sexually-charged satire on obsessive love, language, revolution and class
barriers, this is pure Aranda from start to finish. Director
Vicente Aranda will introduce the screening. NOT ON DVD .
Sunday, March 18 - 7:30 PM
CROSSING THE BORDER (UN FRANCO 14 PESETAS), 105
min. A powerful directorial debut by television actor Carlos Iglesias on a rarely
depicted theme in Spanish Cinema: the migration to other European countries to find a job,
the stark reality facing so many Spaniards in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Leaving
their families behind, Martín (Carlos Iglesias) with his friend Marcos, tries his luck in
Switzerland. Arriving in the picturesque Swiss village, they are confronted by the
mysterious habits of the locals. As their families joins them, they again have to
assimilate. A touching and powerful film. NOT ON DVD.
THE NEAR EAST (EL PROXIMO ORIENTE), 2006, 95 min. In
the best example yet of his style, director Fernando Colomo returns with a genuine
and lovely social comedy about Islam and multiculturalism. Good hearted butcher Cain (Javier
Cifrian) takes responsibility for his brother Abel’s born out of wedlock child by
marrying pregnant Aisha, the daughter of Bangladeshi restaurant owners Shakir and Samaah.
"The busy script leaps with agility from one such screwball situation to the next,
fluid editing keeps up the momentum." Jonathan Holland, Variety NOT ON DVD. Discussion in between films with actress Nieve de Medina (CROSSING
THE BORDER).
Wednesday, March 21 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
LOVERS (AMANTES), 1991, 105 min. One of director Vicente
Aranda’s biggest international successes and a ferocious summary of his favorite
themes, starring the unbeatable trio of Victoria Abril, Jorge Sanz and Maribel
Verdú as a doomed romantic triangle. Abril’s Luisa is one of the strongest femme
fatales to ever hit the screen: her graphic sex scenes with Sanz are an amazing display of
power and domination. "The ease and speed with which this perfect future collapses
is the sardonic subtext of Mr. Aranda's dark, romantic melodrama, which is said to be
based on a true story and is certainly one that could never have been made as a movie in
Franco's day… The
film's manner is dispassionate. Mr. Aranda observes everything in detail, the sexual
acrobatics as well as the melodrama that ends the story, but without appearing to comment
on the events or to burden them with larger meanings. LOVERS is a sophisticated, highly
accomplished work." – Vincent Canby, New York Times NOT ON DVD.
FREEDOM FIGHTERS (LIBERTARIAS), 1996, 130 min.
Director Vicente Aranda’s juicy, highly entertaining drama of three women
fighting for equality during the Spanish Civil War. A young nun (Ariadna Gil) is
forcibly recruited into the Red Brigade by two tough-talking soldiers (Victoria Abril
and Ana Belen) – they quickly discover that war is not only chaos, but an
oppressively macho business. Abril is terrific as the anarchist/spiritualist Floren,
possessed by inner voices and firmly convinced that Jesus was a woman. "…therein lies
LIBERTARIAS’ true triumph: Aranda's willingness to let his characters retain their
own belief systems, even in the face of larger considerations. It's anarchy in action,
perfectly expressing those ideals the real Free Women gave their lives for -- and endowing
his film with an extra moral weight undreamt of in the philosophies of most North American
action movies." – Gemma Files, Eye Weekly
Thursday, March 22 - 7:30 PM
Soccer Double Feature:
THE RAILROAD ALL STARS (ESTRELLAS DE LA LINEA)
2006, 94 min. Director Chema Rodriguez’s in-your-face documentary follows the
feisty Railroad All Stars, a totally female soccer team formed in 2004 from inhabitants of
one of Guatemala’s worst ghettos. As if the odds were not stacked high enough against
them, the women are also prostitutes, and they have organized their team to draw attention
to their ongoing exploitation by a hypocritical macho society that routinely beats, robs
and even murders them. Their introduction into the world of soccer, as they begin to play
other local teams, causes an uproar. Middle class society wants them banned, but the girls
also find occasional support from sometimes surprising quarters, including a few of the
media representatives covering their story. Winner of the 2006 Sebastian Award at the San
Sebastian International Film Festival. NOT ON DVD.
THE GREAT MATCH (AL GRAN FINAL), 2006, 88 min. Dir. Gerardo
Olivares. This stunning comedy set in Mongolia, Niger and the Amazon, follows the
extraordinary effort of three indigenous groups to see the 2002 final soccer World Cup
between Germany and Brazil. In the vast meadow of Mongolia's Altai Mountains, a group of
riders returns to the family tent with their eagles in order to watch the game but first
they need to connect their TV to the power line. In Niger's Tenere desert, Tuareg Hassan
leaves his caravan of camels and joins a truckload of people, convincing them to reroute
to an "iron tree" to connect his TV in time for the start of the game. The
funniest of all, soccer-shirt wearing tribal hunter Xama is trying to set up a TV set and
an ancient dynamo in his compound in the Brazilian jungle. National Geographic lovers and
soccer fans will unite in this delicious movie. NOT ON DVD.
Friday, March 23 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
WELCOME HOME (BIENVENIDO A CASA), 2006, 118 min.
Director/writer David Trueba returns with this wry, wistful look at the
unpredictable changes of being young, in love and employed in modern Madrid. Alejo
Sauras stars as Samuel, a novice newspaper photographer who’s just moved in with
his long-time girlfriend, Eva (Pilar Lopez de Ayala, JUANA LA LOCA). But will their
romance survive being in such close quarters (even if they have separate bedrooms)? The
supporting cast features some of Spain’s finest actors including Ariadna Gil
(PAN’S LABYRINTH), Juan Echanove and Jorge Sanz (BELLE EPOQUE). NOT ON DVD.
MY NAME IS JUANI (SOY LA JUANI), 2006, 92 min.
Director Bigas Luna’s newest effort focuses on Veronica Echegui as the
effervescent and irrepressible Juani, a girl from the provinces sick of her slacker
father, apathetic mother and the appallingly poor specimens who serve as prospects for
boyfriends. When her best friend, Vani (Laya Marti) is beaten up by her guy (Gorka
Lasaosa) and Juani finds her own nearly-simian beau Jonah (Dani Martin) is
being unfaithful, the two head for Madrid to find their fortunes. While Vani has the
modest ambition of getting breast enhancement, Juani has serious aspirations to becoming
an actress, and we witness as she undergoes a series of tragi-comic trials and
tribulations. NOT ON DVD.
Saturday, March 24 - 5:00 PM
WHAT I KNOW ABOUT LOLA (LO QUE SE DE LOLA),
2006, 112 min. Director Javier Rebollo’s touching study of two lonely souls is
suffused with a gentle, melancholy humor. Wallflower Frenchman Leon (Michael Abiteboul)
lives a life of quiet desperation with his bedridden mother, resigned to his emotionally
barren life. When his mother dies, he begins to notice his next door neighbor, Lola (Lola
Duenas), a vivacious Spanish woman who occasionally appears on his local amateur porn
channel. Before long, he becomes captivated, charting her every movement and watching over
her adoringly from afar. He watches as her partying ways and her love life gradually give
way to solitary drinking. Although his obsession with Lola borders on the pathological,
Leon never does anything inappropriate – on the contrary - and we are kept in
suspense waiting to see if he will ever get the courage to make real contact.
Rebollo’s film explores with brilliant simplicity the phenomenon of how people in a
big city – people surrounded by millions of other people – can be dying inside
from emotional starvation, unable to make the simple gesture of reaching out. Winner of
the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2006 London Film Festival. NOT ON DVD.
Saturday, March 24 - 7:30 PM
Double Feature:
CELIA’S LIVES (LAS VIDAS DE CELIA), 2006, 101
min. Director Antonio Chavarrias’ mystery unfolds like an intricate patchwork
quilt, showing the effects of a teenage girl’s murder on the family of the dead
girl’s best friend, Angela (Aida Folch). Angela’s big sister Celia (Najwa
Nimri) has had other disheartening news as well, and it becomes clear that not only
she, but her moody husband, Agustin (Daniel Gimenez Cacho, ARO TOLBUKHIN) have
their own secrets to hide. Reliable Luis Tosar is the dogged police detective who
patiently canvases the neighborhood trying to unravel the ever more confusing puzzle. It
is a testament to Chavarrias (who also wrote the script) and his terrific ensemble cast
that the audience is kept guessing on just who did what till the very end – nobody
here, including Tosar’s cop Miguel, is a perfect person, and the absolutes of the law
are continually subverted by the traitorous emotions of all concerned. "Cunningly-structured
noir CELIA’S LIVES is helmer Antonio Chavarrias' finest work to date… rings
psychologically true throughout…" – Jonathan Holland, Variety NOT ON DVD.
THE NIGHT OF THE SUNFLOWERS (LA NOCHE DE LOS
GIRASOLES), 2006, 123 min. This dark, engrossing thriller from director/writer Jorge
Sanchez-Cabezudo has overtones of 21 GRAMS and IRREVERSIBLE with its intersecting
storylines and moments of startling violence. The mystery begins with the rape/murder of a
young woman in a field of sunflowers ... We meet a number of people who seem to have no
connection to each other or the crime -- and then slowly, chapter by chapter, their lives
start to interlock in inexorable ways. With Carmelo Gomez (DIAS CONTADOS). "Atmospherics are top notch, with
lensing creating a claustrophobic air more normally associated with the mean streets of
New York than with old Castile. Threaded through the action is a bitter view of rural
Spanish life rarely matched since Mario Camus' '80's brutal backwoods classic THE HOLY
INNOCENTS." – Jonathan Holland, Variety NOT
ON DVD. |
